Coolant & Coast Guard

A pretty good day on the water. We left this morning at 7:00. Wind was east at 12kts and the seas were about 3 feet. It was not too bad as the waves were on the quartering stern for the most part. We turned out of Clearwater and set a waypoint near Port St Joe, 191 miles away. We had our sights set on Panama City as a final destination. We set the autopilot and watched the miles and hours go by.

All was well until we had a few alarms go off during the day. We continued to get a low coolant alarm. We had a gasket on the outboard side of the starboard engine that was leaking. Not much we could do, but continue to top off the coolant while underway. We would slow the boat down, turn off the stb engine, Jeff would drive while I went down in the engine room and add a gallon of coolant. We had to do this 3 times today, but it got us to Panama City without any issues. We had the local Man dealer meet us at the marina about an hour or so after we arrived. As I type this, they are in the engine room replacing the leaking gasket, cleaning up the coolant that leaked out and they hope to have us on our way in the morning. I can't begin to thank these guys enough for going out of their way to help us.

We also had a bit of excitement on our voyage of 244 miles to Panama City today. As we rounded St Vincent Island, which is between Apalachicola and Port St Joe, we heard a distress call on the vhf. A sailboat had run aground and was afraid of capsizing. The sailboat Navi contacted us and we stopped to try and lend assistance. Unfortunately, the water was too shallow for us to approach. So we simply stayed close by until the Coast Guard arrived. The Coast Guard sent a helicopter to pick up the stranded sailor. There was real terror in the sailors voice as he repeated back to the Coast Guard that he would need to get in the water for the rescue swimmer to help hoist him up. However, in all the stress and turmoil, the sailor asked if he could take a fishing pole that his dead father had given to him years ago. He said it was more valuable to him than the boat. The Coast Guard told him to bring it.

The Coast Guard, to their credit, got him. It was a weird feeling to see the helicopter fly off while the boat, stranded on the sandbar was left abandoned. It was also strange for us to drive off with the boat just sitting there. We hope that Tow BoatUS or Sea Tow was able to salvage the boat for the owner.

A valuable lesson on several levels. Double check your charts and make sure all of your safety gear is in order and operable. The sailboat tried to fire his flare as we passed, but it did not go off. The charts clearly show the shoal and low water. Not sure what he was thinking as he tried to cross the bar.