Only about 2 hours into our 16 hour passage to St. Martin, our cooling water high temperature alarm started shining bright red. We were heading directly into the wind, so we only had our main sail up and we were running our engine at full cruising speed. Our autopilot was on and we were admiring the super moon when it happened. I jumped behind the wheel and quickly throttled down, while Rob rushed downstairs to inspect the engine. I glanced at our transom and saw that we had plenty of water flow coming out of our exhaust. Perhaps the sensor had just failed and there wasn’t really an issue. However, when Rob opened the engine compartment door our galley transformed into a steam room. It was clear that we had a severe leak in our cooling system, so I immediately fell off from the wind and shut the engine down.
Tag: usvi
Returning to the Cruising Lifestyle
We had a great time living in San Juan, PR over hurricane season, but we were itching to get back on the boat and continue our journey south. Last season, we quickly learned that cruising can be like a roller coaster ride with amazing highs and frustrating lows. And this season has started off the exact same way.