We inched out of Oxwich. No moon, and the lights of Swansea not helping our night vision. I set a course for the West Scarweather buoy and we were on our way, motoring in the last hour of the ebb, awaiting the flood, and the biggest tide of the year to take us to Cardiff.
When the engine cut out at 04:30 I could not believe it. I removed the companionway steps and just stared in disbelief. Why us?
I unscrewed the secondary fuel filter. Empty. Had to be the diesel bug again. I managed to suck some diesel through, and got her running again. When she stopped a second time I took off the primary fuel filter and could see the tell tale black slime. I was heartbroken.
For the next hour, whilst Louise sailed us, I tried a new filter, bypassing the primary filter by connecting the two hoses with a copper pipe, and eventually settled on running the engine from our emergency 5l fuel container.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Emergency tank"]
[/caption]We had 5 litres in there. Ishtar's Beta 20HP uses around a litre an hour, so we'd be fine. There was plenty in there to get us back to Cardiff. Except that it drained it less than an hour. I could watch the level drop. Louise clmbed into the cockpit locker and began sucking diesel from the main tank through blocked pipes, using an engine oil sump pump.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Pump it"]
[/caption]The diesel we managed to suck through was clearly contaminated, so I filtered it through a tea towel.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Bug"]
[/caption]We managed to keep the engine running for a couple of hours like this, but it became clear we were fighting a losing battle trying to get diesel from the main tank. Even when I realised that most of the diesel was being sent back to that tank via the fuel return pipe, and redirected that, it was clear we wouldn't make it.
Louise phoned our friend Vince, who, luckily, was already on his boat, Volition, and had a full Jerry can. He set off immediately. We are so lucky to have such good friends.
When I saw Volition coming towards us, I cut the engine and tried sailing. It was one of those days in the Bristol channel where you sail forwards, but travel backwards. We'd missed the flood, and the tide was ebbing at over 4 knots. Even once we'd had the Jerry can from Vince, it was clear that we'd be better off at anchor.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Vince's diesel"]
[/caption]We motored over to a small bay in front of Atlantic College. As the anchor hit the bottom and took hold, it violently pulled Ishtar to a stop - the paddle wheel log showed that even in the bay, there was a 3 knot current at anchor.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Volition, Atlantic College"]
[/caption]We made a cup of tea and got some rest. 4 hours later, we hauled in the anchor and set off under sail, Volition looking lovely in the Autumn sunshine:
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Autumn"]
[/caption]Louise and I were both overtired, and eager to get back to Cardiff, so we left Vince to enjoy the sailing, and motored back. joining other yachts making the most of the Indian summer.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Steepholm"]
[/caption]As the evening fell, we were fortunate to witness a glorious sunset
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Sunset over Sully Island"]
[/caption]We locked in at 19:15, and by 20:00 we'd left Ishtar - we could clean the mess and sort the diesel bug issue another day. We called in the bar to buy Vince a pint (a minimum, for now) but both knew we needed to get home and an early night. We were home by 10, but it was 10pm, not 10am........
Eventful, but we got home safe and sound.
