Due to ongoing delays in getting planning for the dairy, Treo spent the winter at Whooley's Boatyard. Tiernan from Roeboats launched her on Thursday evening and put her on a mooring in Roaringwater Bay. The weather is not looking good for the weekend and Con will be needing his moorings until Monday, so I suggested to Tiernan that we bring her to Baltimore ourselves on Tuesday. I sense that he is quite busy at the moment and might appreciate not having to bring the boat over, and since our trips up the Ilen and over to Hier Island last year gave us some confidence with the north entrance to Baltimore Harbour, it feels like we are ready for this. The only slightly worrying thing is getting out past all those mussel farms.
 |
| Lisheen Pier |
We arrive at the pier, unload everything, and try to find a place to leave the car. We inflate the dinghy and carry it down to the water. Wasn't bad to inflate it with the foot pump after all, as long as you're not in too big of a hurry. It floats and doesn't seem to have any leaks, so we load it up with all our gear. I'm elected to row us and all the gear out to the boat, and it's a very long way! At last we get to the boat and transfer all the bags of stuff. Eileen and Laura are busy storing things below while I look things over, and prepare for sea. Last year I made a checklist for departure and found it to be a great help. Don't have to worry if you forgot something. Now I make a point of adding to and refining that list.
Nearly ready to go. Just need to start the engine and then we can cast off. Kill cord, oil, fuel, breather cap, primer, choke, throttle, no lines in the water. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check. Pull the start handle, and the engine starts on the second try but quits after a few seconds. Probably because it's been sitting all winter. Check the throttle position, try a bit less choke, and pull. Doesn't start. Pull a few more times but no good. Maybe it's flooded now? Let it rest for a minute or two as bad thoughts start creeping in. What if it doesn't start? Of course it will start! Why wouldn't it start!? Repeat the process with less throttle, same thing. Runs for a second and stalls. Look for fuel leaks or anything suspicious and try again. Nothing. Verify tank breather is open, but then open the filler cap completely just to be sure it's not an air lock problem. Same thing. Now the bad thoughts are getting louder and I can't block them out. Not only is there the terrible disappointment that we would have to deal with, but there are practical considerations too. What if we can't leave the boat here? Laura is starting to get uneasy and doesn't want to head off on a boat with an unreliable engine. Neither do I, but this engine has always been perfectly reliable and this just doesn't make sense.
We started off from Creagh later than planned this morning, so now it's well past lunch time. We were going to eat our sandwiches on the way to Baltimore, but it seems like a good idea to eat them now. That will give us some time to calmly deal with the bad thoughts and come up with a Plan B. And who knows, maybe it is just flooded and will sort itself out. We eat our sandwiches while going over everything again. What could it be? It started on the second pull, then died after a few seconds. Has to be fuel related, but the tank is full. Blocked fuel filter? Bad fuel? Water in the tank? Strange because Tiernan brought the boat over a few days ago and would have said if the engine was acting up in any way.
What about a Plan B? Can the boat stay on the mooring? If yes, then we could take the engine off and dinghy it ashore and put it in the boot of the car and take it to Diarmuid. Or maybe Diarmuid could come over in his rib? If it can't stay here then maybe Con could tow us to Baltimore? Has to be fuel related. We won't be able to sail out of here with a west wind and those lines of barrels in the water. Not enough room to tack between them. Maybe I'll text Tiernan in case he has an idea. I describe the situation and he quickly replies, asking if we checked the kill cord and fuel tap. Of course we did, ten times! I carefully check the fuel tap again and realise that it is in the wrong position... I had been sure that left was for the external tank and right the internal tank, with "off" in the middle. Logical, right? Maybe so, but wrong!!! Oh crap, the middle setting is for the internal tank and right is "off"... Try again, and the engine starts right up and runs perfectly. Boy, talk about feeling stupid, a right thick eejit as they would say around here. But what a relief!
We motor out towards the pier and then head southwest, directly into the wind and towards the start of the long parallel rows of floating barrels. We saw a boat going out earlier and try to head in the same general direction. Between the binoculars and Navionics on the iPad, we pick a corridor between two lines of barrels and head for open sea. My biggest fear is getting caught in a dead end and having to run between barrels and possibly pick up a rope in the prop. But so far so good. The sea gets choppier as we clear the mussel farms and pass between Mannin Island and Carraigbhiglas, but we keep on motoring into the headwind.
Finally we can head south towards Goose Island channel, and I'm looking forward to getting the sails out. Before doing that I take a look around with the binoculars and spot a large flock of sailing dinghies just north of Heir Island. They seem to be racing so we decide to leave the engine on, and wait until we've threaded through them to hoist our own sails. Just as we approach the fleet, our engine quits. Panic! Do something quick! Are we out of fuel? A bit of headless chickening ensues. Laura reports that she has lost steerage, we are drifting on the tide. Thankfully the dinghies are clearing off in front of us. Eileen wants me to refuel quick. The tide is carrying us towards the rock-strewn gap between Heir Island and Cunnamore. I go for the jerry can and start to pour, but then change my mind. What if we’re not out of fuel and engine still doesn't start? Best to get some sail up. I go forward and hoist the staysail. Laura almost immediately reports that she has regained steerage. Whew! With things back under control, I add some fuel to the tank and give it a tug. It starts right away. We turn it off and sail the rest of the way to Baltimore. An eventful trip, and a good lesson in having sails ready to hoist when motoring. Should probably have prepared the anchor as well, just in case. We put our dinghy on the inner pontoon and text Diarmuid to say we'll come by tomorrow to pay.
 |
| Yacht Inishbeg (right) in North Harbour, Cape Clear |
Con is taking an American couple out for a half-day sailing on Inishbeg, and asks if we would all like to come along. They are hesitating between cruising up the Ilen River or looking for dolphins in Roaringwater Bay. Finally they choose dolphins. Nathaniel is given the helm at one point, and says his dream has come true! We stop off in Cape for coffee and I'm blown away by Con's incredible boat handling to get us into the inner harbour. We return to Baltimore passing through the Gascanane Sound and outside of Sherkin. Conditions are a bit tricky with the wind aft and a fair bit of swell, so we have to be careful of gybing. An exhilarating bit of sailing. The dolphins have been shy so far, but finally just before entering the harbour we see a few in the distance. A fabulous afternoon!
We accompany our friends for a little bit of their journey as they head farther west, going as far as Gougane Barra, where we have a lovely hike in the woods and finally leave them at Glengarriff.
Logbook
Tuesday, 12/07/2016
Roaringwater to Baltimore
R, E, & L
Baro 1016 rising slowly
Partly cloudy, dry
Wind F3 gusting to F5
No comments:
Post a Comment