After being towed in, we were ready to put that humbling experience behind us. Dois cleaned the water out of the fuel, put in new diesel and we left Aguadulce again. The weather was still in our favor, as in there wasn’t any; no wind, no rain and it was a balmy 60 degrees. But there was fog and a dense marine layer plagued us for the day. Because our AIS isn't working properly, fog completely hides us from other mariners. We were 150 miles from Gibraltar and then a 700 mile leg to the Canary Islands where the even more formidable crossing awaited; the Atlantic Ocean. The engine sounded solid, quiet and reacted much better to increased throttle. Soon enough we were moving at a spritely 6 knots on a mirror-like sea reflecting a rising moon. At not even halfway to Gibraltar the transmission started slipping. On the first falter Dois flew down the companion-way steps, pulled the engine door open and the acrid stench of burnt oil filled the salon. The transmission had lost all fluid and over-heated. Shit. The Captain immediately went to work filling up the transmission with ATF. I made a sharp turn north towards the nearest marina just 4 miles away. Within 15 minutes Dois had to add fluid again. And again and again. When we ran out of ATF he used engine oil, when that was gone he used olive oil, then avocado oil. When the galley was emptied of oils he remembered there was oil in the generator. The generator oil got us into the Port of Motril. Those 4 miles took us 4 hours and likely added to my grays. It was dark and far too risky and assumptive to try and find an empty space in a crowded marina in the dark with a malfunctioning transmission. So we pulled up to a huge, empty commercial dock and within minutes a small Nissan police (Guardia Civil) car came at us with blue lights flashing, lighting us up just like a cheesy episode of “COPS”. In Spanish he told us we could not stay there because a ferry would be coming into this dock in a few hours. He pointed for us to go across the harbor; “ayah” (way over there)…so that’s what we did, we went “ayah”... over there, to the far side of the harbor. As we were tying up to the second commercial quay, the 2nd episode of COPS unfolded... blue lights flashing, the little car spun to a stop on the quay next to Ashika. Apparently our understanding of “ayah” was not Senor Sherlock’s meaning of “ayah”. The now quite agitated officer jumped out onto the pavement and pointed across another dark channel to an even darker yacht marina. Although my español pretty much sucks, he made it very clear that was were we needed to be… at the marina "AHORA”! NOW! Dois, ever patient, explained to him again that our drive train was compromised (mucho grande problema por machina). The marina tonight was not possible, but he either didn’t understand or didn’t care. He threw his arms in the air like we were clearly stupid and I reached my limits of abuse by then. In my best Spanglish I said “It’s 3:30 in the morning on Christmas Eve. No one will be working here in the morning and I really don’t want to be here either. So unless you can help us get to the marina docks safely, we would like to stay here until morning. Or I could stab you in the scrotum with a fork... Sir" Or something to that effect knowing his English was worse than my Spanish. Dois promised him we would leave at sunrise and Sherlock begrudgingly left. I fell asleep that night to a song in my head: watcha gonna do when they come for you? The transmission was fixed by Dois and a mechanic at Marina Motril. The following are the highlights (& lowlights) of the leaky transmission saga. Good: It was Xmas! Dois had to rest whether he liked it or not. Bad: It was Xmas and no one was available to help with the trans. Good: We were safe in a nice marina. Bad: The marina was not free. Good: The people are lovely because they get a lot of vacation time. Bad: The Spanish have many holidays and wont be back to work until Jan. 9. Good: We we’re invited to a Xmas eve party with French, Dutch and Belgians. Not So Bad: Not much English was spoken. Good: They had lots of good champagne and great tapas. Bad: A 13 year old French girl tried to translate Dois’ stories. Good: There was lots of champagne. Bad: We needed a large wrench to remove the seal. Good: The marina owner sent a Mechanic to our boat after Xmas. Bad: The mechanic was not free and his wrench didn’t fit. Good: The mechanic took the wrench apart to fit the space. Bad: The dissembled wrench would not ratchet and time is money. Good: The leak was the rear seals, not the front seals that Dois replaced in the Marshall Islands. Bad: The rear seal replacement we carried around since Indonesia was the wrong one. Good: A few stores in town opened on Tuesday with limited hours. Bad: Not the store with the correct size seal. Good: Dois found the right size seal on Friday and it was almost free. Bad: It was Friday and no one works on the weekends.
We left the marina on January 4th 2023 just as the winds turned toward Gibraltar. Our alternator went on the blink, but we are hopeful it's cold enough to save our frozen food and we'll deal with trying to fix it in Gibraltar. This would be our third try for the Rock. Another New Years Miracle!We made it! We dropped anchor in 15' of crystal clear water at 4:00 PM on January 5th 2023 in the La Linea Anchorage in Gibraltar. Wishing you all a lovely and happy 2023!
1 Comment
Carol Peckham
1/7/2023 10:21:04 pm
Bravo!!!
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