I caught your attention didn’t I? Where to start? Two days into our sail to the Bahamas from Portsmouth, VA our port engine died. Don and Ken (I gave up after a day) have been troubleshooting non stop. Low air tactics include blowing fuel hoses with compressed air, bike pump, makeshift tube with manual blowing. We’ve gone through a fuel filter and fuel oil filter replacement; and are seriously thinking of a second. Those Racor fuel polishing systems are looking mighty sweet right now. I have a feeling we’ll dedicate the necessary wall real estate in the future for this system; it means running some extra lines as well… Then, there’s the loose electrical connection theory which they’re also working through. It could be a combination as well. Food wise, we’re certainly doing fine. Last night surf and turf was steak and cold coho salmon with dill sauce and mashed sweet potato. Never, did I say never, cook brussel sprouts in the pressure cooker for 30 min. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to cook them again on the boat… We fixed our fishing rod but have only caught the sargasso weed that is killing our oceans (see oceanswatch).

No wind though makes flat seas, which invite a plunge into the North Atlantic with absolutely no boats around, delivering an unblemished 360 degree view. Night starts are brilliant, with a gorgeous milky way, and phosphorescence twinkling at us under the sugar scoops.

Lots of motoring isn’t great when you only have one engine but hey, that’s what monohulls deal with all the time! Oh, did I mention we resolved the dead engine. It was a faulty fuel gauge. There wasn’t any fuel! Some day, we’ll laugh about this. Someday…