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JJ and I left the wharf in Hopedale at 0630 this morning, beginning the 1,700 nautical mile voyage homeward bound. My spirits were high to have turned the corner and be headed back.
Then, about 20 minutes after getting under way the shrill wail of the engine alarm sounded. The temperature gauge was hard over. I stopped the engine and gave a groan. At 0600 this morning, JJ and I had checked the coolant level. It was low. You may recall that the engine had overheated a few days earlier on the way in to Hopedale. JJ and I topped up the coolant in the heat exchanger and the reservoir and got underway.
Now the engine had overheated again! Just after topping up. We searched high and low for a leak and could find none. We suspect that there was an air lock in the system when we topped up, because the reservoir was empty. We again filled the reservoir and tried finding a leak again. We had also replaced the old radiator/pressure cap on the heat exchanger.
We continued on our way under sail in a favorable northwest breeze. We had to keep moving if we were going to make it the 50 miles to Makkovik.
At about 1545, outside Makkovik after a good day's run under main and genoa, we started the engine and crossed our fingers. We ran it for over an hour until we tied to the wharf with no issues. The bottom line is that we seem to have a slow coolant leak that we cannot find. It seems we should be able to; but, it is eluding us. For now, the solution will be to keep checking and keep topping up. Arrgh! I could go into more detail on our suspicions; but, that is enough for now.
The other frustration of the day is that the autopilot stopped functioning. We will continue diagnosing that as well. It is a handy third crew member at times.
JJ and I had a good day and remain in good spirits!
Bill
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