​Following a collision and engine failure: A ‘Steel Buddy’ brings the ‘Soggy Dollar’ home

The 76th Hamburg–Glückstadt Regatta ended in April with several participants sustaining damage. Among the boats affected was the Bavaria 36 “Soggy Dollar”, which ran aground on the Rhinplate. We reported on it at the time.

She was being steered by the co-owner, Saladin’s ex-husband, who was taking part in the regatta as a single-handed sailor. “A tack went wrong,” says Sandra Saladin. “He realised he was getting closer and closer to the Rhinplate and wanted to tack. The manoeuvre didn’t work.” After that, he tried to start the engine, but it wouldn’t start. “By then it was too late.”

The damage to the hull was repaired by the Jensen shipyard in Wedel. “The shipyard did an excellent job,” says Saladin. By early August, the boat was back in working order.

Crossing the Elbe as a skipper for the first time

For the chemist, who holds a PhD, this trip was her first sailing trip as skipper beyond the Elbe. She has been sailing for ten years and has been skippering yachts herself for the past two years. Now she wanted to head out onto the North Sea with a couple she is friends with.

“That was a real challenge for me,” she says. The route was ambitious: from Wedel via Glückstadt and Cuxhaven to Heligoland, on to Wittdün on Amrum and then to Hörnum on Sylt. Ten days were planned.

On the way to Cuxhaven, the engine made itself felt for the first time. With little wind, the crew wanted to sail into the harbour with the ebbing tide. “If you’ve got the current against you in light winds, in the worst-case scenario the boat will go backwards,” explains Saladin. So they started the engine.

At first, it warmed up. After about half an hour, the revs began to fluctuate significantly.

"The engine was no longer under control. Just before we entered Cuxhaven, it cut out completely."

Into the harbour with a weak engine and plenty of headroom

First, the crew hoisted the sails again. But the entrance to Cuxhaven harbour is narrow and the current strong. Sailing into it seemed too risky. Saladin managed to start the engine once more.

“The engine was barely running, so I had to stay well clear.” It was a close call: “I positioned the yacht almost perpendicular to the entrance and let the current carry me in. With the engine running so poorly, we just about managed it.”

She simply took the first available mooring, opposite the petrol station. “It’s cramped there, and then there are the dolphins, too.”

"I just managed to dock before the engine cut out again."

In Cuxhaven, a technician from the local engine workshop turned up. The classic ‘demo effect’ kicked in: whilst stationary in the harbour, the engine ran perfectly. The technician suspected condensation from winter storage. He told the crew they could carry on sailing and should simply use the engine more often.

Three nautical miles off Heligoland

The next day, the crew of the ‘Soggy Dollar’ set sail for Heligoland. Due to a north-westerly wind, the crew had to tack for nearly eight hours. At around half past seven in the evening, there were still around three nautical miles between the boat and the harbour entrance.

“It had been a long day’s sailing, and it was already getting dark,” recalls Saladin. “I said to my friends: ‘Come on, let’s cover the last bit under engine power.’”

"We just wanted to get there."

The engine started. And shortly afterwards, the same thing happened as before: the revs went out of control, and the engine cut out. Saladin called Bremen Rescue. The rescue boat “Hermann Marwede” arrived and towed the Bavaria into the harbour. “Everything went brilliantly and very smoothly,” says Saladin. “The sea rescue crew were really lovely. They brought us in safely.”

Troubleshooting on the island

On Heligoland, the immediate danger had passed, but the cause was still unknown. Unlike in Cuxhaven, there is no engine repair workshop on the island that specialises in yachts. The crew set about looking for the fault themselves.

“We investigated the cause as best we could,” says Saladin. She had new fuel filters brought over by ferry and fitted them with the help of her friends. The problem persisted.

Saladin now suspects that the fuel tank is contaminated. That would explain why the engine suddenly started running smoothly again at the mechanic’s in Cuxhaven: the boat was moored calmly in the harbour, but it was pitching heavily during the eight-hour crossing. “We assume that the dirt in the tank was stirred up and then blocked the pipes.”

She certainly doesn’t know. The Bavaria 36 doesn’t have an access hatch large enough to look inside the tank. The existing opening on the fuel sender isn’t big enough for that.

A ‘Steel Buddy’ steps in

After three days, Saladin met Olaf Katterle. The mechanic works on Heligoland and is known from the TV series ‘Steel Buddies’. He had an idea: simply bypass the main tank, which might be contaminated, and feed the engine directly from a fresh canister.

“He took our water canister, filled it with fresh diesel and drilled two holes in the lid,” says Saladin. Katterle fed two hoses through the lid, sealed them with strong adhesive tape, and placed the canister on a raised platform in the stern. From there, the hoses ran through a cockpit window to the engine: one for the supply, the other as a return line.

There was no feed pump. The diesel flowed solely by gravity. Saladin says:

"I was really nervous about whether it would work out."

"No pressure, just gravity – and then there was the list. But it worked a treat."

Taking the canister home

At six in the morning, the crew set off on their return journey. Instead of continuing on to Amrum and Sylt, they headed back to Wedel via Cuxhaven and Glückstadt. The makeshift solution held up for the entire journey.

After 13 days, the ‘Soggy Dollar’ was back in its home port. Over six days of sailing, the crew had covered 223 nautical miles, much of it tacking.

“The weather was brilliant the whole time, and so were the islanders,” says Saladin. “It was my first sailing trip away from the Elbe. We reached Heligoland and made it back home safely.” It wasn’t exactly stress-free. But: “I now know my engine much better than I did before. It was a real life lesson.”

What’s next?

The fuel tank of the ‘Soggy Dollar’ is to be cleaned; the fuel lines are to be flushed and cleared with compressed air. Beforehand, a specialist firm will fit an 11.5-centimetre inspection hatch with a stainless-steel cover into the tank. Only then will Saladin know just how bad the contamination actually is.

Her conclusion from the sailing trip is clear: Fuel filters should be checked annually, regardless of how full the tank is and regardless of whether synthetic diesel is used. “You need to check the filters every year and replace them if necessary.”

Despite this experience, she does not want to give up sailing.

"Sailing is simply brilliant."

She doesn’t yet know whether the ‘Soggy Dollar’ will remain her boat. Owning a boat is expensive, and some sailor friends of hers are in the process of buying one themselves – perhaps that might do the trick. But she’ll definitely be continuing to sail.

She owes her confidence as a skipper to her training: a Sea Craft Licence (Seebootführerschein See) in 2017, SKS training at the Eichler Sailing School in Hamburg, an SKS certificate in 2025, and skipper training with the German Offshore Sailing Association (Deutscher Hochseesportverband Hansa) in Glücksburg. “These courses have given me the knowledge and the confidence,” she says. “They made me think: ‘Well then, I can sail the boat myself with friends too.’”

Neither the Rhinplate nor Heligoland changed that. Saladin returned from her first major sailing trip as skipper with more experience and the realisation that sometimes a jerrycan, two hoses and a good mechanic are all it takes to make it home after all.