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By
mid-afternoon, Whirlwind
was launched and loaded. Our enjoyment of the world's greatest fish and
chips from Mr Perch (in the background above, right) was
dampened
somewhat by the fact that W7222 was sinking. An hour later, Doug had
already
become one of the local marina's best customers, having bought a pump,
flares and silicone sealer in three trips. Meanwhile, the water in the
boat was up to the floorboards from what Doug suspected might be leaky
bailers.
Our
aim had been to nip across
Killarney Bay to "Tim France's Secret Cove" (see chart) but
now
we had a more urgent goal: finding a better place than the minute
harbour
at Killarney to unspring our leak. We didn't feel endangered in any way
since Doug and his wife, Anne, had done a thorough buoyancy test the
previous
week and we knew our tanks were properly water-tight.
So
we set off into a 5-15 knot
W wind in the general direction of Tim's Cove where we recalled a bit
of
beach that might be suitable. The beat out of Killarney Channel did
little
to drain the water out the bailers but that same water did make a lot
easier
to do really serious roll tacks! Fortunately, we didn't quite
remember the exact location of Tim's Cove other than the fact that it
was
not far north of Covered Portage Cove, and we sailed right past it...
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... into
this little
bay
with a cottage and something very rare for this area - a lovely beach!
We sailed in to throw ourselves on the mercy of the cottagers as
ship-wrecked
mariners, but alas, there was no one home.
So we unloaded what needed
to be unloaded, especially the single malt scotch, and careened
Whirlwind
to check the bailers which Doug said had gotten a bit bent in a recent
incident which remains nameless.
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The
bailers
actually looked
fine but we duct- taped them anyway just to be sure. This left one more
possible source of such a major leak: the centreboard bolt. It was with
considerable joy that we discovered that the bolt was in pretty loosely
and was the likely culprit. So we took it out, wiped all the parts as
dry
as we could, and had a scotch while we waited for wind and sun to do
the
rest.
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her crew having taken this opportunity to figure out where Tim's Cove had to be. ... |
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Soon
we were
anchored
at our intended destination (below). Above, you will see Uncle
Al
grinning at the thought that he and Doug would not have to pump every
hour
on the hour all night since the boat repairs appeared to have succeeded
in (virtually) stopping the leak. Chef Doug whipped up a Chunky Soup
supper
while Al got the tent up and soon we were ready for our post-prandial
sip (below).
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The
eagle-eyed
among you
will spot the fact that we forgot one small item that is rather helpful
when one wants to use the boom tent: the boom crutch. Luckily, we
managed
to substitute a pair of our storage boxes.
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| Satisfied
that
we were
reasonably prepared for the coming night ... ... |
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...
we climbed to the top of our
little hill to take a peek at our next-door neightbour, Covered Portage
Cove (below). The healthy
westerly breeze
brought a cool evening and we enjoyed a lovely sunset. The wind and
cool
temperatures caused us to get out some warmer clothes but did a great
job
in keeping the bugs away. In the photo below,
you see
the entrance to Covered Portage with someone heading in. This was to be
typical of the week up here: we saw so many keelboats under power and
virtually
none under sail that we found a new definition of a keelboat: a motor
boat
with a mast. On
a more serious
note, it
made us appreciate the Wayfarer which, with reasonable care, can sail
virtually
anywhere, while the bigger guys have to stay where the charts recommend!
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