letters Essential kit • Barnacles
Having just left the visitors’ pontoon at Tréguier, Brittany on a falling tide, it was immediately noted that our yacht’s engine exhaust sounded ‘dry’ and a quick check revealed minimal water outflow. With the benefit of the outgoing current, we swiftly cut the engine and allowed the stream to carry us down river, to give time to assess the situation and to resolve the problem.
Appropriate checks confirmed that the water inlet to the engine was blocked and almost certainly externally. Initial ideas to deal with the situation from aboard through the intake were fairly quickly discarded as not being practical and, as the tide was giving us fast progress, the decision was taken to drop anchor to assess the situation further. A vague hope that the fairly strong tidal flow might dislodge the blockage proved to be in vain. The prospect of clearing the inlet manually was abandoned after a quick visit over the side suggested that, with the strong current and consequent poor visibility, it would be dangerous to do so.
At this point, the crew made the suggestion that what we really needed was something to blow the obstruction out of the inlet by way of the strainer. What about the inflatable dinghy pump? Fortunately, the pump aboard came with a number of different end fittings and one fitted snugly into the inlet to the strainer. We knew that the blockage was not too tight as there was a small water inflow, and initial attempts with the pump enabled us to hear external bubbling and know that air was making its way down the inlet hose – a length of 50cm or so – and through the hull fitting.
A number of attempts produced no improvement. We were at the point of conceding defeat, when applying as much pressure as we dared to the pump, there was a sudden increase in the external bubbling, and subsequent pumping resulted in our assessing that the blockage was no more. What a relief!
With water now gushing though the strainer, order was rapidly restored, we weighed anchor and continued on our intended passage.
Alastair Jackson