Man/boat psychic connection?

[TJ D]

An odd occurrence today- It made me wonder about the idea that all things are connected more than we might realize.

We left our beloved boat in the Solent yesterday while I go off and earn some freedom chips. We do this drill frequently, have a 'leaving the boat' checklist that's always double-checked. This time was no different.

So, we rented a car, loaded up the family (wife and dog) and headed across the channel to her digs for the next couple of months.

Today, I made the return trip alone (you can't do a 1 way rental from England to Europe, of course), and headed to my hotel at Heathrow.

Well, at the turn-off, I had the is sudden very strong need to go look in on the boat. I never have this feeling, but there was no doubt that I'd drive the 170 mile round trip and just make sure things were kosher at home.

I got on board, fired up the heat, and started to take a look around.

To my great surprise, I found a few gallons of water in one of our forward bilges! It had been dry 30 hours before. I used the manual pump to dry it out and investigated.

I discovered that the thru-hull up there was weeping water at a pretty good rate, but only when closed. It's leaking in around the handle, of all places. How odd. When it's open, it's bone dry.

So, I left it open, notified the yard/marina where the boat is laying, and all will be sorted out shortly.

Of course, this wouldn't have sunk the boat, but it would have made a heck of a mess. Our bilges are compartmentalized, so this forward one would have needed to sort of fill up and 'overtop' the frame aft of it before hitting a compartment with an automatic pump. Anyway, it's not good to have 3-5 gallons a day entering an unoccupied boat!

I'm about as far away from being a mystic as one can be, but this was really weird, this need to go check the boat.

Perhaps the universe was offering some guidance? Good stuff, anyway.

[44'cruisingcat]

You possibly unconsciously noticed the weeping when you closed the sea cock.

[TJ D]

Yes, I considered that, and I actually think that this is what happened- not the weep, but it sounded slightly different when I closed it. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but this is probably what was nagging me. But, that explanation's just so pedestrian, don't you think?

It's more fun to chalk it up to something deeper, no?

[Jason Flare]

Every sailboat has a soul.