[Public-List] The Rescue

[Gordon Laco]

Hello again, 

I forgot part of the story…  

When we arrived at Killbear Marina, I wanted to refill our #2 fuel tank so as to be able to start back down the coast with our full range available to us.  I knew we’d be getting much lower mileage per fuel consumed.

It was windy, the southerly having come up as we arrived, and I decided I wanted to put our port side to the wharf, that being the side #2’s filler cap is on.  The wharf had a finger better parallel to it, leaving a sort of embayment about 40’ wide.  SURPRISE is of course just over 30’ long, but I figured I’d come in, do a static turn and lay our port side to the gas dock.  

The wharf being wooden, part of my plan was to touch her bow to the wharf part way through our spin and push a bit with the rudder hard over and engine idling in forward to augment the static turn…  that would have worked out very well if not for a bunch of ‘helpoids’ who didn’t understand what we were doing.  

Four people rushed over to us and grabbed our bow pulpit and shoved us astern.   I knew they didn’t understand we were under control so didn’t try to explain, I just overpowered them with a burp of throttle, pushing SURPRISE’s bow up where I needed it to be and let the rudder push the stern to port.   At that point I shouted… ’thanks, but just let go please’.  They did,  I let the last pressure of the well meaning helpers arms push us back a foot or so, then with the helm still hard over gave a burp of forward; SURPRISE stopped, but continued her static turn, spinning to starboard.  Then a burp of astern… then a burp of forward and presto, SURPRISE slid her port side up to the wharf.    One of the helpers said to another ‘Oh, he has a bow thruster’.   I was quite pleased to hear that.



Gord
426 SURPRISE





> On Sep 5, 2022, at 8:32 AM, Gordon Laco via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: Gordon Laco <mainstay at csolve.net>
> Subject: The Rescue
> Date: September 5, 2022 at 8:32:55 AM EDT
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> 
> 
> Hello shipmates, 
> 
> My favourite Joseph Conrad novel is ’The Rescue’.   I’m using it’s name for this story, although this story has absolutely nothing to do with Conrad’s book, other than there’s boats in it, and there’s a rescue.
> 
> So there we were… Early in July setting out for a ten day cruise up the coast sailing in company with X, my long time very good friend, he in his boat with his wife, me in SURPRISE with my wife.  X and I have sailed together for many years since we were room mates in university… I had a CQR anchor which was the most valuable piece of furniture I owned back then.  I bought it because I knew I’d own a boat some day.  We laughed about this while we bored our wives with stories from down memory lane, each of us conscientiously though not always successfully skirting stories about old girlfriends and etc which might make us uncomfortable in current circumstances.    By this time both our wives have already heard or at least surmised our worst stories of debouchery, so I suppose there’s some protection in that.
> 
> Things went well for the first day.  Being in a dead calm, we motored up to a bay we call Eagle Bay, because once on a fall Misery Trip we saw an eagle there eating a raven.  All was peaceful this time and we rafted off each other in the magically beautiful little cove.  The stars were magnificent above us and morning was stunningly lovely complete with a pair of loons catching their breakfast around us while we had ours.
> 
> There was still no breeze, so after hoisting anchor we continued north, ending up at Kilcoursie Bay off Killbear Provincial Park in the approaches to Parry Sound. We planned to go into Parry Sound the next day and stay over at the municipal marina there to have showers and have a meal.  We also like to put word out to that we’re in town to see friends there (hello Marianne) and entertain aboard SURPRISE.   We much like seeing our friends and look forward to it, and of course  the only time we tried to sneak through without telling anybody we got caught.  Anyway, this time it was not to be.
> 
> That evening at Kilcoursie, only the second night of the trip, X came over in his dinghy and confessed they were having engine trouble.  I asked what was happening… he replied his diesel was running fine, but had started slowing down and stalling.  After a wait, it would run but the same thing would happen, and again, but each time with a shorter cycle.  Hmm… said I.  I’ve heard of diesels doing that when they’re overheating.  Were you overheating?  ‘I don’t know’ was the reply.  ‘I never look at the gauges, don’t even know if they work’.  What?!  
> 
> We started up the engine… in short order the coolant temperature gauge shot up off the scale.  We shut the engine down.  I asked when the last time the water pump impeller had been changed…. ’never’ was the reply… ‘but I do carry a spare’.  I went back to my boat with X saying as I went over the side ‘I’ll change it now’.
> 
> Back aboard SURPRISE we heard hammering coming from over the water.  Hammering.  What could that have to do with changing a water pump impeller?  Well quite a lot as it transpired.  X confessed in the morning  that he’d destroyed the pump by pulling out the drive spindle with the impeller… some broken piece of metal came out with it.  We decided we needed to tow him to the nearest marina with mechanical services…. that was Killbear Marina, only a couple of nautical miles away around Killbear’s peninsula.
> 
> At Killbear the mechanic diagnosed a destroyed water pump, but also mumbled the dread words ‘catastrophic engine breakdown’.  The crank case was full of water emulsified into the oil, and really full, coming out of the dip stick tube. Cooling water was getting into the crank case.  The overheating had blown the head gasket at least, but quite likely also warped or cracked the engine’s head casting.  
> 
> The marina was screaming busy with emergencies along with X’s, so we left the boat there.  X and wife returned home while Caroline and I continued our cruise.  
> 
> After several false starts and hopeful waits in the intervening weeks, this past weekend X decided he needed to get his boat to his home marina and have the engine removed and rebuilt over the winter.  I offered to tow him down the coast with SURPRISE.  A rescue operation.  
> 
> So Thursday afternoon, we set off in SURPRISE for Killbear, motoring again, but that was OK because we had a long way to go and plowing along at 6.4 knots really covers the miles.  We easily made it up to Indian Harbour for supper.  We got the hook up at 0700 Friday morning and before lunch were at Killbear Marina; the fastest passage we’ve ever made up there.  Of course we can’t count that as a fast passage because we motored the whole way and motoring is just pushing up the throttle and steering, no skill involved.  
> 
> I should add that before embarking on this trip, I gave our Atomic IV a tune up and oil change, figuring it was going to get a work out and wanting  to forestall any difficulties.
> 
> At Killbear Marina, we found X and his son in law concluding business with the marina.  They towed him out, we took the line and started south for home after lunch on Friday.   I decided that I’d run the engine at the same 1400rpm we used for cruising and take our lumps as it were with regard to loss of speed with the yacht in tow.  1400 gives us 6.4 knots, but with an 11,000lbs Invader 36 at the end of the tow line, we only did 4.4 knots.  Well so be it.  Off we went.
> 
> Naturally a 20 knots southerly had sprung up while we were coming north, so now that we were going south we had it in our teeth.  Towing speed dropped to 3.4,  but came back up when we were in flat water.     We made it down to Eagle Bay for supper, and rafted up there for cocktails and BBQ’d supper.  
> 
> In the morning we set off again.  This being Saturday of Labour Day weekend, we began seeing many boats motoring north in the inside passage, a few of whom we knew from our club.  I told X I was going to hang a sign on our boom which read ‘LOOK WHAT WE CAUGHT’.   He didn’t think that was as funny as I did.  I also made a big thing of pretending we drew less water than he did, and threatened to tow him across shoals to test how much less we actually drew.  He didn’t think that was funny either.
> 
> We hummed down to Indian Harbour, arriving just after lunch but that was a lot of motoring so we decided to stop there.  As we came into the northern entrance to that popular anchorage, towing our prize, we passed a friend from our club who pointed to X astern of us and shouted ‘What some people will do to save a buck’.  Well I suppose that was a bit of a cutting remark because X was facing a complete engine rebuild this winter, but he grinned bravely.
> 
> We cast him off to anchor himself while we anchored nearby.  We couldn’t raft up there because of idiot motorboat traffic which sometimes roars through making wakes that might have clanged our masts together.  And I’d read online that just the weekend before a fellow had been arrested after zooming around Indian Harbour in a large high-powered speed boat, stark naked, yodeling and firing distress flares, the later not always upwards.  I have hoped to see something like that again, but the night was peaceful.
> 
> In the morning we had a weird east winch… wahoo, favourable for the last day’s run down the coast back to Midland.  After a conference, we decided we’d sail, and that X would sail off his anchor all by himself, something he’d never done.  He’d crewed for me for decades, but this was his first boat and being in charge isn’t the same as following orders.
> 
> He got away cleanly and away we went romping down the coast in a building breeze.  SURPRISE stayed up over 6 knots the whole way home, what a relief from moaning along under power with a boat larger than us astern on the tow line.
> 
> We got X into his slip at his marina, put SURPRISE back into hers at the club, had a great dinner and today we do nothing.  Wonderful. 
> 
> SURPRISE and her engine did really well hauling that big boat a long way.  X is talking to the marina tomorrow when the mechanical guys are back about pulling his engine and starting the rebuild.  He’ll be back crewing aboard SURPRISE for the Misery Trip instead of at the helm of his own boat, but there’s always next year.
> 
> Gordon Laco
> 426 SURPRISE
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> These businesses support your Association:
> http://www.alberg30.org/store/A30supporters.html
> Please support them.
> _______________________________________________
> Public-List mailing list
> Public-List at lists.alberg30.org
> http://lists.alberg30.org/listinfo.cgi/public-list-alberg30.org