May 29, '24
Cala di Feola, Isola di Ponza - Porto di Ponza, Isola di Ponza
16,9 Nm
(total 395,5 Nm)
wind 2-3 Bf
We set sail at six in the morning using the engine. After half an hour, the engine gave up on us.
What happened?
During normal motor sailing, the engine speed ranges from 1800-2000 rotations per minute and you sail at a speed of about five knots in sea conditions 0-4 of the Douglas scale.
Our engine started dying when we put the throttle on. So we turned it off and sailed with full sails. We really had to search for the wind.
When we weren't moving at all, we started the engine and at least on idle speed we sailed away from the lee of the island.
We displayed the day signal of a vessel with limited manoeuvrability.
It was clear that we wouldn't make it to the island of Ischia, and after communicating with the charter company NSS, we steered towards the other side of the island to the port of Porto di Ponza, where a mechanic was supposed to be waiting for us.
We arrived there after seven hours. We sailed two-thirds of the way with sails and the rest on idle speed. Before starting the engine on the southern side of the island, the skipper had to dive under the boat and untangle a line wrapped around the propeller.
The story about the service process and subsequent billing by the NSS company is a longer one, so we'll leave that for another time.
It seemed that the engine repair was successful, and it looked like we would continue our return journey to Salerno the next day...
