snacks and consumed my large flask of
hot water I went down below to warm
some soup on the gas stove and to heat
some more water up, only to find the
cooker would not light – hopes and
pleasures dashed! Still, cold tomato soup
was better than nothing.
Now nourished, my brain started to
function again and I realised the wind was
down to Force 2/3 and I decided I’d leave
the small jib up and fully unfurl the genoa,
creating a slutter rig along with the full
main. The sun was out and I was heading
up towards Aberthaw power station,
almost making the course I needed to
bring me past Barry.
I went down below to have another go at
bleeding the fuel system and got plenty of
flow through the pipes and started the
engine, which was needed as by now the
tide had turned.
I’d worked out that I should be able to
pass Lavernock point about low tide
which at least meant I was not trying to
fight the tide off the Ranny – an
impossibility in Moonshadow.
Solving the puzzle
I finally locked in through Cardiff barrage
and returned to my mooring at Cardiff
Yacht Club at 2100. On my arrival home
I realised by my wife’s reaction that
something must be wrong and found that
my face was caked with salt, making me
look whiter than normal.
It was a great trip, but at times I did
reflect on what I could have done a lot
better. After further investigation I
discovered that the bottom of the fuel tank
was covered with debris from many years
of use and maybe even the odd can of
unfiltered fuel being added in the past...
There was also an extremely small
aperture in the outlet pipe from the tank,
which would have taken very little to
obstruct. The biggest component of the
stoppage or power loss seemed to tie into
the sea state.
My main puzzle was why it appeared
worse on starboard tack though, the outlet
was on the inboard end of the tank and
the tank was on the port side of the boat,
so logic would say it should be worse
when the tank outlet was towards the
bottom. My only explanation would be that
when on starboard tack there was less
head of diesel pressure, so the lift pump
had to work harder, and there was
possibly less movement of liquid in the
tank at the high side.n When you get an engine fault think
it through rather than just making
assumptions. My clue was in a
specific tack causing a problem. I
eventually traced it to two factors –
dirt in the bottom of the tank and an
extremely small aperture on the tank
fuel outlet.
n When someone asks you to move
further in on a mooring, think before
being too obliging. Both were drying
moorings so the other boat could
easily have gone to the forward
mooring: I’d already settled on the
one I had as the best one available
for my needs.
n It would have made more sense to
move out to the outer harbour, and
anchor in The Range, waiting for fair
tide and easing wind, even if I then
needed to add a stop at Watchet on
the way up.
n There proved nothing wrong with
the cooker, it worked fine next time I
used it – I think the effects of fatigue
made me a bit dopey – if I had tried it
after feeding myself I would have
probably got it going.
n Always have a boat with a decent
sized and reliable engine when
sailing in the Bristol Channel!‘I went below to warm some soup, only LESSONS LEARNED
to find the cooker would not light’
Low water in the lock at Cardiff barrageMoonshadow takes the
ground in Ilfracombe before
the return passage to CardiffDolphins in the Bristol channel
nSend us your boating experience story and if it’s published you’ll receive the original Dick Everitt-
signed watercolour which is printed with the article. You’ll find PBO’s contact details on page 5.
SEAMANSHIP