Crossings are nothing….Landfalls are hard!!!

Crossings are nothing….Landfalls are hard!!!

The final leg of our cruise was a crossing from the Abacos in the Bahamas to North Carolina where we intended to haul Mupepe out of the water and store her on land for the next few months while I return to my business.

While in Bahamas, the 7 days weather forecast was for very light winds and no favorable wind as a high pressure system settled over the Bahamas and southern Florida. Not having the luxury of time we headed out to sea. Motor sailing until we got in the heart of the high pressure and motored for a day and a night on calm sea but at the northern edge of the weather system we finally found some wind and had a good sail for 10 hours on still flat seas, but then the wind direction changed and we no longer could lay Charleston, still about fifty miles away. The crew choice after 3 days and 2 nights at sea was to end this crossing sooner then latter so the motor came back on. About 10 miles from the port entrance, the engine started squealing like a stuck pig, the v belt was worn and slipping. I had a new belt hanging in the engine compartment waiting just for such occasion but at installation, I found out I was sold the wrong size belt, it was even longer then my worn out belt. A worn belt is better then no belt at all, so the old one was reinstalled but now we had to sail in and save the engine use for emergency. We made into port under sail but we were still in the shipping lane when the tide reversed on us and all of sudden our boat speed dropped from 4 knots to less then one half and we started loosing steerage. I did spend the last hour with my head in the engine room pouring some water on the belt to keep it from overheating. It was a great relief when the anchor went down at 2 am.

After 2 glorious sunny days visiting old Charleston and repairing Mupepe we where ready to go again, We had one good day forecasted before a predicted gale, so we sailed to Georgetown 60 miles to the North, where we went in and continued our journey in the Intra Coastal Waterway. The waterway is like a winding river and must be motored. While underway I noticed my bilge pump coming on a couple of times, investigating the source of the leak I discovered that my engine was overflowing with cooling water, a leak had occurred in the heat exchanger. The overflow was running out of the radiator cap onto the alternator and the salt water did not take long to short it and drain the power out of my batteries, it is a good thing that a diesel motor do not need electric once running. Mupepe made it to Wrightsville Beach where we where to meet our friends Dick and Patty. They had taken a motel room for the weekend so we brought our batteries to their room and recharged them, giving us enough power to end the trip 2 days latter. It was real relief to tie up at Bocks Marine docks.

That night our cat Harley was enjoying land for the first time in 3 month and in the middle of the night we heard cat fighting and screaming. Next morning she was nowhere to be seen, Eileen asked everyone in the yard to keep an eye for her and she made signs that we posted around the yard , 3 days latter she was found dead, floating in a slip. A very difficult and sad landfall to end our long journey home.

Hauled out at Bock Marine