2014 Entering the Caribbean

Malua is provisioned. The new crew Christine is aboard and we are ready to checkout of the USA which is done by phone however it was a long weekend - Presidents Day so no Government office was open to take my call. Eventually I found a number in Maryland that had a recording so I left the details. If they spent an equal effort on exit as entry the Americans would have a balanced system. Say no more.
We left Portsmouth in overcast conditions and a bitterly cold wind from the north but after a few hours we turned down the channel and past the breakwaters and the wind turned on our beam. What a relief but the autopilot was playing up when the sails where not set correctly.  We sailed south down the Virginian coast towards the infamous Cape Hatteras.  We were just out of sight of land through the dull and misty conditions but I could see our tracks on the plotter.  The first night was a lot warmer than I had expected and the sea quite calm.  I had decided to stay close to the mainland and follow the coast south until I reached Cape Hatteras then turn south east and try to cut across the Gulf Stream.  As the sun set the true cold descended on us.  I was well dressed but the crew assured me she had suitable thermal layers but still insisted in taking her blanket into the cockpit.  It was becoming clear to me that she had little real experience so I stayed in the cockpit during her watch.
At dawn the sun tried to come through the low blanket cloud.  We where approaching the Gulf Stream. The water was still cold in the 10 C range.  Then we hit the real warm water flowing north.  The water temp jumped almost ten degrees and along with it the mist and the short chop of wind against current: the seafarers worst nightmare.  Malua handled the conditions well under power but the short period between the waves meant that we took quite a lot of water over the bow.  Thankfully it washed off the decks before it got to the hard dogger.

Water inflow

At the 0800 the Magellan net started.  Most of the vessel where under way spread over the Caribbean.  I called in and stated that we where making good progress south after a hard time getting into the Gulf Stream.  Malua had hit a short chop and the water was still coming over the bow.  I left the radio and moved forward to check the vessel.  As I stepped into the forward cabin my leg went up to the knee in ice cold water.  The cabin was flooded and water was coming in from the forward head.  It was rushing in.  I returned to the radio and called the controller to please stand bye there was uncontrolled sea water entering Malua.  There was a collective gasp as those listening realised my predicament.
I returned to the forward head believing the water was coming from a burst through hull.  I first had to take all the sails out of the head, then the other things stored forward.  The water was still streaming in from behind the head where the pipes are connected.  I could not see so had to get the underwater torch/flashlight to shine the light through the water to see the through hull.  I pulled and pushed and all seemed to be OK.  I then opened the cupboard door above the head and there found a breather pipe coming from the chain locker streaming water,  Yes a two inch pipe with three pressure hoses through it but streaming water.  I had found the source of the water and it was above the water line.  I contacted the net controller and stated that the water source had been found, the pumps where holding the water level all I had to do was stop the water coming in.  Quite simple in fact.  I had stored two large fender in the chain locker.  As Malua had pushed through the short sea a few waves had come over the bow and filled the self draining locker with water.  The fenders had floated up and forced the hatch open, in came the water faster than the self draining holes could exit the water.  OK, remove the fenders secure the hatch cover and wait for the water to drain.  It did not take very long to drain the anchor locker and with that the breather pipe came clear of the water and the water stopped coming into the forward head. I forced a rag into the gaps, hopefully impeding any future water flow.
Now to clean up the mess.  Open the drain hole into the bilge and bail the water out of the forward cabin (which does not have a drain to the bilge) and get the wet sail off the bunk back onto the floor. What a mess. Everything was wet with cold cold water.  It took a few sessions to clear and dry the mess but there was no change of opening the hatches at this stage due to the cloudy weather and the unsettled sea.

Storm

The following morning on the Magellan net our weather forecaster Mark warned me of an impending storm.  “Don't worry it will arrive later today but only last 12 hours.”  Great news but what can you do when you are far from land.  Prepare all the systems get a good wind angle and go with the flow. We were no under the wind vane and having the wind on the beam made Malua romp along which we did all day under cloudy conditions.  I did not trust the new crew even though she stood watch I was up almost every hour just to check.

Autopilot

The day dawned and I set about solving the autohelm problem as the sea subsided and the wind dropped.  I had been through all the obvious settings issues regarding sea state, conditions and response times and that had not improved the situation.  I had also checked the connections in the obvious positions there was only one connection left to check and that was right next to the drive unit under the aft lazzerete.  I had to crawl over the generator and stretch to the port to reach the wires which are in-cased in shrink wrap shield.  That had to come off before I could check the crimp connections.  All appeared Ok but in these situations you don't check you change.  So I set about cutting the four wires leading to the power unit and re-crimping them.  That done it was heat shrink and taping up to make them water proof again.  After four hour the autopilot had not missed a beat and thankfully Malua was again under reliable auto command.
The winded dropped and on came the engine heading for the Bahamas.  That situation continued for eight days through flat seas and no wind so we decided not to stop but turn the bow towards Cuba. Would we have enough fuel to make the 1500 nautical miles to Cuba or would the wind assist us cover the distance?

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