SPECIAL: HOLE IN THE BOAT UPDATE!

Tuesday, May 20th

If you read our last Blog post, you will have heard that as we arrived in Hampton, Virginia, on Saturday, our bilge alarm went off and we were taking on water. The water seemed to be coming from under the engines in a hollow space under the engine mounts.

The boat yard we called on Monday said it would take us out of the water on Monday afternoon, but they were backed up, so it ended up being today (Tuesday).

We got into the slings just as the bilge alarm went off again. Odd as we had all of our pumps running. The boat came out of the water, and we all looked under the boat. Aside from the water coming out of the pumps, we saw nothing running. We went over the hull from front to back, checking all of the through-hull fittings, looking for scuff marks in the paint, and there was nothing.

So we let the pumps thoroughly drain the boat, then put it back in the water to see where it came from. We checked all around the engines and shafts, but there was nothing. Then we heard the bilge pump in the back of the boat come on. We pulled up the floor in the lazarette, and it was clear where the water was coming in. It was the starboard rudder post. This is the same leak we had 3 years ago when we almost sank. The fiberglass around the rudder support had failed. This is the same issue. Now that we knew where to look, we pulled the boat back out of the water and tilted it a bit. Water poured out from around the rudder. Chris, the service manager, grabbed the rudder and was able to shake it back and forth. We missed it the first time because the exit ports for the bilge pumps come out right above the rudder, so the water pouring out was masked. They are directly above the starboard rudder, and we concentrated on the hull’s central part.

We think that the rudder hit a submerged log on the Dismal Swamp, breaking the fiberglass, which wasn’t repaired correctly last time.

The good news is that we know how to fix it, and unlike last time, the parts are new, so we don’t need to order replacements from France.

We are waiting for an estimate and scheduling, which we hope to have tomorrow. The boat is on dry land, so we can sleep well tonight. We’ve abandoned ship and are staying in a hotel because the boat yard doesn’t allow you to stay on board out of the water.