May 27, 2014

Limping Back

As I mentioned in the update to the previous post, my parents met with multiple calamities in the Gulf. They made it back to Key West and my father determined that the damage is not fixable in the short term  They are going to attempt limp back to Portsmouth where we can work on it at a more leisurely pace and where professional assistance is much cheaper. 


Of course with the steering out Dad has to set up the tiller and they don't trust the engine not to spew oil into the bilge again to use it for extended periods. They got their bilge pumped in Key West and have lots of oil pads but the danger of leaving a sheen is too great to have the bilge pump on automatic, so they're coming back, using the sails, a tiller and a sextant. The last two will give no trouble but dad is not particularly experienced with sails so this has the makings of an adventure. 

At least they will be traveling with the Gulf Stream. On the down side the boarders of the  Gulf Stream is a playground for waterspouts. 


Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 07:32 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 193 words, total size 1 kb.

1

When I saw where they were headed, my big concern was that they would inadvertantly infringe Cuban territorial waters. Now that they're at Key West and headed north, that danger at least is alleviated, and I'm glad.

The LAST thing you needed was for your parents to be captured and held by Cuban authorities.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Tue May 27 20:02:18 2014 (+rSRq)

2 Though it would be entirely in character.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Tue May 27 20:58:35 2014 (X/kQu)

3 At least I think my daughter does not care too much when I barrel down a mountain pass at 70 mph where it's marked 25 or fly a little airplane that is unfortunately miswired so that hitting a master switch with a sectional chart makes the engine quit.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed May 28 00:00:52 2014 (RqRa5)

4 Any movie deals yet?

Posted by: Ben at Wed May 28 10:10:04 2014 (DRaH+)

5

Cuba heard about the waterspout thing.

You know, it strikes me that it's not just that the boat needs an overhaul, but that your parents need some kind of Murphy's Law repellent. You might seriously want to look into St. Christopher medals (or St. Nicholas medals, given the seafaring thing).

OTOH, they did a lot better with an ocean ship than I would have done! I can help you with a lake or a river, and that's about it.

Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Wed May 28 14:10:37 2014 (nh8FR)

6 I traveled from Nantucket, Ma to Niantic, Ct in an old '72 Luhrs 28, with an engine that spit out about a quart of oil every two hours or so - in small craft advisory conditions. The pads, even in the best of a sea state, are not designed for that kind of use.

back in '89, when i made that trip, the fine for discharge was about the same, but they looked the other way if you were in a bad situation. I seriously doubt that would be the case nowadays.

I wish them well on the rest of the journey. Do you think they are going to try again?

Posted by: topmaker at Wed May 28 17:15:36 2014 (2yZsg)

7 At least they will be traveling with the Gulf Stream.

How close to shore can your parents sail and still ride the Gulf Stream?  Hopefully close enough that they can make a quick dash to safety if the weather turns nasty, or if something else on the boat craps out.  (In an emergency, they could run for shore on engine power, and never mind the oil leak--they might have to pay a fine, but at least they'd be safe.)

Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Wed May 28 17:39:33 2014 (wa0JQ)

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