Trip_Home

The Tanzer 22 was basically the first boat my father and I ever owned. We got it into our heads to get a sailboat and went looking, we settled on Overture because of price, location, and a friendly seller.

We did what most will tell you is wreckless, but looking back, it is a very fond memory indeed. After agreeing to purchase the boat in Summerside, PEI, we came back a few days later, got a couple hours of basic instruction on just how to sail(including how to properly raise the sails and even tack), slept(well, I did) on the boat that night, checked the weather forecast in the morning and headed out during sunrise with the intention of sailing/motoring it all the way ‘home’ in one long day(140 kilometers 76 knots).

What we didn’t know was the previous owner of the boat was driving down to catch us before we left and to suggest it might be too rough to leave today, but we had already set out before he got there.

The sheltered harbour of Summerside was lovely as we motored out and raised the sails, the wind was to be at our backs, and it was, but the sea was unusual, with very short steep waves giving us a good thump at the start of each. Onward!

After a few hours and passing under the bridge to PEI, the continuous motion and gas fumes from the outboard started to make us both feel a bit seasick. We descided to not go the direct route, and changed course for Pugwash, N.S. , we were fighting nausia most of the way there but arrived without incident or vomit ;) .

The second day sailing started with light winds that eventually stopped leaving us to motor, south of Amet Island the motor quit and we were unable to get it started again, we were adrift getting ready to set anchor to wait for wind when a power boat returning from lunch in Charlottetown offered us a short tow the local marina/wharf. Several hours later we were able to get the outboard running again, attibuting the problem to overheating/waterflow.

The third day had a mix of light winds and motoring, when we sailed into Pictou harbour we found the motor would not start for docking. We ended up sailing up to the outside of the wharf and I jumped ashore and pulled the boat into the guest pier. Mission accomplished.

After having the motor into Century Saw & Marine Ltd. they said it needed a $300 electrical part that could not be repaired because it was encased epoxy. We decided to take the motor home and think about buying a new outboard. At home I noticed what looked like a melted wire along side the engine block, my father concluded it was likely causing a short from the part in question, the motor worked fine for a couple more seasons once this was fixed($2). To bad Century charged us $80 for the misdiagnoses, could have been worse, we could have bought the part!