We left Southport Marina at 0810 on a clear, windless morning. Just a few gulls and a couple of seals bobbed their heads in acknowledgment as we made our way out the narrow channel into Portland�s main harbor.
First stop was Sunset Marina, to fill the diesel tank. We took aboard 15 gallons of fuel and cast off at 0910, headed for Kittery Point, next door to Portsmouth, NH.
We encountered a sloppy swell as we passed through the channel off Portland Head Light and into the Atlantic. The ebbing tide met the Atlantic and set up a nasty undulation. There was little wind so we clanked along under the diesel engine.
Daughter Stephanie phoned us on the cell as we passed Portland Head Light. She said she sensed we were under way.
The swells in the Atlantic made it heavy going. And the wind, of course, was from the southwest � where we were headed. We tried everything to get moving a little better, putting up the mainsail and the staysail to steady us. I then added the working jib and trouble hit.
The addition of that sail resulted in the boat healing more to starboard. This took the engine�s water intake out of the water. Within a few seconds were aware of a distinct hissing sound coming from our stern. I looked over the back and realized we were getting no water to cool the engine.
We killed the diesel and tried sailing while working out a plan for restoring water to the engine. Because an airlock had developed, it was impossible to simply go on a different tack and get the water intake back in the water.
Jo and I struggled mightily for three hours, pulling all gear out of the seat lockers so we could gain access to the engine. There is a nifty little water hose coupling on the water intake line.
We connected our hose and tried to fill it with water from the fresh water tank. But the 50 feet of hose would not permit us to get it filled with water.
Jo suggested cutting the hose and funneling water down from five or six feet. We jury-rigged a funnel and managed to get the water into the engine cooling system. Water spurted out the exhaust and we thought we were home. But, no. We allowed a new air blockage to occur. We did this 10 times before we figured out the physics of filling the hose, filling the water intake, closing off the seawater intake, starting the engine, letting the water be sucked in. Shutting off the engine. Filling up the hose with water to maintain the seal. Unscrewing the hose, allowing fresh water to pour and quickly replacing the cap on the hose connector of the water intake. Now we started the engine and while it ran, I opened the seacock, allowing seawater to be sucked in. Eureka! It worked. The water started coming out the exhaust.
In this whole process, I managed to lose my footing in the cluttered cockpit. I fell and scraped a decent 5-inch cut on my left arm, got a small egg over my right eye and whacked my index finger. And because of the gyration in the engine room, hanging upside down while trying the feed the water, I managed to lose my breakfast to the fishes in the sloppy swell. Agony.
But we were under way again.
We pushed on at 5 knots, sometime slipping to 3.8 knots because of the confounded seas and headwind.
With the sinking sun, we saw the light at Boon Island, a lonely rock in the Atlantic that�s the setting for a Kenneth Roberts book about cannibalism.
And then, oh joy, the great red light of The Nubble at York. It flashes its warning and welcome.
Onward in the dark now, down past Wells and Ogunquit and we could see the loom of Whaleback light at the entrance to Portsmouth harbor. We made it past the Sisters rocks and turned into the channel, thanking god for the comfort of electronic navigation that provides the navigator with a picture of the boat on a chart at precisely where we are located on the earth.
We slid into Pepperrell Cove and picked up a mooring near the main dock. Exhausted, but content that we had persevered and won the day.
Time of arrival: 2259 hours.