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T�l� M� � St�ry . . .
When You're a New Cruiser… or …..The Night We Were Sinking and
on Fire!
By Robin Horne
It was Memorial Day Weekend 1992. The previous year, we had sold our Catalina 25 (with outboard), so that we could
get a bigger boat with a diesel engine and wheel steering, and do a little coastal cruising. Soon after, we acquired our
wonderful 1979 Ericson Independence 31, Spanish Moss. Neither of us was retired at the time, so we could only cruise
short distances for short periods. But that didn’t matter. We were excited.
When you're beginning to cruise, lots of things can go wrong with your boat that you're not expecting and unsure how
to deal with. The second night of our second cruise was one of those times.
We decided to take a quick four-day trip to Shell Island and Crooked Island. We had a lovely
sail to Panama City and enjoyed our first night behind Shell Island. The next day, later in
the afternoon, we took off for Crooked Island, but once there, decided to go back to Shell
Island - we weren’t ready to quit sailing that day. The Panama City pass was very rough
with opposing tide and wind, but we motor-sailed through and then turned east to anchor
again behind Shell Island.
It was dark by then. We found our little spot and put down the anchor, tired and happy. I
throttled down the engine to let it cool. That was when we noticed the automatic bilge pump
was running continuously. I peeked over the side, and sure enough, water was pouring out.
This was very unusual for our boat.
Bob went below and pulled up the floor board to check the bilge. This was a very deep bilge Spanish Moss at anchor
and it was full to the brim. Okay. To us new cruisers, we were possibly sinking at that
point. Bob pulled off the hatch to check the engine compartment and a huge cloud of smoke billowed out. So in our
five-second new-cruiser assessment we were not only sinking, but we were on fire, too!
After the initial shock, we calmed down a little bit to reassess the situation. The smoke cleared out, but the bilge pump
was still running. Bob stuck his head in the engine compartment and lo and behold, there was the problem. The rusty
exhaust elbow had broken off during our turbulent trip through the pass, so all the engine exhaust and cooling water was
pouring into the engine compartment. We were actually quite relieved to know the truth!
Fortunately, we had several packs of waterproof epoxy putty. The next day, Bob used several big gobs of putty to patch
the exhaust system back together. While the epoxy was curing, we just enjoyed the beach and the water. Monday, we
left for home and the epoxy held together long enough for us to motor out the pass. We shut down the engine and sailed
home to Ft. Walton Beach via the Gulf.
When you're a new cruiser, a little thing going wrong seems like the end of the world--insurmountable. Seasoned cruisers
just think it’s another normal day on the water.
We laugh about it now, always referring to that cruise as the one where we were on fire and sinking at the same time.
We did a LOT of day sailing as well as nice, short cruises on Spanish Moss. After nine years we sold her in 2000. We
had become tired of the upkeep and the hurricanes.
However, we didn’t give up sailing. Since we
really enjoyed day sailing, we bought a 14 foot
Compac Picnic Cat. Now, with no electronics or
plumbing, and the boat in the garage, we have
stress-free sailing.
Bob and Robin Horne’s Compac Picnic Cat, Jumbly Cat
This column is for adventures, on the water or on land! Just a quick reminder that we need your help! If you or someone
you’re willing to name has a story worth telling, please let me know. Email me at [email protected] and let’s tell a story.
- Pat Tye
~ Fort Walton Yacht Club, Established in 1951 ~