So with the boat securely on a mooring bout in Nantucket I went ashore and explored the island as best I could for the day. I like Nantucket. It was full of big sports fishing boats all offering charters. By the looks of things there were some big fish and even sharks to be caught. The town itself was full of boutique types shop for the rich and famous who turn up in their super yachts. Apparently Ranger the J was there only a few dasy before hand. While I was there two huge power boats turned up with mini’s and helicopters on the decks. I looked around and found the whale muses which was quite interesting. I didn’t know that the only reason we hunted whales was for the oil – we used it for lamps, candles and machinery. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the town until I got a tour bus for a quick blast around the island.
I bumped into the friends I met in Martha’s Vineyard and they came aboard in the morning and gave me a lift ashore. I bought supplies for my trip to Mystic and left after lunch. The wind was light and from behind for the majority of the trip so I sailed for as long as I could bare it until I started the engine. I timed it right this time and caught the tide and was well on my way to Cuttyhunk for a 6hr sleep stop before moving onto Mystic.
Unfortunately about 3 miles form Cuttyhunk I opened the cockpit locker to find my temperature light on and the buzzer sounding. Why couldn’t I hear it!! I slowed down hoping that it was just that I had been running it hard for 6hours but it didn’t stop so I shut the engine off and check the impeller. It was mashed to pieces. 100’s of them. I swapped it over and started the engine up again. – still no water! Okay so I took the impeller out, left the cover off and start the engine. The spindle the impeller fits on wasn’t turning. Bugger – my engine is bust!
I sailed as close to Cuttyhunk island as I could and found a mass of lobster pot in the anchorage! There was very little are for me to anchor between the beach, the reef and the lobster pots. Sailing in and trying to drop the anchor almost seemed an impossible task but I managed it. It was no about 7-8 in the evening. I took the water pump out of the engine and inspected it. The drive gear that connects into the engine had lost most of its teeth. Bugger again – this is going to need parts! Once I realised there was nothing I could do I had a VERY hot shower using the calorifier water and had dinner.
I got up in the middle of the night to call VOLSPEC in the UK. A Volvo Penta dealer I have used before. I got the part numbers I needed and then set about finding a dealer open on a Saturday on the east cost of the US. There was certainly no Volvo Dealer on the island of Cuttyhunk – I don’t think they even have phones. Tam helped and search on the internet and e-mailed me the dealers telephone numbers. I found one open, who had the part. Right – now to get it to the island asap. I was given a telephone number of a random taxi driver need the Volvo dealer who I paid $50 to pick the $18 part up and take it to the Ferry terminal. There is only one ferry a day to Cuttyhunk and it was at 1pm. I spoke to the lady who ran the ferry and she agreed to pay te taxi driver the money and pick it up – I think she was quite used to collecting stuff for people in a panic. Thanks to Sue on the ferry, Pat at Atlantic boats and Bill the taxi driver. I got the part and canoed back out to Elmarleen, shaking with anticipation I fitted the new gear and impeller and started her up.
There was still no water – Bugger. The cabin filled with smoke so I turned off the engine. Okay lets look at the exhaust. Why is there smoke in the cabin. I climbed down the back of the cockpit lock and got to the engine. My water trap had melted. Its funny how a water trap is for trapping water and muffling the engine noise. In the UK we call it a water trap but if you go into a US parts supplier they haven’t got a clue what you mean – they call it a muffler!
Anyway, I took the exhaust to bits, got the muffler out and noticed that the inlet was now a solid lump of plastic and that there were two holes in it where the bracket held it in place. That is how hot the engine must have got!
I didn’t have the tools but having explained the initial problem to the harbour master at Cuttyhunk thought I would ask if I could use his workshop. So I started the very long canoe from outside the harbour to the harbour masters pontoon. Right – can I borrow a drill and some tools. He turned around in his shed – the size of a carpark attendants shed (deck chair size) and said this is it I don’t have any tools. Not even a cordless drill. Anyway, I did manage to open the whole up and when back on the boat I used a chisel heated on the gas stove to melt the holes closed.
I started the engine – this time it worked but it was very smoky. A white smoke that got worse with more revs. Oh my god, I hoep this isn’t the head gasket. I was gutted, the effort to get hold of the parts that day, the canoeing to and from the harbour, the remoulding of the muffler and I still want going anywhere. Not only that I was still miles from the mainland.
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