“We have a leak!” Sabrina yelled. That is one of my least favorite phrases to hear on a boat. Especially when we’re at the start of a 3 night, 450 nautical mile passage with few good safe harbors.
We had just left the monstrous Rio Pará, timing the ebb tide to propel us out to sea, catapulting our way into the Atlantic as a decisive farewell to Brazil.
It had been amazing 8 months in my home country. Seeing this land by boat is an entirely different experience. Navigating the coastline between the lush south of Rio where I grew up , the dry north-east of steady wind and sanddunes, and the hot soggy north of the Amazon rainforest; all whilst dodging fronts and sneaking into river mouths behind fishermen boats; attunes one to the mysteries of how geography shapes a place.
Case in point, being 100 miles offshore surrounded by mud-brown water from the Amazon River for 24hrs straight, offered us a sense of grandeur and awesomeness at the vastness of that river basin. Something you can’t absorb by reading a text book.
on the muddy sea!
Then first mate Sabrina unceremoniously announced we had a L-E-A-K. My sense of contemplative nostalgia was shattered, and it was time to get to work in Six Simple Steps:
1) Bilge pump evacuates the bulk of water;
2) Taste the water to determine if salt or fresh (yuck?);
3) Use shop vac to thoroughly remove extra water;
4) Towels line the bilge and observe where water is pooling
5) Work upstream with more dry towels to identify where the leak is coming from.
6) Fix the leak in uncomfortable upside-down position.
We aim to keep our bilges painted (last coated by Ian & Dophaise in South Africa, bless their hearts), clean, and bone-dry. That is essential to diagnose leaks in critical moments like this.
With 450 miles to go to French Guyana, we worked fast to make sure an emergency stop in the Amazon River wasn’t required.
We found the culprit quickly — a broken PVC fitting in one of the sinks. PVC plumbing was used in French boats of this vintage, but the modern best practice is to only use flexible hoses .
Alas, we must live with this occasional panic attack caused by cracked plastic. Perhaps this will speed up our quest to replace our plumbing one day.
Having enjoyed that cocktail of sweaty adrenaline & cortisol , we settled into the remainder of the passage, which had both the most calm and most blustery moments.
For 2 days straight, we rode the equatorial current north at blazing speed. The seas were so smooth it felt like Nesi was in a marina, not in the middle of the ocean, yet we sped along at 8 knots with full sail under broad reach. Simply Glorious.
Since Neptune enjoys some mischief, and invariably tests the ability of mortals to not get too lazy, at the inconvenient time of 1am on day 3, he sent us a 35knot squall of drenching rain, forcing us to quickly furl the Genoa and then reef the mainsail. Besides the confusion of waking up from deep sleep in 8 seconds flat, we were unable to communicate between the helm and the mast, due to the maelstrom of rain and cacophony of wind.
Soaked through to the bone, at least it is not freezing cold. The squall was a big one and lasted 3 hours — howling and propelling Nesi at 11 knots (in the right direction, this was a plus).
This second cocktail of adrenaline & cortisol was compliments of the Earth’s Equator, which is an efficient (if chaotic) distributor of excess solar energy. It is the fuel that drives the entire globe’s wind patterns and currents, largely responsible for the habitable conditions on our planet. So we can’t complain about the occasional slap in the face as our puny little crafts attempt to transit this zone.
Few sailors love to go through the equator due to this ground zero effect, where unpredictable winds and squalls are the norm. Perhaps this is why there are some notable traditions for greenhorns crossing the equator.
However — between the panicked leak and the panicked squall, we didn’t really give our greenhorns a proper hazing. Shucks!
We did make it to French Guyana in one piece, in darn good spirits, which are two goals to celebrate.
Loved this? Watch the reel (1:20) about the experience: