MAYAGUANA à GEORGE TOWN, EXUMAS, 26 et 27 mars, 2008
(English texte follows french)
(English texte follows french)
Après avoir contourné la pointe est de Mayaguana, nous avons mis le cap sur les West Plana Cays et les îles Acklins. Le moteur a fonctionné normalement jusqu'à 3 hres du matin et je pensais réellement que j’avais réglé le problème. À 3 hres il s’est arrêté soudainement. Contrairement à la fois précédente, il n’y a pas eu d’avertissement, pas de baisse de révolution. Ma première réaction a été d’enlever le panneau donnant accès au moteur, de faire une inspection visuelle rapide et de vérifier le niveau d’huile. Je n’ai rien observé d’anormal et le niveau d’huile n’avait pas baissé.
Après avoir essayé de repartir le moteur quelques fois sans succès, j’ai appelé André pour lui apprendre la bonne nouvelle. Nous avons discuté un peu de mes options. Il n’y avait pas de vent et je ne pouvais pas me déplacer à la voile. Le rapport météo indiquait qu’il y aurait des vents légers le lendemain durant la journée. J’aurais pu patienter et me rendre, à la voile aux îles Acklins où j’aurais pu jeter l’ancre, faire d’autres vérifications et si incapable de solutionner le problème, profiter du retour du vent 2 jours plus tard pour me rendre à George Town à la voile. J’ai suggèré à André de continuer seul car je ne me sentais pas en danger. Juste un peu isolé…
Pas question, me répondit André. Je fais demi tour, je vais sortir un long câblot et je vais te remorquer. Ça na pas de bon sens, je lui répondis. Ton bateau est déjà surchargé et le mien pèse 22,000 lbs. Ton moteur n’est pas assez fort pour bouger les deux bateaux. Ça prendra le temps que ça prendra qu’il me répondit. Je ne te laisse pas ici tout seul. Vraiment un bon gars…
EAUDREE 96 (nom du bateau) a donc fait demi tour et à l’approche, Josée a pris la barre, s’est approchée de très près de Lady M et André m’a lancé son câblot que j’ai réussi à attraper sans trop de difficulté malgré la noirceur. Une fois bien attaché, notre vitesse a augmenté très lentement jusqu'à 3 nœuds. Pas très rapide mais au moins nous bougions. J’ai essayé de repartir le moteur plusieurs fois sans succès mais environ une heure plus tard j’ai réussi. André s’en est rendu compte immédiatement car sa vitesse a augmenté de un nœud. Au début je ne pouvais faire augmenter la révolution au dessus de 1,500 tours mais environ une demi-heure plus tard le moteur s’est mis à fonctionner normalement.
Nous avons attendu une autre demi heure pour être sur que ce n’était pas temporaire puis j’ai suggère à André de me laisser aller seul en lui disant qu’au pire, si je perdais a nouveau mon moteur, nous pourrions toujours nous rattacher. En attendant, notre vitesse augmenterait considérablement. Ce scénario s’est reproduit plusieurs fois pendant la nuit du 26 et le jour suivant. Le moteur fonctionnait normalement pour une couple d’heures puis s’arrêtait et nous recommencions.
Pendant la nuit du 27 il a même fonctionné pendant au moins 6 à 7 heures sans arrêt. Cette fois-ci il y avait du vent et nous avons décidé de continuer à la voile plutôt que de nous rattacher. Nous avons mis le cap sur Rum Cay pour avoir un meilleur angle dans le vent. Ce n’était pas idéal mais nous avancions quand même plus rapidement que lorsque remorqué. Quand le moteur a finalement reparti, nous avons repris notre cap sur l’extrémité est de Long Island. Mon GPS indiquait que nous arriverions maintenant à George Town au début de l’après-midi plutôt qu’à 7 hres du matin.
Ce n’était pas une bonne nouvelle car la météo prédisait des vents très forts dans l’après- midi et nous l’aurions directement dans le nez avec, évidemment, les grosses vagues qui l’accompagnent toujours. EAUDREE ne pourrait jamais me remorquer dans ces conditions. La journée va être longue, que je me suis dit. J’avais raison...
Au début de l’avant-midi nous avons observé de très gros nuages sombres à l’horizon. Je ne suis pas nerveux et les nuages ne m’impressionnent généralement pas mais quand j’ai vu une tornade d’eau (water spout) droit devant moi, je n’ai pas vraiment aimé ça. André, qui était 2.5 miles derrière moi, m’a appelé pour me dire qu’il voyait la cellule et les précipitations sur son radar, que l’image était très, très dense et que je serais bientôt dedans. Nous longions maintenant Long Island et nous contournerions la pointe est dans quelques miles. J’ai décidé de rentrer mes voiles car le vent est généralement violent au passage d’une cellule et peut même coucher le bateau sur le côté.
Environ une demi-heure plus tard je suis entré dans le système comme dans un mur. C’était un déluge avec des vents de 30 à 40 nœuds et il faisait soudainement noir comme en pleine nuit. J’avais peur que le moteur lâche et je me disais que s’il lâchait je ferais un 180 degrés, déroulerais ma voile avant (Yankee) et courrais avec le vent tout en m’assurant que je m’éloignerais du bord de l’île. Ça a duré environ une demi-heure, ce qui m’a semblé une demi-journée puis le système est passé, le soleil est réapparu et le moteur s’est arrêté quelques 20 minutes plus tard. Chanceux, chanceux, chanceux.
J’ai essayé de me rendre en remontant le vent au près. Ce n’est pas l’allure où un Bayfield performe le mieux. Les vagues étaient énormes et courtes (4-5 sec) et j’avançais de peine et de misère. Je couvrais 7 miles en louvoyant et je ne progressais que de 4. Il me restait 25 milles à faire. C’est donc dire que j’avais à parcourir 50 miles en louvoyant et que ça m’aurait pris 8 à 10 heures pour me rendre. C’est un travail ardu pour une seule personne et je n’avais presque pas dormi durant les 3 derniers jours.
Josée m’appelé et me dit : Ça n’a pas de bon sens, tu vas te faire mourir à cette allure là. On discute des options et on décide de nous approcher du bord du côté est de la baie car les vagues y sont sûrement réduites de beaucoup et qu’ils pourront probablement me remorquer en utilisant les grandes voiles des deux bateaux avec le moteur de EAUDREE tout en longeant le bord jusqu'à George Town. C’est ce qu’on a fait et ça a bien fonctionné. Nous n’allions pas très vite mais le progrès était constant et dans la bonne direction. De plus, c’était une allure très reposante pour moi et j’en avais grandement de besoin.
Le GPS me disait que nous serions à l’entrée qui mène à George Town vers 20 hres et que nous aurions à naviguer aux instruments sur une distance de 6 miles tout en évitant les hauts fonds et les têtes de coraux avec Lady M remorquée par EAUDREE. Ça a pris du temps mais ça très bien été. Arrivés près de l’ancrage du Monument, nous avons décidé de jeter l’ancre de l’autre côté du chenal car il n’était pas question d’approcher les bateaux au mouillage dans cette noirceur. André m’a dit de jeter l’ancre et qu’il se positionnerai quand j’aurais fini. Une demi-heure plus tard je dormais comme un mort.
Dans le prochain blog, je vous raconterai les travaux que j’ai effectués afin d’investiguer le problème du moteur. Il y aura même une photo de la pièce présumée coupable.
ENGLISH
MAYAGUANA to GEORGE TOWN EXUMAS, February 26 & 27, 2008
Once past the East Mayaguana point, we headed for the West Plana Cays and the Acklins Iislands. The engine ran normally until 3 am and I thought that I had fixed the problem when it suddenly stalled. There was no reduction of revolution or any warning like before. My first reaction was to remove the engine panel, do a visual inspection and check the oil level. I noticed nothing unusual and the oil level was correct.
After many unsuccessful attempts to restart the motor, I called André to tell him the good news. We rapidly discussed my options. There was no wind, so I couldn’t sail. The weather forecast was for light winds later during the day. I could have waited patiently for the light winds and sail to the Acklins where I could have anchored to further investigate the cause of the problem and, if unable to perform the necessary repairs, wait a couple of days for the winds to return and sail to George Town. I suggested to André to continue alone as I had no concerns for my safety. Just a bit isolated…
Not an option, answered André. I will turn around, get out my long towing line and tow you. It doesn’t make sense I answered. Your boat is already overloaded and my boat weights 22,000 pounds. Your motor is not strong enough to pull the two boats. I don’t care he said. We will take the time it takes. I won’t leave you alone here. A real good guy…
EAUDREE 96 (name of the boat) turned around and as they approached, Josée took the wheel, maneuvered very close to Lady M and André threw me the line which I had no difficulty to catch in spite of the darkness. Once the line well secured, we started to move and our speed increased slowly to 3 knots. Not very fast, but we were moving. I tried many times to start the motor without success and it finally caught up about an hour later. Andre noticed immediately as his speed suddenly increased by one knot. At first, the rpm wouldn’t exceed 1,500 but about half an hour later the motor began to run normally.
We waited another half hour to make sure it wasn’t just a temporary improvement and I then told André that I should let the line go, rationalizing that, at the worst, we could tie it up again, should the engine quit again. In the mean time, our moving speed had increased considerably. We repeated that scenario many times during the night of the 26th and during the following day. The engine would run normally for a couple of hours, then stall and we would go through the process again.
It even ran for 6 to 7 hours non-stop during the night of the 27th. When it stalled, we had some wind and decided to continue on sailing rather than being towed. We changed our direction to get a better angle with the wind and headed for Rum Cay. It wasn’t ideal but we were moving faster than we would have by towing. When the engine finally started we headed back toward Long Island’s West end. My GPS now showed that we would arrived in George Town early afternoon rather than 7 am as planned.
It wasn’t good because there were very strong winds with the big waves that come with it forecast for the afternoon and our last 28 nm leg would put right on the nose. EAUDREE would not be able to tow me in those conditions. I figured it would be a long day. I was right…
In the early morning we observed big dark clouds on the horizon. I am not the nervous type and big clouds do not normally impress me and I didn’t like the water spout right in front of me. André who was following 2.5 nm behind called to let me know that he had looked at the cell on his radar, that it was very dense with precipitations and it was very close to my position. We were now relatively close to Long Island shore and just few miles from the western tip. I decided to bring the sails in because those cells carry violent winds which can easily knock a boat down.
About half an hour later I was hit by a flood accompanied with 30 to 40 kt winds. It was as if I had gone through a wall and daylight gave place to total darkness. I was concerned that the engine could quit anytime and if so, I resolved to turn around 180 degrees, unfurl the foresail (yankee) and run with the wind while making sure I would distance myself from the shore. It lasted for about half an hour which felt more like half a day. The sun reappeared and 20 minutes later, the engine quit. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
I tried to progress by taking close reach into big short (4-5) waves. Close reach is not the Bayfield best point of sail and I was struggling. I would go about 7 nm on a tack and, when back to my track, I had moved just about 4 nm. I still had 25 nm to go which mean I had to tack 50 nm and it would take me between 8 to 10 hours to get to destination. It is also very hard work for a single handler and I hadn’t slept much during the past 3 days.
Josée called me and said: it doesn’t make sense, you will quickly get exhausted at this pace. We discussed our options and decided to sail very close to the East end of the bay where we expected the waves to be much smaller and hoped that perhaps the wind direction would allow them to tow me helped by the sails on both boats all the way to George Town. That’s what we did and it worked well. While our progress was slow, it was constant and in the good direction. Eventually the engine restarted and I could have motor sailed on my own but we were doing so well that we decided to stay tied together. It was easy and I needed the rest.
A quick GPS check confirmed that we would now be at the entrance of Elizabeth bay around 20 pm. We would have to navigate the bay in the dark using our chart plotter to stay away from the shoals and coral heads while I would be towed by EAUDREE in case the engine quit. It took a long time but it went well. Once we got to the Monument anchorage, we decided to drop the anchor on the other side of the seaway because we didn’t want to get close to the other boats in the dark. André suggested a location and said: drop your anchor right here and I’ll do the same once you are done. Half an hour later I was dead asleep.
In the next blog update, I will talk about all the work I did to diagnose the cause of the problem and fix it. I will also show you a picture of the presumed defective part.
After many unsuccessful attempts to restart the motor, I called André to tell him the good news. We rapidly discussed my options. There was no wind, so I couldn’t sail. The weather forecast was for light winds later during the day. I could have waited patiently for the light winds and sail to the Acklins where I could have anchored to further investigate the cause of the problem and, if unable to perform the necessary repairs, wait a couple of days for the winds to return and sail to George Town. I suggested to André to continue alone as I had no concerns for my safety. Just a bit isolated…
Not an option, answered André. I will turn around, get out my long towing line and tow you. It doesn’t make sense I answered. Your boat is already overloaded and my boat weights 22,000 pounds. Your motor is not strong enough to pull the two boats. I don’t care he said. We will take the time it takes. I won’t leave you alone here. A real good guy…
EAUDREE 96 (name of the boat) turned around and as they approached, Josée took the wheel, maneuvered very close to Lady M and André threw me the line which I had no difficulty to catch in spite of the darkness. Once the line well secured, we started to move and our speed increased slowly to 3 knots. Not very fast, but we were moving. I tried many times to start the motor without success and it finally caught up about an hour later. Andre noticed immediately as his speed suddenly increased by one knot. At first, the rpm wouldn’t exceed 1,500 but about half an hour later the motor began to run normally.
We waited another half hour to make sure it wasn’t just a temporary improvement and I then told André that I should let the line go, rationalizing that, at the worst, we could tie it up again, should the engine quit again. In the mean time, our moving speed had increased considerably. We repeated that scenario many times during the night of the 26th and during the following day. The engine would run normally for a couple of hours, then stall and we would go through the process again.
It even ran for 6 to 7 hours non-stop during the night of the 27th. When it stalled, we had some wind and decided to continue on sailing rather than being towed. We changed our direction to get a better angle with the wind and headed for Rum Cay. It wasn’t ideal but we were moving faster than we would have by towing. When the engine finally started we headed back toward Long Island’s West end. My GPS now showed that we would arrived in George Town early afternoon rather than 7 am as planned.
It wasn’t good because there were very strong winds with the big waves that come with it forecast for the afternoon and our last 28 nm leg would put right on the nose. EAUDREE would not be able to tow me in those conditions. I figured it would be a long day. I was right…
In the early morning we observed big dark clouds on the horizon. I am not the nervous type and big clouds do not normally impress me and I didn’t like the water spout right in front of me. André who was following 2.5 nm behind called to let me know that he had looked at the cell on his radar, that it was very dense with precipitations and it was very close to my position. We were now relatively close to Long Island shore and just few miles from the western tip. I decided to bring the sails in because those cells carry violent winds which can easily knock a boat down.
About half an hour later I was hit by a flood accompanied with 30 to 40 kt winds. It was as if I had gone through a wall and daylight gave place to total darkness. I was concerned that the engine could quit anytime and if so, I resolved to turn around 180 degrees, unfurl the foresail (yankee) and run with the wind while making sure I would distance myself from the shore. It lasted for about half an hour which felt more like half a day. The sun reappeared and 20 minutes later, the engine quit. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
I tried to progress by taking close reach into big short (4-5) waves. Close reach is not the Bayfield best point of sail and I was struggling. I would go about 7 nm on a tack and, when back to my track, I had moved just about 4 nm. I still had 25 nm to go which mean I had to tack 50 nm and it would take me between 8 to 10 hours to get to destination. It is also very hard work for a single handler and I hadn’t slept much during the past 3 days.
Josée called me and said: it doesn’t make sense, you will quickly get exhausted at this pace. We discussed our options and decided to sail very close to the East end of the bay where we expected the waves to be much smaller and hoped that perhaps the wind direction would allow them to tow me helped by the sails on both boats all the way to George Town. That’s what we did and it worked well. While our progress was slow, it was constant and in the good direction. Eventually the engine restarted and I could have motor sailed on my own but we were doing so well that we decided to stay tied together. It was easy and I needed the rest.
A quick GPS check confirmed that we would now be at the entrance of Elizabeth bay around 20 pm. We would have to navigate the bay in the dark using our chart plotter to stay away from the shoals and coral heads while I would be towed by EAUDREE in case the engine quit. It took a long time but it went well. Once we got to the Monument anchorage, we decided to drop the anchor on the other side of the seaway because we didn’t want to get close to the other boats in the dark. André suggested a location and said: drop your anchor right here and I’ll do the same once you are done. Half an hour later I was dead asleep.
In the next blog update, I will talk about all the work I did to diagnose the cause of the problem and fix it. I will also show you a picture of the presumed defective part.
