Early
I awoke shortly after 05:00 AM and made coffee while checking my business and private emails. Then it was time to cast off and weigh anchor in White House Bay. It was calm, but there had been a swell all night, which prevented me from getting a perfect night of sleep. The passage to Antigua is going to take most of the day.
At 1400 RPM, my speed is around 5 knots, and I’ll maintain these RPMs for the whole upwind trip to Antigua. The wind is 5-10 knots true, and apparent is 10-15, and, as usual, it is dead on the nose.
Not so Early
After clearing the Narrows, my engine started acting up. This is a recurrence of an old problem that I thought had been cleared up. The engine won’t rev above 1200 RPM, and any additional throttle causes the RPMS to oscillate and drop down low, threatening an engine stop. This means that my absolute top speed is now 4 knots or less. My early arrival at Jolly Harbour won’t happen.
Arrival
It is now 17:00 and I’ve arrived after my passage to Antigua. I’m in the anchorage at Jolly Harbour. Hence it is most certainly “Happy Hour”. I’m not happy about the engine but am fairly certain that the cause is the fuel shutoff valve not having enough spring power to remain open when warm and with more fuel demand than 1400 RPM. The valve is difficult to reach when the engine is cold. When the engine is up to temperature, one risks burning oneself. I also need a blank bolt with the same thread to test my hypothesis.
I anchored close to Cyrilla, the lagoon catamaran that I’ll be sailing on for the next couple of weeks. Lincoln came over for a short visit and to take the first consignment of items aboard (my spare fridge, medical kit, food items, etc.) and now I’m here at 18:00 with no beer left aboard and only 2 Ramen noodle meals left for immediate consumption. The rest of my dry goods went overboard during the passage from St. Kitts.
Dinner
I just realized that I packed the instant ramen packages into a bag that I gave to Lincoln! I’m going to have to either open a MRE or delve into my canned goods for a meal tonight. My only food left onboard that isn’t canned is a handful of peanuts. Those won’t last too long. And I’m out of beer and wine as well. I suppose an Islay single malt pairs well with canned baked beans.
