S/V TRAVERSAY III learns how important the small details are - NEGLECT CAN SPELL DEFEAT

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Friday, 6 September 2013

Saved from defeat?


Larry prepares to dive

Yesterday morning Larry wrote the following letter to our fellow Northwest Passage boat crews and to Claude and David Lloyd …

“After sailing much of the way from C. Bathurst to Tuk, we started the engine about 40 miles before Tuktoyaktuk as the winds faded. There was considerable vibration accompanied by water ingress around the prop-shaft seal. We established that we could power at slightly over idle [just under 4 knots] without vibration or water ingress. Thus it was a very slow trip to and entry into Tuk.

A dive in Tuk's muddy MacKenzie waters [visibility about 6 inches] found that the cutless bearing has play in it and that the blades of the feathering propeller seem excessively loose.

We do not feel we can continue safely…”


Rad, Alec and Dale

We were about to move here for the winter (organizing mail box, cell phone, possible accommodation etc.) but Larry decided to check the engine one last time and he noticed something STRANGE. A call to Yanmar Canada (the engine people) confirmed his suspicion was correct … one engine mount had a severed bolt which was well hidden and impossible to suspect previously. Meanwhile, we had to get off the dock and we called the Coast Guard to arrange for a safe place to keep our sick boat in any type of weather.

A white truck pulled up outside the dock and three men got out. They had heard our call to the Coast Guard on Channel 16 and offered us safe haven tied to one of the barges of their owner – Horizon North – a Vancouver company which provisions this north country over the short summer season.

One of them – a master mechanic – had a look at the engine and said he could help and he stayed with us on the trip over and then set to work – welding first one and then a second compromised engine mount. It has now turned out that during the course of this journey ALL FOUR engine mounts were sheared – probably one at a time following weakening in a previously described altercation with fishing gear in England. The engine has been simply resting there, and letting in increasing amounts of water when we raise the RPM.


Radovan Sumera and Larry

Radovan Sumera spent hours helping us last night, and will be back this morning to mend the third and fourth engine mounts. After that, the engine will need to be aligned with the propeller shaft and tested and with the mounts all secured, we SHOULD be on our way once again.

Our sincere thanks to Horizon North and to Rad, Alec and Dale for coming to the rescue!

DID YOU LEARN A LESSON FROM THIS INCIDENT?

WHENEVER YOUR VESSEL IS IN AN "ALTERCATION" TAKE THE TIME AND EXPENSE TO THOROUGHLY INSPECT IT. HIRE PROFESSIONALS WHO KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE INSPECTION AND MAKE THE REPAIRS IN A MARINE LIKE MANNER.

DO NOT GO ON AN EXTENDED CRUISE, ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE ARCTIC NORTHWEST PASSAGE, WITHOUT MAKING GOOD PREPARATIONS - HAUL-OUT, FLUIDS CHANGE, NEW ZINCS AS REQUIRED ETC ETC ETC...  

NOW READ THE BELOW CAREFULLY - THERE IS PLENTY OF SAGE ADVISE PASSED ON FROM THE FIRST NWP BY ROALD AMUNDSEN WHO SAID:

"I observed how the people who have lived in the Arctic have survived for thousands of years. I simply followed their tried and proven ways. I adapted and thoroughly enjoyed myself."

“Adventure is just bad planning.”

“I may say that this is the greatest factor: the way in which the expedition is equipped, the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order, luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time, this is called bad luck.”