WHEN ISABEL CAME TO
BY BERNADETTE BERNON
There are moments in the boating life – and water over
the floorboards is one of them – when problems can
begin cascading, and every decision becomes crucial
“DOUGLAS!” I CALLED TO MY HUSBAND, AFTER LOOKINGBELOWTOSEE THE GALLEY CARPET
SLOSHING AROUND. “WE’RE TAKING ON WATER!” On a boat making
an offshore passage, nothing seizes
the attention faster than water over
the floorboards. Douglas leaped from
the first real sleep he’d had in 24
hours and started checking the bilge
and seacocks as I pulled up the companionway floorboard covering the
packing gland.
Sure enough, as the prop shaft
spun, our “dripless” gland was auditioning as a lawn sprinkler. I rushed to
the helm and turned off the engine,
which stopped the influx. We eased the
sails and Ithaka straightened up from
her heeled position, as Douglas started
pumping the manual bilge pump under
the engine, where water pooled before
spilling into the deeper bilges under
the main saloon. Our pulses calmed
as we began emptying the water and
cleaning up our galley, which had
looked like a lap pool.
It had already been a notable 24
hours. We’d transited the Chesapeake
and Delaware Canal with the outgoing tide the night before. Then, still
in darkness and fog we’d sailed more
than 70 miles down the side of the
choppy Delaware Bay shipping lane
amid countless other boats, tankers,
and tugs towing barges. Even after
dawn, the fog was solid and visibility
nil; and for hours we’d had to navigate with radar, use horn signals, and
give securité position updates over
the VHF, listening to similar updates
44 | BoatU.S. Magazine
