BACK Captain's LogSeptember 28, 2001Sea Trial becomes Trial at Sea.... use Date as 28th September, 2001,BTC Velocity set off at 4:50 a.m. on 26th September to sail its first ocean passage. In the launching of any new boat, or mechanical product for that matter, a period of testing is required, everything looked good on deck and below and there was only one thing to be done before commencing the passage, that was to ‘ swing the compass ’, a process where the yacht is turned in a slow circle so that the specialized Gyro compass can orientate its self relative to the vessel. This was attempted after a clear area for a slow turn was located, but there is a software issue that did not enable the process.Well that’s OK there are two of us on board and a 2nd autopilot. The primary Autopilot being useless without a compass reference from the Gyro. Breeze was a light 8 kts and BTC Velocity was fully powered up with an unreefed main and 110 % jib. Lovely conditions, boat speed about 8.5 kts. As we worked our way up to the North Passage of Moreton Island, approximately 30 miles, the access to the open ocean from Brisbane and we noticed a leak. This leak was coming from the starboard water ballast tank. Not good. The leak was a simple screw on the tank window that was emitting a slow, but persistent stream of water. It was also leaking on a presumed dry area which houses the electronic brain for the B & G Hercules 2000 system, basically all the instruments on the boat. It was determined with an expected frontal passage and some medium conditions of approximately 25 kts that necessitated the usage of water ballast, the correct decision was to turn back for the dock. A shame, but no point pushing for the sake of it at this early stage. Damage to the electronics was an unnecessary risk and would be expensive to repair. So the turn around and a chance to try the spinnakers( Kite ) . First the BTC Velocity, black with a red > went up with the use of a snuffer. Looked great. This is the smallest kite in the inventory and was very stable and pulled well. This kite was designed for heavier weather, so it was doused and the Monster kite was hoisted. At 186 sq meters this is big. We were soon doing 10 – 11 kts in 12 kts of wind. This was again a well-executed sail by Doyle Fraser in Sydney. It was now time to wait for the tide that would allow the 10’ 4” draft of BTC Velocity to return to the marina. Spinnaker was doused as we headed to a brisk 8.5 kt reach with out the needed water ballast. Then came the frontal change that was predicted. At first it was obvious by the vessels in the distance sailing at angles that were not consistent with our angles and thus they were sailing in a different weather pattern. We sat still for a few minutes as the wind changed and off we went. Then a blast of slightly cooler air with a damp feeling came across the deck. The wind increased to 15 kts and it was time for a reef. Without water ballast we were quite overpowered due to the incredible sail area of this boat. 1st reef in and the wind continued to build. Jib was furled. Wind increased to 18 – 20 kts, time for a 2nd reef only. Wind increased. 25kts was now being felt so we ‘ feathered ’ the boat by sailing on the wind but just luffing the sail. A new lesson was learned here. With limited foil width of the rudder and keel BTC Velocity soon was sliding sideways at a greater speed than forward !! The strong wind combined with a light boat and our hull windage meant it was important to keep the rudder straight and bear off a little, soon momentum was regained and the waiting for tide to rise process continued. At 3:40 p.m. we made the run through the very narrow channel, 80 feet wide, with no sail to slow down in the channel. As it was we were still going at 6.5 kts with the engine at a comfortable 2000 revs. There was 25kt crosswind and the unaffected portside water ballast tank was fully pumped up for stability. We were halfway down the channel when the engines high temperature alarm went off and 15 seconds later the engine cut off. That’s not a good thing to happen. So we had no sail up, a 25kt crosswind, about 30 feet to starboard of the channel left and we were drifting that way at a good speed. Time to act quickly, the water we were heading towards was a mud and rock ledge that would have surely done major damage to keel and perhaps the hull. Luckily I had been loosening the line associated with the Cutter sails furling line, as a ‘ just in case ’, I quickly unfurled the sail and trimmed it in. We were off again, just away from the wrong side of the channel. Jon decided to attempt a tack and get back to open water. A good idea, but we could not tack the boat through the wind, as the forward momentum was not sufficient with the gusty conditions to complete the tack. So we were head to wind with the only option being to head towards the narrow access marina under sail power alone to dock the boat. This is not an unreasonable task on many boats in most conditions, but this is a high performance ocean thoroughbred and with the high windage and light weight, BTC Velocity was just a big sail on a light dingy. Jon steered and I ran to get the anchor that was well stored in the aft compartment. I retrieved a line with the idea of lassoing the nearest pylon once in the marina or dropping the anchor, if it would catch in time. A one-chance only opportunity. As we were sailing in I saw a line of unoccupied pontoons slightly downwind and suggested that we furl the sail at the last moment and glide into the spot. Jon agreed, he made the maneuver perfectly and I leapt to the dock to tie a line. It worked. A six-inch scratch in the hull was the only damage. Adrenalin was pumping and we were glad to have landed. Upon inspection of the engine we could see that all the coolant had been expelled into the bilge thus the overheating occurred. Why ?? one loose nut had vibrated to the open position. That’s the lesson of sailing. The distance between all is well and hell has just broken loose, can be one nut. |