The Sea is like Soup ….. 13th August 2012

Yesterday we took Cotinga out for a quick trip to check out our new mainsail. The good news - the sail is fabulous, the bad news … our engine seemed to be performing well below par, not achieving the revs it should and struggling to gain the speed we usually see. A local expert suggested that it has been a terrible year for barnacle growth and because we have been away for a couple of weeks the prop may be fouled with barnacles. So I put on my shorty wet suit, flippers and mask and dived under the boat. Fact number 1 - visibility in Greenwich cove is about 12 inches. Fiction number 1 - Mike can hold his breath for almost a minute. This was a nasty experience. Upside down , squashed up under the hull trying to clear barnacles with a putty scraper! The propeller and shaft were barely recognizable. It took me about 20 dives to do a reasonable job, but the good news is that this seems to have greatly helped the situation. During a test run later in the morning the engine seemed to work pretty well, getting up to reasonable revs and speed. Although at continuous max output for 10 minutes or so it started to overheat, so there is probably more to this story yet to unfold! At least now we know how to get into and clean out the engine raw water strainer. Perhaps we'll also get to learn how to replace the raw water impeller.

Bottom line - the sea is like soup, and it' s hard to believe how quickly stuff grows in it and fouls everything up!

All being well we plan to start out on our trip to Maine tomorrow.

Mike

Moored in Greenwich Cove