Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Sometimes ...

... it's good to be wrong.  (If, in fact, I am wrong ... the jury is still out.)  Westerbeke gurus answered an email within hours and informed me that the injection pump on the W50 can't really fail in the way I feared.  Not a big surprise since I was envisioning an aviation recip. engine fail mode not a marine diesel engine failure mode.  Shortly after, Randy arrived and we started hunting for the leak.  Access to the area in question is so poor that he couldn't get an eye on the source any more than I could.  After several tries of running the engine without success the call was made to pull the alternator.  That made for better visuals but, with the belt driving the water pump now loose, there was no way to run the engine to look for the leak.  Instead we logic chopped our way to what appeared the only likely culprit; a line between the filter and the pump.  It was not as wet as expected given the size of the leak, but it was the only source in the vicinity, and agreed with Westerbeke's assessment of the probable cause.

With no real option the decision was made to remove the line and check it for damage.  Likely in place since Perseus offed the Kraken; the line was seized solid in the compression nut, which was seized solid in the engine case fitting, which (and this might be the true source of the problem) was barely finger tight in the case itself.  As expected (at least by me) and in spite of Randy's most careful attempts, the line did not survive the extraction process.  He set off to find parts to build a new one with only partial success.  Deb went hunting the internet for the part, found a source, and a whole new line assembly should be here by Monday.  (Have I mentioned that Deb is the best parts person I have ever known?)

So the problem might be fixed and it might be relatively minor, might.  Until the engine actually chuffs to life once again there will be no claims of victory.  While we wait on the part other tasks lie at hand, but we are being careful to enjoy our stay in Oriental and not work 10 or 12 hour days.  The only thing we have found that we don't like is the motion Kintala takes when the wind is out of the north, even when tied in a pier.  We roll constantly with the lines catching us up short and jerking the boat to a stop when she gets too enthusiastic.  If we didn't need the pier for the work being done there is an anchorage just across the face dock from us, but the holding is poor and there is little protection, with a long fetch when the wind is south or east.  (A boat dragged clean out of the harbor last night and ended up in the Neuse.  The harbor doesn't offer a lot of protection from north winds either, but at least a boat at anchor doesn't roll.)  For a place that is the "Sailing Capital of NC" it really isn't much of a harbor for transients.

It does, however have spectacular sunsets. This is the view from our bow.

2 comments:

sumocean said...

Like many spots along the coast the marina that you are tied to used up the anchorage that was once much larger

Deb said...

Yeah, I understand the difficulty of that. It's a tough decision for many of these towns because the marinas bring much more revenue to their struggling budgets than a half dozen anchored cruisers. At least in Oriental, the marina is an affordable price so it's within range of many cruisers. The facility is well maintained and managed. I agree that we need more places to anchor, but I do understand their dilemma.