"Capt. JG" wrote:
....
Sailing there, a big cabin cruiser came up on us from the starboard stern...
must have been going 10+ kts, with a huge wake.

At first I thought he was going to cut us off to the point of us having to
take evasive action, but he weaved around enough to clear our side and bow.
The whole time we're waving and gesturing to slow down, since it was going
to be close and the wake was going to be huge. He kept right on going, and
as he got abeam, had the middle finger flying.

A video camera is the best answer for such.



We did a visual inspection of the engine... double checked that the raw
water intake was open, oil level, fresh water level, feel for excessive
heat, sniff test for something burning, belts are on and not slipping. I had
someone turn the engine back on and I put my hand over the raw water exhaust
(it's under the transom, and you can be fooled by air bubbling vs. water
exiting). Water was definitely coming out, the water was luke warm at most,
but the alarm was on. Also, I noticed oil on the absorbant pad underneath
the engine... not a lot, but there was none in the morning... something
happened. Well, we were sailing, so it didn't matter right now, and I shut
down the engine after about a minute. Even though the water was only warm at
most, I was starting to see steam coming out of the exhaust. I started
thinking it might be a blown head gasket, one reason was it seemed overly
rough at low idle.


Could be a lot of things. Corrosion in the exhaust/cooling water mixer
can make steam, and can also cause enough backpressure to overheat the
engine. Partly busted raw water impellor could also make steam &
overheat. It's not your engine, right?




So, we're sailing down the Sausalito channel. Toward the end of the channel,
where we need to go, it gets rather narrow, and it's quite easy to run
aground if you get outside the markers. As we get to a particularly narrow
spot (still under sail, which was good practice for the students), three
kayakers come out of a marina and are slowly paddling ahead of us on our
port side just outside the channel. I can see that they're totally unaware
of us and edging closer and closer to the channel, obviously going to head
across it.

When I got within earshot, I called over to them, saying, please stay out of
the channel... we're having engine trouble and can't maneauver. One asked me
where he should be, and I said, anywhere except in front of me is fine.
Another one stopped paddling, waiting for us to go by. The third guy kept
going! Slowly! Unbelievable. So, I said, Sir, if you keep going, we're going
to run you over. Please get out of the channel. He said ok, but kept going!

Not only a moron, but a militant moron. The same kind who rides his
bicycle in traffic and dares cars to hit him.

It's a shame we don't currently have a legal way to get such people
out of the gene pool.

We've had a couple of issues with kayakers, generally they have no
clue about draft or maneuverability constraints. In New York, we had a
trio of kayakers dart across the channel in front of us (it seemed to
me that they had waited for the opportunity to do so) but we were
already going slow, had spotted them well ahead, and let them go by.
About an hour later there was a pretty bad squall and the police &
rescue boats went tearing out into the river.... seems you-know-who
had gotten lost, disoriented, capsized repeatedly, and finally become
separated from their boats. They could only think to use their cell
phones to dial 911.
..

Well, the final leg was sailing down the fairway, very light wind at this
point... under 2kts, but we made a beautiful docking, and all ended well.


Sounds like a GREAT sailing lesson: if you know the skills & watch out
for idiots, you can still have a good time!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King