Okay, it was a great start to our trip. We left HHN right at six o'clock as planned. The tide was very high so we motored out over the bar. Then we noticed a funny smell coming from the engine. Upon inspection we discovered the fan belt had failed. No worries. We had a spare onboard. After a quick install we set sails and started up the bay. We were doing a constant 5.5 to 6 kts and passed under the bay bridge in record time. The winds continued to build a bit and we had a great sail. Just after we passed Rock Hall to the east the winds started to die a bit and the tide changed against us. But we carried on doing 3.5 to 4 kts. About mid afternoon we decided to motor a while as we needed to enter the C%D canal with a favorable current. Disaster struck then. The spare fan belt failed as well. So we called Georgetown Yacht Basin and sure enough they had one. We did the transaction over the phone and the guy said he would leave the new belt in a dock box and gave us the combo. We set the chute and flew up to the Sassafras and turned into the river under cutter rig. Dropped the anchor about a mile from the yacht basin and Capt Dave took the dink to the dock and retrieved the belt. A quick installation and test run proved all was okay. We ate supper on the hook and sat and chatted in the cockpit until ten. Then it was lights out.
Total miles today was about 50nm almost entirely under sail. Great first day except for the motor issue.
More later today when we finalize our plans for today.
No comments:
Post a Comment