THE SINKING OF THE THUNDERBIRD (almost)

It was early August of 2010 and we wanted to have a week or so cruising out of  Gull Harbour and had been monitoring the weather for a few days looking for a weather window to head north to "Gull" which is approximately 50 miles north of our home port.  Day after day we watched the unfavorable weather forecasts, and couldn't get a break to start our trip.  Then one day we finally got a forecast of southerly winds all day, so we decided even though it wasn't going to be calm, we could take advantage of a following sea, and head north.  

We cruised out of the harbour and the lake looked a little rough, but nothing to serious, with the waves rolling from the south.  As we turned our stern to the wind, and she settled in, we started riding the waves northward.   We were rolling around a bit, but nothing pounding or uncomfortable.  We cruised along like that for a couple of hours and we were well north of Gimli, when the engine started acting up.  Coughing and sputtering and finally died.  Dan managed to get her going again and we discussed whether we should continue or not.  With no good facilities for solving our engine problems up north maybe we shouldn't continue, but turn back to Gimli, at least until we find out what this problems is.  Well, as we discussed the situation the decision was made of us, as the engine quit again and this time Dan couldn't get her re-started. 

It's one thing to be out in some rolling waves when you are under power and you can control your direction.  You can go with the waves as we had been doing or you can angle forward across them at an angle to make comfortable headway through them.  But, when you loose power the waves automatically turn your boat broadside to the waves.  This can prove very uncomfortable as you rock back and forth from side to side. 

We had large stabilizers installed down each side of our boat just after we bought it, because we had been on board her in a similar situation as guest, before we bought it.  So Dan arranged for the stabilizers soon after our initial purchase, and they really help.  It wasn't nearly as bad as the last time, we were on board when she was getting broadsided.  But. as the rocking got worse, there  was no way that Dan would have any luck working on the boat under these conditions, so we decided to call the Coast Guard for a tow. 

After all, that's what they are there for, and if they don't get any calls that's when the government will decide we don't need them on this lake.  So, we put on our life jackets and radioed Thunder Bay Coast Guard for assistance.  We were not taking on water, or at any risk from anything else and told them so.  We told them we were not in any danger, but were in need of a tow into the nearest port, which was Gimli Harbour.  Of course their standard procedure is to try to get local area boaters to lend assistance and only when there is no volunteer assistance do they then dispatch a coast guard vessel.  We decided with the Coast Guard on the way, it was not necessary to put out an anchor, that would be difficult to retrieve quickly in this situation. 

So, with the decision made and the Coast Guard called, we had nothing that we needed to do but wait.  And in rough water it is always much more comfortable out on the back deck where you can keep your eyes on the horizon.  (That is how you prevent sea sickness.  So you can see every wave that is coming, and your brain adjusts to it.  )  We also had our new 3 month old puppy Sea-enna with us.   This was to be her first experience of a long cruise on the boat.  So, we put on our life jackets and took our puppy out onto the back deck and sat to await the coast guards arrival. 

We were not the least bit concerned, as we knew we were not in any danger, just a little uncomfortable due to the rough water.  Eventually the Coast Guard cutter Vakta, came into view.  She is a 52-ft. (16.76 m) multi-task vessel that covers search and rescue out of Gimli Harbour.  She has huge engines and can travel across the lake at quite a clip.  Not like our trawler that only travels at 10 mph.  They made a quick circle around our boat, surveying the situation, which made even more waves than we were already dealing with.  Then they pulled close along side.  One of the crew with a line in hand, made a huge leap from Vakta to the bow of Thunderbird.  He quickly secured that line he had.  Then came down our walk around to greet us and explain, that we were to stay on the back deck and he was in charge from here on. 

At the time of our call, the radio dispatcher had asked many questions about our vessel, size, type, who is on board, etc.  So of course they knew we had a dog on board.  As the crewman rounded the corner onto our back deck he greeted us with a broad grin when he saw our little puppy. 

He explained that they always take extra precautions when they are told that there is a dog on board, as quite often a dog will sense tension in their owners in a situation like this and have been known to turn on the rescuers, thinking that is where the danger is coming from.  So, he was quite relieved to see our little 3 month old Sea-enna sitting on my lap. 

So, being assured that there was no danger from an edgy dog lurking on board they quickly rigged our boat for towing and got underway.  Once underway, the side to side rolling of the boat eased off, but now with us heading southeast at an angle across those waves rolling from the south, we were now dealing with the bow rising and falling over these large waves.  The Vakta crewman was at our helm, and in constant radio contact with Vakta.  Dan was periodically going forward to the helm to check on our progress, but was mostly sitting out on our back deck with me and Sea-enna, as instructed.  As we progressed toward Gimli, Vakta kept picking up more and more speed, checking occasionally with the crewman on board to see how Thunderbird was handling it.  By the time we were nearing Gimli, we were moving a quite a clip.  Faster than the Thunderbird has ever traveled.  On one of his ventures forward Dan told me that we were hitting the waves so hard they were breaking up onto the fly bridge.  Little did we know what damage was being done. 

As we approached the harbour and the Vakta slowed to raft to us and maneuver us into position, we and they suddenly realized we were in real trouble.  Our hull was almost entirely full of water.  We had hardly any free board left and the water was above the floor in the forward stateroom and just below the floor in the Galley.  We, being told to sit out on the back deck, as they took over, had been totally unaware of what was happening. 
 

BUT NOW THE PANIC WAS ON.   

 

The coast guard crew realized our situation and quickly moved into action.  They hooked up a pump from Vakta and started pumping out our boat. 

Their second vessel (one of those huge dinghy type, with twin outboards) immediately appeared beside us with more huge pumps and extra crew.  There were so many coast guard personnel on board at one point, I was just trying to stay out of the way with Sea-enna.   

 

The second coast guard boat got about four gas powered pumps pumping, then Vakta rafted us, into position along the seawall. 

 

Thanks so much to a friend, Linda Engstrom, of "Ludicrous", who, watching all this from shore took all of these pictures and sent them to me. 

 

At least when they got us to the seawall, I could get off of the boat with Sea-enna.  It only took an hour or so for them to get our boat all pumped out and realize that we were not taking on water anywhere.  And that, all that water had been forced on board during the tow.  I think they knew that and were doing anything they could to help us out, even though they are not legally liable. 

 

 

Oh, what a mess we had on our hands.  We knew that the original stalling of the engine, had been caused by fouled fuel filters, so those had to be replaced and had already been planned for, as soon as the Diesel mechanic Ed Lawrie could get to it.  But, we all thought that it could wait until fall.  But now, the water had been right up the sides of the engine, so we could not dare, try to start it.  If we didn't handle this situation properly we could end up with a very expensive anchor instead of an engine.  We got Ed to come down to Gimli and give us instructions on what to do.  The consensus from Ed and others was, "Change the Oil, Turn it over until she coughs, then repeat", over and over, and over again. 

So that's what Dan did.  He changed the oil, turned over the engine just until she coughed, then shut it down and changed the oil again.  He did this 5 times while sitting in Gimli Harbour.  With each change of the oil as Dan would turn over the engine and the oil would turn white and milky.  But with each oil change it got a little clearer.  Which is how we spent our holiday that was originally planned for Gull harbour. 

 

My problems were minor by comparison.  All my brand new carpeting that had just been installed in the Captain's Quarters was soaking wet.  So my chore was to "Walk on beach towels all over the wet carpets, remove the wet towels and replace them with dry ones" and repeat.  Over and over and over.  So all week while Dan was doing oil changes I was going back and forth to the laundro-mat washing beach towels.  With wonderful warm weather, open hatches and open windows, my carpets were soon dry. 

 

After a week of working on the boat and living on that Gimli seawall, we were anxious to get back to our home port.  It was perfect for Sea-enna though.  She was at the age, (a couple of months old) when most experts say she should meet and socialize with as many dogs as possible and twice as many people, to be a well socialized dog.  Well, you could not ask for a better place to socialize a dog.  It was difficult for me to get off of and back onto the boat and even more difficult to get my dog off and on, so once we were off we stayed off and lingered on the seawall.  I think every person that owns a dog in Gimli at some point in the day walks their dog on the seawall, and even the walkers that don't have dogs all seem to love puppies.  So, right when the experts say she needed it, she had a week of extensive exposure to many friendly dogs and twice as many really friendly people.  I think that the experts were right it has turned her into a really friendly and sociable dog.   

 

But, it really was time to get back to our home port.  We felt the oil changes had worked and the engine was safe to run, but we were still concerned about the fuel filters that started this whole episode.  Dan was confident that the engine was running OK and as long as we took it slow and easy we would be OK.  But just in case, we called our friends Sharon and Casey of "Loafhaven" and asked if they would stand by while we made our way on the 12 mile cruise, from Gimli Harbour to the harbour at Winnipeg Beach. They of course said "No Problem".  We can always count on them.  So sure enough as we headed out of Gimli Harbour the next day there was "Loafhaven"sitting off of Willow Island waiting to make sure we made it home safely.  And thankfully they were there.  We made it most of the way when we began to have the same fuel filter problems. 

But, when we stalled we'd let her sit for a while and we were able to start her again, but the stalling was getting close and closer together, so we had to give in to a tow.  We figured if we only had maybe one more start in her we would save that for maneuvering in the harbour. 

So, Sharon and Casey towed us right into the harbour mouth then cast us off and Dan was able to start and keep the old girl going long enough to maneuver right into our dock. 

 

Dan changed the oil a couple more times once we were at our home dock and Ed changed our whole fuel filter system.  As for how the water got in, I guess we will never really know for sure.  Dan feels it might have been forced in through a pump that is normally running all the time the engine is running, to feed our water cooled cutlass bearing, and as we were being towed that pump was not running, but the prop was turning.  So, Dan has installed a shut off on that line in case we ever run into a similar situation.  He has also put double one way valves on all the other through hull fitting. 

 

I guess we were lucky.  That is as close as I ever want to come to sinking. 

 

 

 

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL