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As Clive has written on many occasions, "life can deal some vicious hands at times". The extreme weather, Steve's heart attack and now the flooding of the boat. It is though the last part of the journey home was never meant to be.
Although Jan had only joined us for the final part, it was clear to see that he was hurting inside as much as Clive and myself. After 24,000 miles we could see the finishing post but could not touch it. To be so close yet so far is so cruel, words cannot explain.
Spirit is now back ashore in the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club and has been fully stripped and inspected to establish what caused her to fill with water. At first we thought that she had developed a crack in her lower hull but on careful examination no structural damage could be found. A closer examination revealed the problem. During the storm from Panama to Jamaica, Spirit was hit by two huge waves, one on the front starboard bow which turned her sideways and the next which hit her fair and square on the beam nearly knocking her over. It was these two waves that caused a 24-inch crack in the lower front cabin attachment area that had gone unnoticed until yesterday.
Alan Priddy working on getting Spirit running again
Normally we would refuel Spirit and leave harbour, but on the St John's stop I fuelled her on Saturday afternoon ready for an early departure on Sunday morning. The fateful chain of events leading up to the flooding are as follows:
The Spirit of Cardiff's deck is above the water line and normally any water that comes into the boat runs out through two "self sealing scupper valves". The starboard valve did not seal and with the full 3000 litres of fuel and provisions for the Atlantic crossing the deck was below the water line. This allowed water to creep alongside the cabin until it was deep enough to flood in through the crack in the cabin. From here on the demise of Spirit was very quick. Her engine box is designed to keep water out from the outside but with water gushing in from the inside of the cabin it wasn't long before the three bilge pumps couldn't cope with the water coming in. The more water that came in the heavier she became. The heavier she became the more water came in. Hence disaster.
The irony of the situation is that it will cost less than £20.00 and two hours work to repair Spirit but the problem is we have run out of time and money, and the weather is now turning for the worse.
I am going to spend a couple of days negotiating with our sponsors as to the best way forward, and once I have an answer I will let you all know. Thank you for all your support and messages of good luck and I will be in contact with you very soon.
Best Wishes
Alan Priddy
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