Stranded

There is salt water in our port side sail drive’s oil, and we know this is trouble! There is a big sand bank in Itaparica when it is low tide, and we thought this to be a good place to get Catlyn on dry ground or sand. Early this morning at high tide, we motored Catlyn closer to a sand bank, and slowly we saw the depth meter going to 1m. And then Catlyn sagged her belly into the sand , but we weren’t lying nicely and we knew as soon as the water is gone at low tide we are going to hang skew. Johan picked up the anchor out of the shallow water, and like a gladiator pulled Catlyn to where he wanted her and buried the anchor into the sand. We watched the tide going out, and the engines were out and dry, ready for our “mechanic” team, just after a coffee break. All of us jumped into the shallow water and gave Catlyn a tummy rub, no barnacles were left. We regretted not having some anti-fouling to do a couple of touches, but we will remember next time. At the stern the rubber was overgrown with a grass from Walvis Bay, and it looked like Catlyn was going into menopause with her unwelcoming beard. Having sympathy with her situation, I tackled the green beard with my kitchen knife and trimmed this lady back to her beauty.


With little help from the Yamaha manuals and the internet, Johan started on the sail drive leg, and took the prop apart, and drained a lot of seawater. He found a green plastic wrapped around the prop. The seals were replaced, the oil drained and everything was cleaned, and we hoped that the problem was solved. The starboard engine also received an oil change and a good check.

We enjoyed a chicken braai on the beach and Marco had fun picking up shells, chasing hermit crabs and body boarding in the shallow warm water. Elize enjoyed the walk on the sand bank and disappeared in herself for a while…

The tide was slowly coming in and we sipped on a Capariniha, waiting for Catlyn to lift her big heavy derriere. At about six she moved very slightly, but the tide wasn’t strong enough to lift her. With the help of the two boys in the dinghy they gently shoved her port side, and she was free. We motored back to anchor for the night with a squeaky clean boat. Rain poured down on us through the night washing Catlyn’s deck as well!