AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2015/02/06 00:30
LATITUDE: 23-11.47N
LONGITUDE: 081-07.62W
COMMENT: Beach House -DOCKED – Marina Gaviota – Varadero, Cuba
The weather ruled out the Cay Sal Bank completely and then…..A funny thing happened on the way to Mexico…
Well, with the Fuel line leak getting worse, the engine kill solenoid on the port engine malfunctioning, the oil temperature sender on the same engine malfunctioning.
AND, a HUGE cold front coming down out of the Midwest. Discretion being the better part of valor, we\’ve declared a \”pan pan\” situation. That is the maritime term for, \”we\’ve got some problems, but we\’re not screaming for assistance\” (That would be a Mayday – \”help me\” in French). Safety of the crew and vessel come first.
We needed to get out of the 30 knot gusts and rain squalls that were just starting when we tied up at the dock. We need to have a stable platform to work on some of the issues. The fuel leak is the most important. After a good rocking around last night while sailing, we noticed a big increase in the leak. It\’s a potential fire hazard and the fumes do not make the crew function at their best…:-)
It needs to be dealt with which I will do here. We expect to be here in Varadero for a few days waiting out the weather. We may need to get the repairs done at Marina Hemingway in Havana..
90 miles to our west.
LOTS to tell in the next blog.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki