blog5

profile ready to launch

Blog 5 – We have splashed...but wait...there’s more.

In the slings ready for launching

New Years Day is fast approaching and Panacea has seen many of her neighbours launched. A short-term neighbour – Skoal- owned by a guy from New Hampshire had an urgent pullout after launch with some minor repair required and with only a few days before he was to pick up his first charter of the season in Marsh Harbour (in the Abacco Islands). He was ‘pressed’ about getting the repair performed and re-launching – but clearly considered the weather “acceptable” regardless of where the wind was coming from. He was blessed with good weather, as things turned out. He joins a growing number of acquaintances who seem to regard the crossing as very straightforward.  Most of these folk have boats larger, and therefore faster, than our Panacea. The object lesson seems to be that size and speed obviate some of the issues. I wonder how we will fare with the new engine ...perhaps faster? In my dreams anyway.

Our cruising mates are all dealing with ‘maintenance’ issues. Some issues are only minor while others will be holding back their departures. We will be part of (potentially) a four boat flotilla bound for the Bahamas. We had been hoping for a departure in early January and worked very hard to sew up so many issues with that hope in mind.

Back to this blog over a week later and we are launch-ready! It is New Year’s Day and raining steadily. We will be asking to splash when the office re-opens tomorrow. Whew!  Of course it remains to make sure that everything behaves as intended – but our confidence is high. We need to be afloat. And we need to cut back the urgent pace a little. Our beach time has been seriously cut back in recent weeks.

A week later there is further news:

in the water no leaks

We finally got into the water only days before our expected crew (Tristan) would be stepping off his plane from Canada. Close inspection on each Sea-cock revealed a total lack of hull leaks. The engine started right away – but one of the line attendants pointed out that we were blowing bubbles beneath the hull.  Whoops! I had the raw water pump connected wrong – something which was quickly rectified. The next engine run-up was better with the raw water system performing as it should. The so-called “closed-cooling system” did not prime and would not pump anti-freeze through the engine as it should.  I soon realized that the heat exchanger was not mounted on the engine when I received it because it doesn’t plumb in efficiently there. More fixing will be required but we decided to prime the heat exchanger manually so that we could run the engine long enough to drive Panacea to our slip.

We primed and slept –since darkness had fallen. Upon trying to start the engine in the morning we discovered that the engine would not start when we tried it. Anti-freeze was now(at last) in the system and after some cranking, I found traces of it in the intake manifold. Conclusion: “Yikes...a blown head gasket!” This was the problem with the previous engine!

Susan urgently texted Tristan to tell him that we can’t sail out on his arrival. His response to the effect that this won’t be a problem and advising that we get the head gasket for him to install was cheering news. Susan spent the day stowing things and generally making space for the third member of the crew.

changing out head gasket

She also located a supply house for engine parts so that we can get the new gasket on the same trip in which we will be making to pick Tristan up in Ft Lauderdale. Friends from Osprey and Stettler towed Pancea to her new slip. The number of other boats which have towed Panacea continues to grow.... darn-it!

Susan took Trish and the kids (S/V Selkie) to a laundromat while husband Justin performed a cleanup before departure for the Bahamas and home to Ireland.

I spent the day with Victor, re-aligning the prop shaft with his engine on Whisper. They only arrived in Ft Pierce yesterday after serious delays at home and it looks like they could be ready to leave before we do. However things continue to move forward, with progress on all sorts of less urgent boat repairs to fill the days while awaiting the needed parts.

Scotch Mist from Nova Scotia donated some citric acid for the pending engine flush and also had helpful advice about how to recharge the refrigeration system. They have since launched and sailed – and here we sit.

The head gasket recommended on a cruisers forum arrived in less than 2 days from a farm equipment website. Unfortunately it was for a Mitsubishi K4D.  Our particular Westerbeke is a similar Mitsubishi (identifier code unknown to us)– except with a slightly larger cylinder bore so we were disappointed. We would like to re-order – but have yet to locate any identifiers on the engine block.  In desperation we tried to order online from Westerbeke (at nearly triple the price).  Their website gave us a price but refused to complete the transaction and produced screen pop-ups directing us to a company in Miami. The Miami company would not deal with us because they have ‘protected’ agents in Ft. Pierce. The old ‘Merry-Go-Round’ of pre-internet commerce!  Sigh!

One of the Westerbeke agents here in Fort Pierce is the very same fellow who last year declined to assist me with repairs on the old engine, or even to discuss the matter. For that reason, we elected to deal with the other agent, Brian, at Whitaker Marine Services. We requested next day delivery to us at our marina. Brian wanted an additional seventy dollars for next day delivery. He really pushed us for the extra money, but when we agreed, he advised that delivery would be in 3 or 4 days. We told him we’d accept regular delivery as a part of his stock order.  He charged us a lesser amount for that form of delivery, even though it was his regular weekly stock order. The gasket arrived 7 days after we ordered it and we had it installed a few hours later.

Meanwhile Tristan, Susan and I were busy with other things. 

 

The electrical system is receiving a lot of attention, with LED lighting going in throughout, a new stereo which uses our existing files from our hard-drives – transferred to thumb-drives, a cleanup and remounting of the Radar, anchor rode maintenance...and as they say...much much more!

The only one of our sailing companions who is actually ready to leave in Now or Never.

They have waited patiently in a slip at Harbourside Marina for both Panacea and for Tekla Bramble, which has remained delayed in Titusville with technical issues.

Meanwhile, the Mantees are getting ready to whelp, with as many as eight females playing and basking around us in the tiny inner harbour of Riverside Marina. pic

Whisper is preparing to launch and we expect to sail south to Miami ‘in company’ with Now or Never and (Perry and Irene). Other cruising acquaintances may also be ‘in company’ for some part of the trip south and subsequent crossing to Bimini and on through the Bahamas.