... as we passed the small island of Isla de San Martin, we received a call on the VHF from another returning boat. The skipper, Bob, turned out to be a friend of mine, and he and his first-mate Carrie were double-handing one of the smallest boats in the race fleet back to Southern California. Their engine had stopped working and they were facing a beat of perhaps 150 miles to San Diego. Could we, they asked, see if we could fix their Bukh (Danish) diesel?

There’s often a prolonged period of motoring to cross the largely windless Pacific High and to make headway in some adverse winds. Motoring, at least with my vintage Pathfinder engine, introduces vibration into the boat. Many, many cycles.