We were coming in from a somewhat bouncy sail; we'd been out looking for whales and saw one spout and one dolphin and a couple of seals, over about a 3 hour period. Had about 10 knots of wind, but the sea swell was up 4-5 at about 6-8 second interval. A bit bouncy going in and out of the channel, but not too bad outside.

We had motored out past the breakwater and then set the sails and had made several tacks while going about in big circles looking for sea life.

The Jib and Main were set and we sailed back in over the breakwater (seeing the whale spout just minutes before tucking behind the seawall... gee -- about time...). Brought the boat down the channel and came around and dropped the main. I had fired up the engine just a couple of minutes before, but it was just sitting there idling... and making the usual cooling water and exhaust. With the main down, it was time to throttle up and head on in... Except there was no "throttle up." It just wasn't there. The engine acted like it was choking... it belched a bit of blue smoke... and started idling rough... I pulled the throttle back to neutral and she continued to idle. I quickly went below to check the cable and it was fine, and while I could move the throttle, the action was the same... rough starved engine, no power, and a touch of blue smoke... within minutes it just stopped.

Uh Oh. I am in the channel, the channel is somewhat narrow, I have to get around the second breakwater and into the yacht basin, go past the bait barge, down the fairway, and to my slip... and I have no engine. Only 10 minutes before this happened, I casually mentioned to my crew "you know, I haven't yet tried to sail into my slip...." GOBI no doubt heard those words... and responded.

I have decent and favorable wind, it is on my my starboard quarter, and I think I have enough room to maneuver, provided I can get some headway. So I roll out the stays'l and she slowly picks up speed... I have steerage and I am going in the right direction... and the stays'l is pulling nicely. I round the inner breakwater and now I am in the yacht basin. On a warm summer day this would have been a real obstacle course... kayaks, small boats, upright paddle boarders, pedal boats, you name it, would normally be all over the basin; but this was a weekday on a slightly warm late January... there is only one other boat moving, and he is using long sweeps to propel the old Cal 28 into the basin... I am thinking about those sweeps right now.

Inside the basin the wind is a bit light due to surrounding buildings, so I let out a touch of Jib. It's the big 130, so I only unfurl a sliver of this sail.... it is high up and catches a touch of breeze above the stays'l... the boat responds nicely, just picking up the pace a bit. I trim the sails for a broad reach, (helps to have cooperative wind) and aim to go wide around the bait barge. I also run forward and take the locking pin out of the anchor, just in case. At the same time I eye the bait barge for a possible tie on, in case the wind gets flaky.

The wind clocks slightly, mostly due to the shadows cast by trees and buildings, and the boat ghosts along just right, responding beautifully to my light touch on the tiller. I don't want to over correct or put myself into a position where I my have to tack or do anything that will upset this balance of just-right slow sailing, right to the slip.

I am right at the fairway, I have just enough momentum to make the turns and hopefully ease into the slip. My crew is standing by with a boat hook, should I lose speed and control, or to be able to grab a nearby dock cleat when we are close.

I bring the boat right into the slip, with just a touch of wind on the nose, the boat stops about half way in... I grasp the forward line and step to the dock and pull the boat all the way in. Home! Safe and sound. Tie that baby up. Daddy just sailed in! Whoo Hoo!

Of course there was no one around to see it... just my crew, my brother in law, who thought I was doing what I always do.

About a half hour later, after I have the covers on, one of my dock mates comes up and asks if I know a good mechanic... his engine won't start, again. I chuckle and tell "no, not yet."

All last evening I was thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong while I was bringing the boat in, how well it really did work (marvelous), and what the engine problem might be. I am thinking this a fuel issue... maybe a clogged filter, maybe a bad pump. I have two filters, and two pumps, but nothing is redundant, it is all serial and all needed. I have not put in fuel for over a year, and did use biocide, but who knows what the fuel looked like before I bought the boat. On the plus side, the engine did start right back up, and did idle just fine at the dock... but still no power; the quick start at least assured me that it ain't all dead. I'll trouble shoot this weekend.