In an attempt to orientate ourselves in all the commotion, while Elaine disabled the wind alarm and undertook a scan of the anchorage to be sure we were still positioned as expected relative to the other yachts, Roy checked both engine compartments, only to find them dry. Earlier in the evening he’d also checked the port bilge when he emptied the water container of the port air-conditioner. That left the starboard bilge, but discovering a considerable volume of saltwater sloshing around was not what we expected or indeed what any cruiser wants.
Hauling out all our stowed provisions, checking the depth sensor and the other throughhulls didn’t reveal any clues as to where the water was coming from and, once everything was mopped up, it remained dry. Baffled, but somewhat relieved, we returned to our beds.
An inspection this morning revealed that the bilge was still dry, but we decided, nonetheless, that another change to our itinerary was required, to allow us to troubleshoot the issue in a more protected anchorage and without the worry of unpredicted thunderstorms and numerous unoccupied yachts swinging in all directions.
With that, we set off and by 1100 we were anchored once more in the calm anchorage of Koh Nahka Yai; this anchorage was becoming similar to that of Hope Town in the Bahamas for us; a refuge! Unfortunately, though, another inspection of the starboard bilge en route revealed more saltwater and the possibility of the starboard air-conditioner throughhull being the culprit. However, after more mopping up, by the time we were anchored, the throughhull area and the bilge had remained dry.
Completely baffled Roy eventually spotted a small trickle running down the side of the hull from a point above the waterline. That indicated that the only explanation had to be related to the generator somehow, given that we’d run it briefly this morning before weighing anchor. It didn’t take long to confirm we were on the right track, when we also discovered water everywhere under the saloon bunks.
So, after unpacking everything, a large corroded hole was found in the stainless steel piping contraption which connects the raw water intake to the generator through the bulkhead.
It was at this point, we both happened to look out of the saloon windows for the first time in nearly an hour, only to see white caps and a rather large swell rolling into our “calm” anchorage. We were so engrossed in finding the source of this leak, we hadn’t noticed the wind shift and change in weather conditions which were definitely not forecast; we now had winds out of the south, instead of the southwest.
So, weigh anchor again and head to the anchorage off Grand Ao Po marina in the hope of getting a little more protection and to find somewhere to get a new stainless steel contraption made or, at least, get the existing one repaired.
By this point it was 1400, Elaine was exhausted and in desperate need of a nap, so Roy set off in the dinghy in search of help. To his surprise and delight he found the marina manager, Derek, who, not only offered us the use of the dinghy dock, the restaurant and the office staff to arrange a hired car for us, as needed, but he drove Roy to a nearby engineering shop, where it was agreed a new fitting could be made, ready for collection at 1000 tomorrow, following which Derek finalised arrangements with Roy to collect it.
Elaine was in such a deep sleep, she didn’t hear Roy return, but surfaced briefly to hear the good news before returning to her slumber, following which Roy went for a walk on the beach.
Dinner in the cockpit, then cooling off on the foredeck in the night breeze, with the crescent moon setting in the west and seeing the Southern Cross again for the first time in a very long time, hanging low in the night sky, was a peaceful end to an otherwise stressful and hectic day, although we were both extremely grateful that we’d found the problem and had a solution.
