When Sailing Becomes An Adventure In Diesel Repairs

There is too much to cover in one blog post since the last time I wrote, so this will only be about Nomad’s latest misadventures. Later posts will be slightly out of chronological order covering the last haul out, returning to Texas after a decade of sailing, and restitching the sails in the Dominican Republic. This was to be Nomad's record setting, slowest ever trip taking twenty four days to travel 1681nm. Mindful of the impending hurricane season and the limited time for sailing in the north Nomad sailed out of Luperon near the end of June. The plan was to sail through the Turks and skirt the edge of the high pressure area motor sailing as needed and ride the south edge of the Gulf Stream until it was time to cross it and steer for Newfoundland. It didn’t happen quite as planned… Two days into the voyage it was time for a little motor sailing to keep a safe distance off the east end of Mayaguana island which was a lee shore. All was going well until the engine room suddenly filled with smoke and water. Upon shutting down the engine and clearing the air I found that the exhaust pipe had broken and the entire contents of the exhaust were spraying into the engine room. Fortunately I had some spare parts in the bilge and was able to replace the broken piece. Problem solved and back to motoring now that we were getting closer to Mayaguana. After warming up at low rpm and gradually increasing to cruising rpm the engine promptly overheated and blew out it’s coolant. This has been an ongoing problem since leaving Texas and I thought it was cured by replacing a bad bearing in the water pump. This problem was apparently cured but I was only able to test it by backing against the anchor and not under a full load. It wasn’t the only problem! After clearing the lee shore at the east end of Mayaguana late at night I set about getting the engine back to working the next day.

The wind and seas were becoming calm as expected with the summer high pressure reaching nearly to Cape Hatteras. This made good conditions for working on the engine but not so good for sailing. Finding apparently nothing wrong I refilled the coolant and topped it off with the engine running at half throttle. It was running ok so I put the cap back on the heat exchanger but withing a few minutes the engine room was full of steam from the blow by pipe and nothing in the coolant overflow. Pulling the dipstick showed all the coolant had relocated to the oil pan. Time to let it cool down and work on it the next day.

Well into the doldrums now, progress was painfully slow under sail, around twenty miles a day, most of it during the sunrise squalls. There was one day where I logged one mile going in circles. Fortunately there was little swell so I was able to keep the sails up and move a little whenever there was the slightest breeze. Upon reflection of the motor’s problems I decided that it either had to be the head gasket or a crack in the head or block. With nothing to do but try to fix it while drifting about I set about pulling the head. There had been some fuel seepage at one of the injectors and the fuel return line was the culprit here, it cracked open as I removed it. The head and block looked ok but the sealing material on the gasket had turned to a grey goo and I could see where the water was leaking into the oil gallery. I did not have a spare head gasket so I cleaned up the old one and coated it with rtv silicone and re assembled the engine and changed the oil. I filled everything up and started the engine. Everything looked good so I brought it up to operating temperature. So far, so good...no change in the water level. So I put the cap the expansion tank and it promptly sent all the water into the oil pan and filled the engine room with steam again. That was enough for one day.

This was more serious than a head gasket problem. The engine ran well,it just couldn’t keep it’s coolant where it belonged. I dried out the engine and changed the oil again. It could be run dry thirty to forty seconds if I needed it to avoid a collision but other than for a very limited emergency use Nomad was now purely a sailing vessel. Seventeen days into what should have been a three week trip and only 1215 miles traveled so far I realized that it would likely be another three weeks getting to Newfoundland. This was early July by now and the weather fax was showing a tropical storm forming off of Florida while I was drifting about trying to catch a breeze. Coupled with concerns that people would begin to worry about my whereabouts if I was to continue on to Newfoundland and being more than a month overdue on a relatively short trip, I decided to change course for the Chesapeake bay. Coupled with easier access to parts or possibly another engine this was the logical but highly disappointing choice. I had to coax Nomad to within two hundred miles of Cape Hatteras to get some wind and the Gulf Stream current.

Eventually Nomad found the wind and had a nice sail for a couple days and then the wind stopped again leaving me drifting about the traffic lanes at the entrance to the Chesapeake bay for almost four days. After two attempts to cross the Bay Bridge tunnel gap the wind returned as I turned towards Hampton roads. During this time drifting around the entrance there was intermittent and very weak cell service but it was enough to get some messages out. I connected with Steve Nelson of the Colvin Owners group on Facebook to see if he had space on his dock for another schooner. He did and came out in his dinghy with a very powerful outboard and met me as I got near Hampton roads. The wind died again when we got inside. With the dinghy lashed alongside we were still able to make a couple knots against the now ebbing tide. Well after sunset we arrived in Portsmouth with no further problems and Steve piloted us through the poorly marked creek to his dock.

A new head gasket and fuel pipe was ordered and while waiting for it to arrive I got busy with the prep work taking the head off and getting everything cleaned up. It was decided that it would be good to have the head re surfaced for flatness and check it for cracks. As I was cleaning it up to take it to the machine shop I discovered that one of the freeze plugs under the rocker arms had rusted through when my screwdriver with a bit of rag on the end went right through it when I tried to scrape some debris out of it. This is where my coolant had been draining out of the system even with the engine off. The parts arrived and the motor was put back together, running better than it ever has done before. With all the new parts arriving late it was no longer possible to make it to the Arctic this year as I was two thousand miles away from where I should have been at this time. Try again next year…That trip will begin again in the springtime.

A decidedly un-nomadic few years is over with

 

The last blog post is dated at the end of 2019 so I  am more than a little  overdue for an update. There were no traveling  stories to tell for the pandemic  times, then I  got too busy to write when the traveling  life resumed.

Nomad departing Suriname.

Lunch break while biking near Domburg.

With Nomad safely  moored in Domburg I  went to the USA  to do some jobs and catch up with family and friends, returning  on the first day of 2020.  A few months were spent doing maintenance, meeting up with friends and touring the Suriname river. With my three month tourist visa expiring at the end of March it was time to move on. I decided on Martinique  as the next port of call to meet up with my friends on Fai Tira and find a boatyard  to haul out for a bottom painting before heading north in the springtime.  It was an uneventful  six hundred miles to the anchorage  at St Anne's. Little did I know that this would be Nomad's last sail for nearly two years!

Enroute to Martinique.

I was searching  for a suitable  place to leave Nomad so I  could position  myself  to be ready for an upcoming  delivery job when the call came in that it was being postponed  indefinitely  due to the burgeoning  pandemic. It was a very fortunate  bit of timing as the world locked down on travel a few days later. Had I departed I would  have been trapped  in the USA with no way to return home!

 Martinique  turned out to be a very fortuitous  choice for an unplanned  extended stay. With the reasonable  cost of living and laid back culture those of us who spent the pandemic in Martinique on our boats  were far better off than cruisers in many other countries. 

So what does one do for 21 months in a harbor on an island when going ashore becomes a high risk activity? Weekly bottom  scrubbing  as I  was overdue for fresh bottom  paint. Making new friends and helping them fix and build things. Make a junk rig sail for the dinghy. Dinners with a small close group of friends. Late night urban foraging.  Trying to keep Nomad from rusting  away in the endless  tropical rains. And so much more. Some of these activities are interesting  enough to warrant their own story on the blog and  will be the subject  of upcoming posts.

Sunset over Diamond Rock.

Local racing boat.

Not much bottom paint left!

Red land crab .

Beach hiking near St Anne's. 

Late November of 2021 travel restrictions  began to moderate and I was able to gain entry to Carriacou  with additional  paperwork  and testing  requirements . It was an all too brief but uneventful sail from Martinique  with only a broken batten to repair on arrival.  Immediately  after being processed  through the quarantine anchorage and clearing in I  got quotes from both boatyards and began to source materials for the  haulout.  Within  couple weeks of arrival Nomad was on dry land for her much needed bottom  job. As boat projects frequently  do  it grew from a quick bottom  painting job to a 137 day marathon of boat projects which will  be the topic of the next blog post.

Hauling out in Carriacou 

The Gambia and Transatlantic to Suriname

Nomad sailed with the tide from Dakar arriving at Banjul the following day. This being familiar territory, I anchored carefully between the wrecks as close as I could get to the fishing boat wharf and went ashore quickly hoping to finish formalities the same afternoon. But it was just too late in the day to get it all done even with the head of port security driving me around in his car, so I had to make a second trip ashore the next morning to finish up with immigration. This was challenging as the floating docks had been damaged and the only way to get in was to tie the dinghy to one of the fishing boats and climb over it to get up on the dock. The last bit of paperwork was done before the tide turned so there was time for a trip to the market and to the beach on the other side of Banjul to pick up some fresh smoked catfish.

The north shore of Banjul.

Picking up the anchor with fair tide behind me made short work of the last few miles to my preferred anchorage near Lamin Lodge.  I set anchor near friends on Fai Tira and while finishing that task a boat approached Nomad. “You have been here before?” It was G(Gibril) who I knew casually from my previous visit a few years ago. I asked about my friend Alex as I was not making connections online and he said he would let him know that I was here . It was like a family reunion when he arrived a short time later. Catching up with friends is truly one of the highlights of the nomadic lifestyle!

Alex stopping  by for a visit.

The road to Lamin 

Lamin Lodge from the land side.

 Soon after Fai Tira set off across the Atlantic,  Nomad went to to Mandori Creek to begin a much needed paint job.

Sunset on Mandori creek. 

Nomad anchored at Mandori creek.

Underway on Mandori Creek

 With the prep work done it was time to move upriver to the fresh water for a good wash before re the new paint was applied.  The new bridge at the Farafenni (Yerritenda) ferry crossing was completed and recently  opened. The reported clearance is 15 to 18 meters depending on the tide.

The new bridge across the Gambia river at the Yerritenda ferry crossing.

Near Farafenni.

Nomad anchored on the shoals one mile upstream of the bridge. I went ashore to Farafenni to get my monthly immigration stamp in the passport before resuming my upriver journey. A few days later I was anchored near Sea Horse Island and spent a hot(43C), pleasant week painting Nomad’s topsides. I had chosen this location not only for the nearly fresh water, but because it was near Sambang where there were friends from the last visit to The Gambia. Communication is intermittent at best upriver and I was unable to make contact. Being unwilling to hike several kilometers inland to reach the village to find out if they were still there I began the slow process of working the tides back downriver.

Another beautiful sunset on the Gambia river at Sea Horse Island.

At this time of the tide cycle the ebb tide was in the morning and evening  hours leaving me with about five to six hours at anchor midday  waiting for the flood tide to end. It was during one of these  mid afternoon breaks anchored upriver from the Yerritenda ferry crossing that there was a knock on the hull. There were some fishermen  in a dugout who had a net drifting  down on Nomad in the current. I hurriedly  raised the anchor just off the bottom  and dragged it into deeper water just getting  clear of the drift net by a few meters.  The fishermen stopped  by again  after the anchor was reset and gave me a couple of fish for dinner. It was otherwise an uneventful  trip downriver until I reached James island. 

Gambian fisherman at work.

Anchored near Salikenni point. One of the few places in the North Bank Region without mangroves and easy shore access.

The tour boat from Lamin Lodge on the river.

 The afternoon  breeze blowing  upriver  against the ebbing tide was creating  large waves, some of them washing over the bow as Nomad plunged into  them. This was a bit much  bouncing around as the boat was not prepared for offshore  conditions  in the river. I worked my way into  the lee of Dog Island Point and anchored  to await the morning calm. At sunrise the next morning  the anchor was raised and the last few miles to Lamin Bolong were easily done in nearly windless conditions.  At anchor once again  at Lamin Lodge the deck painting  was finished and I began preparations  for Nomads next Atlantic  crossing.

Nomad looking great with all new paint.

Lamin delivering a load of water. With the watermaker  in need of new membranes, drinking water had to be carried to the boat.

Monkeys on the dock at Lamin Lodge.

 One afternoon I got a note on Messenger from a friend I had been trying to contact while upriver. It was Samba who had welcomed me and my friends into his compound  during my last visit to The Gambia.  He was nearby so we quickly arranged a meeting  place at Lamin Lodge.  Samba accompanied me and Lamin looking for bamboo  to replace some broken battens and took some ( rare) pictures of me. All too soon it was time to clear out of The Gambia  and begin the voyage to Suriname before the hurricanes start forming up.

Samba visiting on Nomad.

Carrying some fresh six meter bamboo poles back to the dinghy.

Powerplant ships providing electricity to Banjul.

 Once Nomad was a few hundred miles offshore  and into the tradewinds  life settled into  an easy routine that continued for several weeks. It was rainy season in South America. Unlike the last trip where the rains didn't  start until I  reached  the sea bouy off Paramaribo,  on this trip I ran into  the ITCZ north of the Brazilian  coast making the last week of the voyage very wet and squally. The rain at times was so heavy that I could not see the jib from the aft cabin. It was during this time that the wind generator stopped working necessitating  a daily generator  runs since there was no sunshine  for the solar panels. As I  closed the coast the wind died out completely so the last few miles were completed under engine power.

 Ten miles northeast of the sea buoy  the engine was shut down to enjoy  the silence of the calm ocean while awaiting a fair tide to enter the Suriname  river. With the flood current behind her, Nomad made short work of the long ride upriver to the anchorage at Domburg.  With formalities  completed and my body clock accustomed to staying awake all day again it was time to get some maintenance  and repairs done. Suriname is at five degrees north putting it well South of the hurricane  zone. This makes it an excellent  safe place to spend the summer and leave the boat unattended  while I  return to the USA  to find some jobs.
  http://marinasuriname.com/en/home.html
This was Nomads second trip to Suriname so I  decided  to visit someplace  new. The end of navigation for sailboats on the Suriname river is a few miles above Paranam  where a short bridge closes the river to tall vessels. This was a quiet anchorage  where I  spent a week doing repairs  and watching  the abundant  wildlife . From here it was a few short hours downriver to Domburg  where Nomad was placed on a mooring and laid  up for the season to await my return.

End of the road for sailboats on Suriname river. 

Suriname river sand barge.

Southbound to Africa

It was easy sailing to Gran Canaria from Porto Santo. Nomad anchored and cleared in at the ever popular harbor at Las Palmas. This is a great place for connecting with friends and stocking up the boat before moving on to Africa. With marine supplies readily available it is also a good place to do some boat projects. I carried on with the interminable task of recaulking Nomad’s seventeen portholes and purchased enough caulk to finish the job. The dinghy hasn’t had a sailing rig on it since it was on my last boat. I fiber glassed in waterproof seats  for flotation.  It is now unsinkable even without the fenders under the center seat, so I began building the sailing rig for it. There is a charge for staying at the Las Palmas anchorage, so I moved around the island to the free and very rolly anchorage at Puerto Cementero.  I finished building the sailing rig for the dinghy and tested it out. It was great fun to sail it again but the rig is really too tall making it very unstable. It needs to be shortened quite a bit or more likely replaced with a smaller junk rig sail. I once again met up with friends on Fai Tira. They sailed directly for The Gambia the day before I departed, arriving a week before Nomad.

TThe anchorage in Las Palmas is used by big and little sailboats.

Nomad's sailing dinghy with an oversized rig.

Brisk sailing down the east coast of Gran Canaria

Sailing south from Gran Canaria one can stay in the  lee of the island and out out of the acceleration zone for some distance but eventually that ends and you get the big winds with no warning.  In retrospect this was not the best course as the wave trains wrap around the sides of Gran Canaria and meet south of it causing very steep waves running into each other and breaking vertically. This made for some uncomfortable sailing into the next day until I was well south of the Canary islands. It’s also one of the few times Nomad has had waves breaking over her stern.
Arriving off the coast of Dakhla Morocco in a near calm the wind became a brisk southerly as I was crossing the shoals into the bay. This south wind also brought with it a nice one meter swell into the fishing boat harbour which is open to the south. Another sailboat rafted off to Nomad using non stretchy halyards to tie  up with. This cracked a weld on Nomad’s starboard bulwark. I told him to get his boat off immediately, but he had to get a diver to cut a line off his propeller. The officials agreed that it was too dangerous to stay on the wharf in those conditions so I went to anchor behind the port until the south wind stopped. While waiting for my neighbor to get his prop cleared the tide was coming in and lifting Nomad’s rub rails over the top of the ship sized fenders allowing them to put a few dents in the hull. It’s really good to have a tough steel boat!

Anchored in the lee of the Dakhla fishing boat harbour.

Rafted up in calmer conditions at Dakhla.

Moroccan fishing boat.

There's space for everyone in Dakhla.

Dakhla

Dakhla mosque.

The fisherman's  ddwharf doubles captionas a boatyard.

Sea going hitchhiker.

Fresh sardines 

Checking out the local motorcycle shop.

When the weather settled I put Nomad back in the fishing harbour rafted off to the same tug that I tied to on my last visit and finished the clearing in process. I enjoyed a few days walking around Dakhla sampling a few restaurants and stocking Nomad’s galley with fresh olive oil and a few kilos on Moroccan olives.

Fresh Moroccan supplies for the galley.

The weather forecast showed the prevailing notherlies had returned so I cleared out for Dakar.  Nomad’s departure was as challenging as her arrival. The officials gave me the ok to get underway, then another arrived and wanted to take some paperwork back to his office. By the time he returned the afternoon winds had filled in and I was pinned firmly to the tugboat. Every possible maneuver was tried but Nomad’s little 30hp motor just couldn’t pull her out. The tug need to get out, so he got underway with Nomad still firmly pinned to his side then made a sharp turn to throw my stern clear of the boats behind us. Free of the harbour at last I noticed that the engine cooling water was a mere trickle. The engine had sucked up one of the thousands of pieces plastic garbage floating in the harbour. It was really good to get the sails up and reach the safety of the ocean!
Nomad anchored in Dakar Senegal off the Cercle de la Voile yacht club for a brief rest from the non-stop fishing boat traffic coming down the coast.Clearing into Senegal has become slightly easier since my last visit, only a stamp in the passport instead of a full page visa.

The wind is so consistent that only one stand is needed on the upwind side on the beach in Dakar.

Dakar bus stop.

The distinctive hotel behind the yacht club.

Fresh fish going to the market.

Dinghy dock at Cercle de la Voile.

The beach at Plage de Hann