We woke up New Year’s Day excited to head to Norman Island. It would be the first time just us two sailing (also called double handed sailing for the non sailors reading this) so today had a little more meaning to it. We were headed ESE and winds were directly out of the east so we were on a close to beam reach for most of the route. Screaming at about 7-8kts, Caribbean Queen was on a 20 degree heel…wow what a rush.
That rush quickly dissipated when a blaring alarm started going off in the cabin. The alarm sounded like a high pitched fire alarm. With Blane at the helm, I went down below to see what was going on. First thing I noticed was the 5 inches of water on the starboard side (right) of the boat. The waterline was holding steady so I immediately looked at the navigation panel to see what systems were currently running. The only systems that were turned on were navigation and autopilot, but that alarm was going strong. I was able to find where the alarm was coming from (with Blane’s help) and determined that it was the LP Gas detector. Great. We have a problem with one of the major systems on the boat during our first solo experience. We do love a challenge.
I didn’t smell gas so Blane directed me to cycle the power to the stove and toggled the switch to see if that would give us any indication. The first time I did it the alarm stopped. Thank God! That piercing noise was getting to me. Keep in mind we still have 5 inches of water that we are somehow taking on and have no idea where it’s coming from. One minute later, the alarm was back. I tried cycling the power again and this time the light flickered so we know its an intermittent issue with the stove but still have no idea where the water is coming from.
At this point, Blane had to go down below to troubleshoot so he had me take the helm. There is nothing like driving under a stressful situation. About 30 minutes from Norman Island, we couldn’t get the alarm to turn off. We had no choice but to troubleshoot it when we got to the marina. Blane’s quick thinking helped in solving the water problem. We left the seacocks open while underway (seacocks are the valves in the marine heads that you open up to dump waste into the ocean). Go figure if you leave those valves open your boat will take on water. We learned that we need to open the valves to dump waste once we are out of the marina then close them up while sailing. As for the LP detector, we found out that a wire from the stove became disconnected while underway tripping the alarm. Blane was able to splice the hardwired line finally putting an end to the most annoying sound in the world.
We had plenty of lessons learned on this first double handed sailing adventure. Blane has always had a calm and collected demeanor during stressful times but this one takes the cake. I was so impressed by his ability to stay calm, direct me in helping him, and finally fixing the problem. He taught me to trust myself a little more and to have more confidence in my sailing skills. This situation showed me when the captain is calm so is the crew. He made me feel calm when all I could hear was that alarm thinking “Really? This is going to happen now?”But the reality is that I couldn’t imagine a better scenario with a better captain.
#GringoRicanSailing 