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Monday 2/6/2003 – DLS & DLC Travel to Le Cruesty
DLS and DLC decided to drive to Le Cruesty for flexibility and to carry various new items DLS has purchased for the boat. The trip to Calais was uneventful and we arrived 3 hours earlier than planned. On leaving the port DLS thought the car sounded strange but we decided it was probably the road surface. After 10 miles the ‘road noise’ had got much worse and we stopped in a lay-by to check the wheels etc. After removing one front wheel it was clear by the way the hub wobbled that we had a wheel bearing problem and we decide to return to Calais.
We managed to locate a Ford garage to go to the next day and eventually found a suitable hotel. DLC claims that he had a disturbed night, due to a degree of snoring from the person in the other bed, and swears he will not share a room with DLS again. There are of course 2 views of this problem!!
We had to abandon the car in Calais for repairs and hire a car to continue the journey to Le Cruesty.
We decided to stay in Le Cruesty and install some of the new equipment, including a new toilet and a new compass.
A good days sail with decent winds and brilliant sunshine – all was well with the world! We passed an amazing holiday resort at La Balle, miles of beautiful beaches and thousands of hotels and apartment blocks.
We were a little concerned at the amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust and phoned the Yanmar agent in Loctudy for advice. They reassured us that there was unlikely to be a problem.
We decided to sail up the Loire river to Nantes to ease the travel arrangements for Mike Woodward. Most of the trip was under engine due to light winds and the wind direction. The initial part of the river is very industrial but it then changes to lovely countryside and is very enjoyable.
We continued to be worried by the white smoke from the exhaust but the engine seemed to be running well.
The marina in Nantes was a whole new experience. Most of the small marina dries out to mud for most of the state of the tide. We rafted on to 2 other boats on the outside pontoon, but still had to go in under full engine to drive the boat through the silt.
Amazingly the boat we rafted onto was a Westerly Conway, which the owner had bought in the Med and had just spent 6 months doing up.
We motored down the Loire in brilliant sunshine, but was increasingly worried by the engine as the amount of smoke seemed to be increasing. The engine revs also started to be limited to a maximum of 2500, whereas it should go to 3800 and every now and again the engine would start to race and belch out lots of smoke.
Once out of the Loire we managed to sail for a bit before the wind died away, however we made it to Pornic. We clearly had to stay in Pornic until we could get an engineer to examine the engine.
It was Tuesday before we could get a Yanmar engineer to look at the engine. He removed the rocker cover and removed one of the conrods which was bent into an S shape. He concluded that there was a problem with the engine installation in that there should have been a water trap in the exhaust and this was missing. This had allowed water to run back down the exhaust into the engine.
The Loctudy Yanmar agents accepted that it was their fault and contacted their insurance company. After a visit from an ‘expert’ representing the insurance company it was eventually agreed that the engine should be replaced. The plan is for the replacement engine to be shipped to Loctudy by about the 18th June and for the Loctudy Yanmar agents to take it to Pornic and fit it at the end of the week. They will also fix the exhaust problem.
During the long wait DLS tried to get his mind off the problems by fixing more items on the boat, including a fan, a second cigar lighter fitting and the fridge components. We now have cold beer on board!!!
David C and Mike managed to fill their time by topping up their tan, they both worked very hard at this with impressive results. There was a minor debate on who the Jinx on board was as both David C and Mike had been on board for both the Whale and the engine incidents, however Mike claimed it couldn’t be him as he was not in the car when the bearings went.
Oh well it gives us all plenty to chat about with other crews!!
Author: DLS