The holidays are over and Persephone was being prepared to leave Grenada. The weather guru advised that there is a weather window for Tuesday-Wednesday this week for heading up island. In preparation, I was scuba diving to clean the prop. I tried to turn the prop shaft, but it seemed stiff. I attributed the stiffness to barnacle/bio-growth on the shaft. So, I applied a little more pressure to shaft. Finally, it turned....but not freely. I continued to clean the prop and bottom of the boat.
BEEP>>>BEEP>>>BEEP>>> Even underwater, I could hear the bilge pump alarm activate. This alarm only sounds if the bilge pump (capable of pumping 50 gallons per minute !!!) is having difficulty keeping up with the inflow of water. HOLY S**T !! Its got to be an error. As I surfaced, I could see the bilge pump tube sticking out of the stern, and water was gushing out of it. No error....Persephone was taking on LOTS of water. She was sinking !!!!
I ripped off my dive tank and threw it into the dinghy, and literally ran up the boarding ladder. I pulled up the floor boards and immediately saw that water filled the bilge and was just below the floor boards. The bilge pump was barely keeping up with the inflow. "Gotta find the leak, and FAST !! I immediately started to close every seacock (shut off valves that are fitted where each hose enters the boat). There are nine seacocks on Persephone, and as I closed each one the water flow continued unabated. Closing all of the seacocks made no difference !! Where can the water flow be coming from....there are only two other options...the prop shaft or the rudder shaft. I grabbed a screw driver and opened the access hatch to the prop shaft. Water came shooting out of the access hatch....the rubber bellows surrounding the drive shaft had separated from the boat and had torn; leaving a TWO INCH hole open to the ocean !! This is serious....REAL SERIOUS !!
I rushed to the radio and called Eric on 'Compass Rose' who is anchored about 150 yards from Persephone. "Eric....gotta a major leak, get over here fast !!" I shouted into the mike. Back to the leak....how to stop it...or at least slow it down? Eric must have flown threw the water because he was aboard in seconds. Together we were able to pull the bellows over the shaft log (hole where drive shaft exits the boat) which slowed the leak. But, there were still several splits in the bellows letting in a significant amount of water. Eric suggested we try "Rescue Tape". I had never heard of the stuff, but why not.... Eric went to Compass Rose and promptly returned with the Rescue Tape. This a a tape that only sticks to itself....it worked like a champ. We wrapped it around the bellow and the leak immediately stopped. VICTORY !! Emergency over !!
"Hey Eric...need a cold one?"...."you bet" !! Two coldies were immediately downed to settle our frayed nerves !! ......
POST SCRIPT: Persephone is fitted with a PSS Dripless Shaft Seal. The leading edge rides on a stainless steel donut which surrounds the prop shaft. The bellows has a graphite seal that rides on the donut. Apparently, the graphite seal froze to the stainless steel donut. So, when I turned the shaft, I rotated the bellows, and pulled it off the shaft log, and tore it. (This should have never happened....I had motored the boat with no problems only 2 1/2 weeks ago) The Shaft Seal needs to be completely replaced. This requires the boat to be hauled from the water, and the entire prop shaft removed. Read: Major Job. So, today, I will be contacting Sabre Yachts to find the proper size of the Shaft Seal, and see if one is available on the island. In addition, reservations will have to be made at Spice Island Marine to have the boat hauled. This could take weeks to repair, depending on availability of parts, and the ease of removing the shaft.
Thank God, I added the bilge pump alarm just before we left Connecticut !! (Boaters: Install a LOUD bilge alarm as a winter project...it saved Persephone) Otherwise I would be swimming home.....
Wish us luck !!
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