“Which is that law again that states that everything that can go wrong will go wrong?” I heard one of our crew ask today. “That’s Murphy’s Law,” was the response. And that seemed to sum up our day. Perhaps Poseidon didn’t want us on his sea today. Perhaps Winter Harbour wasn’t done with us yet. Whatever the reason, we are going to spend a second night tied up here to the government dock. Not that we didn’t try to leave. Knowing that the weather forecast called for increasing winds in the afternoon, Cap’n Adam set his alarm for 04:30 (that’s a.m., BTW) so that we could be around the west tip of Brook’s Peninsula before it got too hairy. He woke up at 05:30, his alarm didn’t go off. His first attempt to start the engines was unsuccessful – although we were plugged into the dock and receiving shore power all night, we still managed to drain the battery power overnight.
On the boat we have 2 different electrical systems – the 12 Volt DC (battery power, charged from the engines running and the solar panels), and the 120 Volt AC (either from shore power, or battery DC power converted to AC through an inverter). The machinery that is “hard-wired” into the boat always draws from the 12 Volt DC power (toilets, fridge, water pump, some lights…). The things on the boat that are “plugged-in” to the boat use 120 Volt AC power (computers, some lights, speakers, etc…). So even though we were plugged into AC power from shore all day, we still continued to use DC battery power all day too. The solar panels alone could not keep up with the energy draw, and there was not enough juice left in the batteries to turn over the motors in the morning.
So, that’s where the generator usually comes in handy. Except this morning Cap’n Adam discovered that there is a leak in the saltwater side of the heat exchanger. So, it looks like we are without our back-up generator for the rest of this trip. No biggie, just something we need to remember. At least generators also have their own 12 Volt DC power supply, so Cap’n Adam, who now had his crew assembled and on-task, managed to use that power to jump-start the starboard side motor. Yay! We were on our way! We untied from the dock, and started cruising along on one motor, hoping to let the battery pack charge up again before we tried to start the port side motor. Wondering why the now running starboard engine did not seem to be charging the power supply at all, an investigation revealed that a fan-belt had snapped and wrapped itself around important engine bits, creating smoke and confusion. An oil cap had also rattled loose during this time, spewing black oil all over the motor. Once that was sorted out and a new fan-belt was in place, our crew engineer Armin did a little investigative work to see what else was going on in the engine room. He discovered some loose screws on the driveshaft – not a crucial issue at the moment, but best dealt with now to prevent future troubles. As for the batteries – it appears we may have an issue with that alternator, for it does not seem to be charging the batteries even with the fan-belt fixed.
By this time, we were at the mouth of Quatsino Sound and faced with a dilemma. We could continue on our way on one motor, and wait for the solar panels to charge up the batteries enough to start the port side engine, or we could head back to port. Because we would be headed into unknown waters the Cap’n decided, with the full support of his crew, to head back to Winter Harbour and its dock to have a look at everything in calmer waters. To make the trip around Brook’s Peninsula, we would rather know we have both motors fully operational (even though most sailboats only ever operate with one motor). As we came close to port, there had been enough energy from the sunny skies of the morning to top up the batteries, and the port engine purred back to life. Back on shore, both engines running, energy topped all back up. Ready to go.
So tonight we will have another early night. Try again tomorrow, the forecast is the same - no winds, clear skies and small waves in the morning, with winds picking up in the afternoon. And we will see if the sea will accept us on our journey…
On the boat we have 2 different electrical systems – the 12 Volt DC (battery power, charged from the engines running and the solar panels), and the 120 Volt AC (either from shore power, or battery DC power converted to AC through an inverter). The machinery that is “hard-wired” into the boat always draws from the 12 Volt DC power (toilets, fridge, water pump, some lights…). The things on the boat that are “plugged-in” to the boat use 120 Volt AC power (computers, some lights, speakers, etc…). So even though we were plugged into AC power from shore all day, we still continued to use DC battery power all day too. The solar panels alone could not keep up with the energy draw, and there was not enough juice left in the batteries to turn over the motors in the morning.
So, that’s where the generator usually comes in handy. Except this morning Cap’n Adam discovered that there is a leak in the saltwater side of the heat exchanger. So, it looks like we are without our back-up generator for the rest of this trip. No biggie, just something we need to remember. At least generators also have their own 12 Volt DC power supply, so Cap’n Adam, who now had his crew assembled and on-task, managed to use that power to jump-start the starboard side motor. Yay! We were on our way! We untied from the dock, and started cruising along on one motor, hoping to let the battery pack charge up again before we tried to start the port side motor. Wondering why the now running starboard engine did not seem to be charging the power supply at all, an investigation revealed that a fan-belt had snapped and wrapped itself around important engine bits, creating smoke and confusion. An oil cap had also rattled loose during this time, spewing black oil all over the motor. Once that was sorted out and a new fan-belt was in place, our crew engineer Armin did a little investigative work to see what else was going on in the engine room. He discovered some loose screws on the driveshaft – not a crucial issue at the moment, but best dealt with now to prevent future troubles. As for the batteries – it appears we may have an issue with that alternator, for it does not seem to be charging the batteries even with the fan-belt fixed.
By this time, we were at the mouth of Quatsino Sound and faced with a dilemma. We could continue on our way on one motor, and wait for the solar panels to charge up the batteries enough to start the port side engine, or we could head back to port. Because we would be headed into unknown waters the Cap’n decided, with the full support of his crew, to head back to Winter Harbour and its dock to have a look at everything in calmer waters. To make the trip around Brook’s Peninsula, we would rather know we have both motors fully operational (even though most sailboats only ever operate with one motor). As we came close to port, there had been enough energy from the sunny skies of the morning to top up the batteries, and the port engine purred back to life. Back on shore, both engines running, energy topped all back up. Ready to go.
So tonight we will have another early night. Try again tomorrow, the forecast is the same - no winds, clear skies and small waves in the morning, with winds picking up in the afternoon. And we will see if the sea will accept us on our journey…
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