Regret to Inform Have Lost my Boat off Honduras...

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by Wrong

You and your ignore list!

What's your count now?

I don't think he can hear you...

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

I don't think he can hear you...

Uh, right.

[s/v 'Faith']

Cliff notes for any who may have missed it....

First the good news;

Originally Posted by Syserenity

As already some of you recognize, I was out there, I analyzed for several hours my decision. The rest, I will not discuss with none. I'm not Worldchamp in sailing and I don't expose my knowledge here. Good thing, I head for Mexico, where my boat stranded and appearantly in prety good shape...

A few posts later, the bad news;

Originally Posted by PSX

Serenity, 7/30/13 - on the reef
approx. 18*20'.5 N, 87*40' W, ~5 miles north of Xcalak Mxco
Glad to know the capt & crew are OK.
Local authorities not too happy.

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by Wrong

Uh, right.

No, Wrong

(Sorry... I just could not resist)...

[Sandero]

What a story... what a thread.... all in one day?

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

No, Wrong

(Sorry... I just could not resist)...

Damn! Knew I should have chosen a different name. But, hey, being wrong on this forum was becoming well, a regular thing...

Seemed right at the moment, but maybe I was Wrong!

[Pete7]

That yacht has traveled a bit, in a straight line its 170 miles give or take a bit, never mind dodging the Bay Islands off Honduras and then the reefs off Half Moon Caye, Belize. Anyone of which would have been fatal.

Hopefully she is sitting on sand at the moment and she can be lifted off before the hull is damaged.

Pete

[Mono Matt]

Glad your boats turned up fella :-)

For someone like myself - just dipping my toe in the world of sailing it was a bit of an eye opener and made interesting reading.

I use to restore VW's and repair ancient plant hire- makes me a really resourceful guy, not much I can't fix with duck tape- zip straps and my boxes of bits ;-) I also rode a KTM for a few years and you have to know how to improvise when running a bike that vibrates so hard things just drop off when your 100 miles from your front door :-)

Sounds like you've learnt a lesson though ;-) but I feel that some posters in this thread might just want to remember that we're not all mr resourceful.

Erm- first post hello to everyone by the way ;-)

[svmariane]

This is how I rigged our Mariane so we could get into Tonga.

No opinion presented - just what was actually done and what worked. My wife drove; I played fuel puppy.

Spare fuel line run through binnacle to motor. Note squeeze bulb on line to start syphon action. Motor's fuel return line routed to a one gallon jug, gravity fed; extra jugs at hand.

When near full, swap jugs; dump jug into another jerry can. Big funnel helps. Repeat. Take full jerry can topside, bring empty one below. Repeat as necessary. Syphone action produces somewhat greater flow and return than normal operation.

Having tested the setup, we turned off the motor and used sails as long as possible, only turning motor on shortly before being committed near the entrance. Wanted to leave time / sea-room to abort entry under sail if needed.

Note: We hove to for a day until conditions seemed favorable. Also, we reduced to storm sails for the run in to keep us slow and allow for radical course change (if needed) without strife.

James

[minaret]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Matt, you totally misread what I said. So let's try it again.

Water in diesel fuel is a common problem, but like flies being spontaneously generated from rotten meat--it doesn't just happen.

Someone has to lay the eggs, flies don't just come out of meat.

Water doesn't "just happen" in diesel fuel, it always gets in as a contaminant, and it only gets into your fuel tank if you let it.

The mythical prudent mariner, you know, the guy they talk about on all the nav charts? Will never, never, simply dump fuel into his tanks without tanking some precautions to check what is going in. That probably has to be a filter funnel when you can't trust your source.

Diesel engines don't need much of an excuse to pack up and die, and anyone who allows any assumptions about their fuel or fuel tank, is going to find that out eventually. Bought a boat? Looked inside the tank? If you didn't, you can't trust it. You have to assume there's crud that will come off and jam the filter and kill your engine in the first rough water. Buying diesel? Unless it comes in shiny plastic soda bottles, you can't presume it is safe to put in the tank, either.

If you are buying from a clean and shiny high-volume fuel station that looks like they take care of their tanks, and you are going to remain in areas covered by a prepaid tow service, sure, by all means assume the fuel is good. It often is.

But heading offshore? Fueling in, ah, backwater towns where standards may not be so high? Come on now. Water in the fuel tank never ever "just happens". There's always a preventable reason why it happens.

Just like flies and maggots in meat.

It's called condensation. Your fuel tank is vented, this lets in air, air contains moisture, which condenses on your tank walls, which builds up in the bottom of the tank. It totally just happens.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by PSX

Serenity, 7/30/13 - on the reef
approx. 18*20'.5 N, 87*40' W, ~5 miles north of Xcalak Mxco
Glad to know the capt & crew are OK.
Local authorities not too happy.

I have been cutting the OP a lot of slack and not second guessing him.

But if that picture is correct and the boat went onto a reef with main sail up after being abandoned, then I take back all my benefit of doubt!

[Teknav]

Hi James! Too much work! ...and you called this a vacation, working at a diesel pumping station?... <ducking>

Mauritz
Being a smart...

[minaret]

Does no one else use sail repair tape? Adhesive tape for quick and dirty repairs, heavy duty non adhesive dacron tape sewn over the rip for longer lasting repairs. Going to sea without needle and palm (or preferably a machine) as well as tape and spare dacron is unwise. I cant imagine using duct tape for this, it will fail due to UV exposure fairly quickly. With some tape and basic skills its very easy to patch a rip.




Amazon.com: Clear Ultra Strong Sail Patch Repair Tape: Explore similar items

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by minaret

It's called condensation. Your fuel tank is vented, this lets in air, air contains moisture, which condenses on your tank walls, which builds up in the bottom of the tank. It totally just happens.

This is a good time for me to point out the advantages of a fuel bladder.
These don't vent the fuel, but vent air to fill the void left when the bladder contracts. Just google fuel bladder.
Boats should really use these instead of air vented tanks, fuel goes bad because of the air vents, with a bladder it should last a long time, and you don't get fuel vapors coming out either which can be a fire hazard with gasoline.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Pete7

That yacht has traveled a bit, in a straight line its 170 miles give or take a bit, never mind dodging the Bay Islands off Honduras and then the reefs off Half Moon Caye, Belize. Anyone of which would have been fatal.

Hopefully she is sitting on sand at the moment and she can be lifted off before the hull is damaged.

Pete

That boat is going to be cut up for scrap. I was in Xcalack 2 years ago and watched a Defever trawler being cut up to remove it from the reef. The barge needed to do a lift like that just isn't handy. Not is the reef unforgiving sand.