Tonga excitement
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Thu 28 Jun 2012 04:29
The intention was to spend a few days cruising the Vava'u group of islands. We arrived at our first anchorage which was quiet and beautiful. At 2300 we found the bilges full of water---the three point taste test identified it as salt water.
We turned the inside of the boat upside down looking for the leak whilst the bilge pumped worked overtime. Nicholas found the leak under the stern cabin and under his bunk in the prop shaft. At first we thought a seal had gone. Mark lay there with his finger over the leak whilst Helen summoned help from Camelot and Nicholas spoke to the engineer in Cornwall. The leak then got worse and went from a trickle to a steady flow. Gunnar arrived with some plastic putty which takes half an hour to set and by 0300 the leak had been plugged. We dried the bilges out, had a cup of tea and went to bed----however not much sleep.
The next morning as we did not want to start the engine and turn the propeller shaft, for fear of dislodging the putty, Camelot towed us back to harbour about 7 miles away.
Once on a mooring the leak was identified as a hole in the stern tube which is the pipe that comes through the stern of the boat and carries the propeller shaft within it. It appears to be corrosion but the anodes have been regularly checked so it may have been caused by an imperfection in the bronze.
A temporary repair has been carried out--an Australian called Andrew appeared on the scene with an drink tin (tinny), some roofing sealant and two jubilee clips. He cut the top and bottom off the tinny, coated it with some roofing sealant and wrapped it round the pipe and held it there with the clips. We were going to try and use rubber but there was insufficent room to wrap it round the pipe---the thin tinny was an ingenious solution.
We are booked in to be lifted out in Fiji in the middle of July so the stern tube will be replaced there with parts flown out from Cornwall.
Once again Gunnar was a star and having Nicholas on board as a third person eased the tension and helped enormously----an exciting start to his two week cruise!!
We have been on sea trials today to check that it is no longer leaking and are now at anchor warm and DRY.
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