Leaving Las Olas — 11•30•21
Myself and crew (Pete from EOS last season) with our Negative covid tests approved on our Bahamas Health Visas we had everything set. Our destination and clearing into the Bahamas were going to be Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands.
The trip is about 127nm (Nautical Miles = 1.1508 statute miles). This would have an overnight sail. We were crossing the Gulf Stream in a northerly wind component. This can cause steep confused seas and make for an uncomfortable ride. I had done this last year in about the same conditions and the boat seemed to do very well with it. We did have a bailout plan if the conditions got too bad.
We got the sails up and shut the engines down shortly after leaving the Port Everglades entrance. Our average speed was 6.5 knots which would get us to Great Harbour Cay too early in the morning, but the wind should settle down at night and slow us down a bit. Trouble was doing great, and the waves were manageable. We even hooked a nice size Mahi Mahi but lost it as it was getting close to the boat, and the line snagged the solar panel and broke the line.
MOT STALL
Going into the evening everything was going well and we were under full sail and no engines on. Troubles trusty autopilot started giving us an error “MOT STALL” and shutting off. I tried rebooting it a few times and giggling wires and would get it to work for an hour or so then get the “MOT STALL” error again.
Luckily for me, I had Pete aboard and we were able to hand steer it through the night. This would have been a pain if I had been by myself. We settled into 2-3 hour shifts through the night. It was good practice for hand steering, and you get a little more tuned into the boat. At night you only have the stars and the compass to keep you on track. I probably get a little too reliant on the autopilot, but it does get tiring pretty fast to hand steer through the night.
Great Habour Cay — 12•01•21
We got through the night and pulled into Great Harbour Cay at 0900 ( 9:00 am ). Last year coming into Great Harbour Cay was exciting and a bit scary. This year was comfortable and almost routine. The harbor was familiar to Pete and me, as we had both been in it several times. We had the authorities aboard, cleared in, and put down our Q flag as well as our Bahamas courtesy flag.
Landfall Tradition Must Wait
When making landfall, I have a tradition of getting a cheeseburger and a beer. But first, we had to see if we could troubleshoot the autopilot issue. We went online and found out “MOT STALL” meant motor stall. The wiring looked to be the source of the problem so I began troubleshooting it. Everything looked good and seemed to be working.
Pete pulled up the manual on the autopilot motor (Engineer -> RTFM) as I was going through the wiring. He read that the brushes needed cleaning and checking annually. So after all other avenues had been explored. I started to take the bottom of the hydraulic motor pump to get to the brushes. These probably had never had servicing before. It was good I could get to it without disconnecting the hydraulic lines.
The brushes have to compress before they would fit over the commutator. I was also worried that it might be a broken brush or even worse a shorted commutator. Either way, this had to get done, so I removed the motor bottom to access the brushes.
Extra Set of Hands
Having Pete there to help with getting me tools and cleaning clothes made the job go so much faster. It was a total mess inside with black carbon from the brushes everywhere. The thing had NEVER seen service before. I proceeded to clean it out and try not to make a huge mess. CRC electronic cleaner worked great, as I didn’t have a real contact cleaner. I got the inside of the motor looking great. Now I had to figure out how to compress the brushes and get them over the commutator as I put the bottom back on. There are a few tricks some motors have, but this setup had non. I tried a small screwdriver to reach under and press the brushes in, but I had no room and limited space.
Autopilot Fix
I took a breather to think about it. Dental floss came to mind. So I grabbed a piece and used it to hold back the brushes as I slid them over the commutator and the motor bottom slipped right on. I slid the dental floss out and screwed the bottom back on. Yeah, string would have worked, but MacGyver would have used dental floss! Now to test it. Yep, she worked like a charm. Now I need to put that in my annual maintenance to clean the contacts. I also had a pair of new ones shipped to my brother, who was coming out for Christmas.
OK, now off to have that Cheeseburger and a “few” Kalik’s. Then back to the boat to get it ready as we’re out of here the next day. The weather looked kinda good for a few days, and we wanted to push to get Trouble to the Exumas.