Cave Cay

Finally the winds moderate and we get up early to sail to Cave Cay. We had planned to have breakfast on the way. Before we leave the harbor the engine quits. We quickly drop anchor and I start investigating what the problem is. Completely checked the fuel system and had good flow. The fuel filter bowl was nice and clean. So at this point the obvious question became, did I put water in the diesel ? So I pump out some “fuel” from the system into an empty plastic coke bottle and it looks fine. I add some diesel fuel from our rail cans into the coke bottle and instantly see separation of oil and water. SOB ! I had a couple of extra gallons of water the day before and opened the wrong filler cap on one of our three water tanks which Catalina was nice enough to place side by side with the diesel filler cap. Since oil (fuel) floats on water, I used a spare fuel pump to suck out the remaining water from the bottom of the fuel tank and then purged water from the fuel system on the engine. It now runs so much better on diesel than water. So now our early start is a noon-time start.

By now there is no wind and we motor to Cave Cay and arrive there around 2:30 PM. It is hot and near 90 degrees. We tour around the island in the dinghy and a quick isolated shower blows through which was quite refreshing. Rum and Coke over ice and appetizers for happy hour. We sit outside under the shade until after sundown as it is still quite warm.