Aotearoa - the land of the Long White Cloud
A dark grey plume of cloud masked Aotearoa at around the time we should have first glimpsed New Zealand’s promised land. S/V Nimue, our almost continuous companion for the last 2,000 miles, was a couple of miles ahead and her crisp white sails shone against the steely grey sky and sea. Last week we were in Tonga with its sun-kissed, palm clad beaches. Now we were within touching distance of New Zealand and the dawn chill made us reach for fleeces, blankets and long trousers. A thousand miles means a big change in the weather when sailing almost due south.
Shimshal has been bearing us bravely and at great speed towards the promised land but, late last night and with a hundred miles to go, she told us how desperate she was for surveys, skilled maintenance and repairs. The bilges had been dry (as they always are) but when I lifted the boards to check I saw what no sailor wants to see. A LOT of salty water slopping around and the pump’s float switch jammed against the backup pump so that neither pump could work.
I hastily booted up both pumps and was mightily relieved to see the water level start to drop. After 10 minutes the bilges were dry once more and there was no need to reach for the MayDay button and prepare the liferaft.
But where was the water coming from? That mystery is still not solved after much scurrying around with a head torch peering into lockers, under floorboards, stern glands, rudder glands and engine exhausts. As I write, the source remains a mystery.
Fortunately the flow of water into the boat is now just a trickle and it was the freaky failure of our bilge pump float switch that had allowed so much build up. Further investigation can be deferred until we are tied to something solid and that should be in just 4 hours time.
I’ve already made a mental note to buy a bilge water alarm at the earliest opportunity. We have so many alarms on board for smoke, propane, carbon monoxide (triggered several times by our new petrol generator), exhaust temperature, water temperature - the list is endless. I’m wondering why we never got around to fitting a bilge water alarm 20 years ago