We left Brookings with great enthusiasm – we had a great weather window, and our autopilot was fixed. We had done a sea trial a few days earlier and ventured outside the bar to test it. After 1.5 hours we deemed it fixed and headed back to port to celebrate. We left at 5:30 am May 10th in hopes of reaching Newport. We were tired starting out but knew we could relax and nap along the way now that our autopilot was working.
Unfortunately, 3 hours out it failed. I attempted to add more hydraulic fluid to the pump underway which required me to stuff myself deep down in the lazarette while Kathy simultaneously steered Adventure and handed me capfuls of hydraulic fluid. It didn’t fix the problem.
We rigged up our bungee autopilot system and started doing shifts of hand steering. There would be no naps. After 12 hours, doubts began to seep in on making it to Newport. Kathy and I were doing okay but we were moving a bit too slow. Around 12:30 am I was fading fast. It also didn’t look as if we could make it to Newport while it was still daylight. We weren’t sure of the crab pot situation coming into Newport and did not want to risk approaching at night.
As we approached Coos Bay, my little voice was screaming to divert. Kathy came up for her shift and we decided together to change course. We slowed Adventure to a crawl and essentially drifted until morning.
There weren’t many crab traps coming into Coos Bay but enough that we were glad we waited for sunrise. We entered the bar on a mid-ebb, but it didn’t look that bad – there were no USCG restrictions…AND, we really needed to sleep. We dodged a lot of smaller boats and worked our way up the river to the Charleston marina. We tied up to the transient dock and checked in. The office staff was nice and greeted us with a smile.
After checking in, we immediately went back to the boat and crashed for several hours. It felt good to be tied to a dock.
Author: Sean (05/11/2023)
Tales of Misadventure 