wrote in message
oups.com...
"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.

I've got one on my cell phone, but I just wasn't fast enough...

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?

I wouldn't think it was corrosion, since it's a brand new engine... very
clean. I like the busted impellor theory. Damn right... not mine.

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.

Sheesh... usually they are smart enough to stay out of the way, but every
once in a while. I always tell the students to try and hit them on their
beam... they'll sink faster.


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!

They loved it. The main issue was at the end going down the fairway... would
we have enough to get to the end where the slip was... but we did. It
reinforced the notion of an "auxiliary" and primary means of propulsion.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com