Chasing Gremlins

As of this posting we have officially left the USA and have entered the Bahamas and are presently in Great Harbour Marina in the Berry Islands.  Our next week's post will go over the crossing and a recap of Ft. Lauderdale and our first week in the Bahamas but for now lets go over some issues we have had on Utopia.

Last week’s post was about our trip from Brunswick down to Ft. Lauderdale, and this week’s post is about what broke during the trip and what we did to fix it. 

We didn’t really do a proper shake-down after we splashed in October, and we fully expected some things to break during the process.  Here is a concise list of some of the issues we had:

Anchor washdown pump

Issue: This is a pump that takes seawater and pressurizes it at the bow of the boat so you can spray off a muddy anchor chain and anchor as you are pulling up anchor and leaving the anchorage.  This is important since it keeps a lot of mud from going through your windlass.  For whatever reason the pump did not come on when we went to leave Cumberland Island.  This was not a major issue that would have affected weather we left or not, but we would have probably wanted to fix this before the Bahamas. 

The Fix: After we pulled up the anchor for the first time and were motoring toward the channel, the pump came on and has worked fine since.  I expected there was a priming issue that cleared up.  No work required.

Furling lines difficult to pull in

Issue: The first time we furled up the jib underway it was difficult to take in.

Fix: This was a human error on our part.  We rigged them through the one way block the wrong way.  Putting them through the correct way solved the issue. 

Reef frequently and early

Issue: We made this mistake twice during night one and two.  Both nights the wind was much higher than expected and we needed to reef in the middle of the night.  Both nights we discussed it and decided it was not necessary to reef and both nights it was needed.

Fix: I think our standard procedure will be to put in a reef before the night shift starts and shake it out as needed.   

Preventor on one side only

Issue: When going downwind it’s a good idea to put out a preventor on the boom.  This holds the boom in place, so you do not accidentally gybe (pull the boom over suddenly and possibly violently) during a wind shift.  We had a preventor on one side but due to the angle of the wind (dead downwind) we had to do many controlled gybes throughout the trip.  Only having a preventor on one side of the boat in roly seas made it a bit challenging to control the gybe.  We had to temporarily rig up something on the other side so we could control it better. 

The Fix: I have always wanted to set up a better system for our preventor (see the red line in picture).  During our time in Ft. Lauderdale, I picked up a good bit of line, blocks and shackles and rigged up a system on both sides of the boom.  On each side I have a line affixed to the end of the boom and during a passage run that forward towards the bow and through a block that is led back to the cockpit.   This will allow us to easily deploy while underway. 

Our new Preventor set up (red line on boom)

Batten slipping from pocket

Issue: During the second day Sondra woke me up to point out that a batten was slipping out of our sail (zoom in on picture).  Battens are long flat little fiberglass pieces that slip into the sail horizontally and a little Velcro pocket attaches to the end to keep it from slipping out.   These little pieces help with the sail shape while under way. 

This particular one was slowly slipping out due to not being seated properly.  We planned on starting the engine and going into the wind.  Unfortunately, the engine would not start so that item became priority (see next item).  By the time I had gotten the engine to start the batten had come out of the sail and slipped into the Atlantic Ocean.

Batten about to slip out into the Sea

The Fix: Went to the North Sails sail loft in Ft. Lauderdale.  They made us a new batten and we installed it into the sail (correctly).

Engine not starting

Issue: We indicated that during the batten debacle the engine would not start.  Normally our engine starts immediately after turning the ignition.  Once this happened underway, I remembered that there was one time last year that the engine would not turn over or even activate the starter.   It was a one-off item in which the engine started after turning the key a couple of times.  

Now that this happened again, it took many minutes of testing the battery and checking the solenoid and for whatever reason the engine started again.  I really didn’t want to troubleshoot this while underway, so I decided to keep the engine running for the rest of the trip until we were in West Palm Beach. 

The Fix: Once we were at West Palm Beach, I checked over the whole starter system (that I could get my hands on).  The battery was fine, so I knew it was either the starter itself, a relay or the starter Solenoid.  I disconnected all the low and high voltage cables and cleaned up a lot of corrosion.    Since I have done this, it has been starting fine but unfortunately, I can’t prove I fixed it and can only prove I didn’t (if it doesn’t start again).  

 I am fairly sure there is nothing wrong with the starter solenoid or the starter itself.  I am convinced it was on the low voltage side of the equation.   I did rig up a secondary starter on the starter solenoid so in case I need to bypass the ignition panel.  I also have a rebuilt starter and solenoid in my spares that I could install if it happens to be the starter.    We will see on this one, but I am pretty sure I can get it started if it happens again.

Directions to jumping the engine with a screwdriver from previous owner!!

Alternator not charging batteries

Issue: During our long motor I noticed that the alternator was not charging.  I had an idea that it was due to the temperature in the engine room since the original installer indicated that the high-capacity alternator will shut down if it reaches a certain heat point.  They also indicated that I might want to consider additional ventilation if it happens a lot.

The Fix: The next day after the engine cooled off, I cranked it up and the alternator was charging fine again.  I will keep observing this and if it becomes an issue, I have some ideas for forcing some more air to cool the alternator.

My chicken scratch figuring out Preventor for the boom and controls lines for the whisker pole

Dinghy Throttle Sticking

Issue: The first time we used the dinghy for an extended trip to Peanut Island we realized right before we docked that the throttle was stuck open, and it was quite interesting getting the dinghy to stop gracefully. 

Fix: We took the cowl off the outboard and I had to manually push the throttle closed so we could control our speed back to the boat.  Once back on the boat I spent some time working the throttle back and forth and I worked the stickiness out of the system.  I think it was just the fact the engine had not been heavily used in 7 months, and it had and few kinks to work out.

Hit bottom during low tide

Issue: In our first anchorage at West Palm Beach we anchored in about 7 feet of water at low tide so we thought we would have about 2 feet or more under the keel.  On our third day in the evening, we felt a bump and upon looking at our depth gauge we realized we were touching the bottom.  Further review of the charts indicated there was a small hump near us and the wind shifted and caused us to go aground.  Not much we could do at that point and since it was almost low tide, we were barely aground.

Fix: At a higher tide the next day (where we were off the bottom) we pulled up anchor and re-anchored about 200 feet away.  No issues after that.

 (Post 25-3)