I started to write about our little outing, but discovered Dois had written a fairly colorful rendition of how we ended up on the backside of a Search and Rescue vessel less than 2 miles from the harbor and with a bit of literary license editing on my part, this is my Christmas gift to y'all. Enjoy. Dois: While waiting out some fierce weather at Aguadulce, Spain, I learned there was a welder in the marina boat-yard and we needed one. Our exhaust is mostly inside the boat so it needs to rise (hence called a riser) above the water line and then out the back. It's a long run and needs a shot of water to cool it and baffle the noise. A hose is attached at the top of the rise to a little penis-like appendage. While attaching the water hose to the little penis I broke it off (it was rusty). Lauri came up with some magic tape and I wrapped the hell out of it, but I was afraid I was poisoning everyone on the boat with exhaust. I removed the riser and took it to the welder and in my best Spanish and hand gestures I explained how I broke my penis off. His look was both familiar and indicative of a need for further explanation. It was a familiar look for another reason. When I started out in lending, they put me in collections; nothing hard core, mostly deferrals and restructurings. I had a pretty assistant and one day she heard me struggling with one of my latin clients and offered to teach me a phrase in Spanish; "do not worry, I am here to help you through this difficult period." After I said this well rehearsed message, I often got that same look that the welder had. I later learned that what I was really saying was: "pay up fool or I'll have your scrotum on a fork". Why she did this to me is another story, did I mention she was pretty? Eventually the welder understood that I didn't break off my penis and he agreed to do the repair for all of our available money. But while installing the exhaust I noticed the armature connecting the engine to its mount didn't look right, so I reached down to touch it and it broke off in my hand (soooo...that's what all that noise was. Lauri might have been right... dont tell her.). I returned to the boat-yard and found the welder to explain my broken arm (there is no spanish word for armature). He would have to make a new part and would he mind working on Sunday? Was it was expensive? That depends on how you look at it. It would cost us the rest of our money including the funds saved for extra fuel and marina fees at Gibraltar during Christmas. There are few protected anchorages along this stretch so based on where we were, we might need to just go out to sea and bob around for Christmas until Lauris check came in. After installing the armature, I started the engine and she purred like a tiger... an ancient tiger but purred nonetheless. Then I checked our fuel levels and discovered we had 15 or 16 gallons more diesel than I thought! It was a Christmas miracle. It took me all of 20 minutes of checking to accept this fact; we indeed had plenty of fuel to make this trip and I would rest easier tonight. We left the marina by 4am so we would make it to Gibraltar by the afternoon the next day. And we would have if the engine hadn't crapped out a mile from the marina entrance. There was not a breath of wind but I rolled out the genoa with an abundance of optimism. I thought I must have forgotten to put something right with all the last minute engine fixes. But I soon found out there was no Christmas miracle. We had water in the fuel tanks (and in the pumps and hoses and engine) likely 15 or 16 gallons of probably rain water. Our guess is that the fills leaked during the week long down pour. Its an easy fix when we find the right size Oring. Less than a $1. I spent the next 9 hours trying to polish the fuel while our sail flogged and our boat drifted 3 miles to the west on a light current. We left the marina by 4am so we would make it to Gibraltar by the afternoon the next day. And we would have if the engine hadn't crapped out a mile from the marina entrance. There was not a breath of wind but I rolled out the genoa with an abundance of optimism. I thought I must have forgotten to put something right with all the last minute engine fixes. But I soon found out there was no Christmas miracle. We had water in the fuel tanks (and in the pumps and hoses and engine) likely 15 or 16 gallons of probably rain water. Our guess is that the fills leaked during the week long down pour. Its an easy fix when we find the right size Oring. Less than a $1. I spent the next 9 hours trying to polish the fuel. In the end we flagged down a passing fisherman hoping for a tow and he held up a hand to say wait and grabbed his phone and called out the calvary. Two separate Search and Rescue boats came out to assist and almost removed our bob-stay (under the bow sprit) which supports the mast. Another guy grabbed a stantion and broke it and so we will need a welder again. We were under tow when a wind started up and we likely could have managed our own rescue, while we agonized what this would cost and how we would pay for anything. PE ac e
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