Alarm - water coming in!

On our way to Mainland Mexico from the Baja and the Sea of Cortez. 08:00 Tuesday. Both bilge pump alarms blaring! We have a leak!

Jordan opened up the engine compartment to see how much water was really coming in and turned on the bilge pumps. To make matters worse, he discovered the bilge pump hose was also leaking, thereby some of the water we were trying to pump out was just leaking right back in. Jordan quickly taped up the hose and after a frantic search, we traced it forward through 3 bilges.

What we found was not good but it was a relief. We did not have a leak but found raw sea water spewing in through the broken filter housing of the watermaker which was turned on. We immediately turned off the watermaker and started sopping up the mess.

The watermaker is located in a closet, which meant salty wet clothes. Then the water from the closet drained into 2 of the pullman bilges, and from there, it drained into the salon bilge (which is 1 of our food lockers) and finally from there into the engine bilge compartment where it could be pumped out.

And of course, being boaters, every compartment was packed as full as possible. Everything had to be removed, washed, and dried.

But don't forget, our watermaker is now not functioning until we can get a new filter housing and determine why it failed in the first place. This meant being stingy with water, making cleanup more difficult. And to top it all off, we were sailing in rough seas so nothing stayed where you set it down while trying to clean up things!

Eight hours later, we were almost done. Just waiting for any cloth items to finish drying and be put away.

Who said cruising was all fun? But seriously, we're looking at it as just another adventure. No one hurt, nothing badly damaged, a new day tomorrow. Time for a hot chocolate and a good book!

Wednesday was a very uneventful day which, after yesterday, was a real pleasure. We had turned off the motor and set the head sail with a whisker pole when the alarms started sounding on Tuesday and have since sailed the last 2 days with no adjustments needed, staying right on course.

Around 23:30, we saw the streaking phosphorescent show of 2 dolphins in the bow of the boat and then the wind totally died. A cruise ship was coming up fast behind us so Jordan tried to start the motor. The solenoid stuck, causing the engine to rev wildly! I am so thankful that my man is engine savvy and he fixed it right away, otherwise it could have been a real problem.