...Or not.
Today was the day to be on our way. All pre-departure check lists run. A review of how we were getting off the dock with the slight current was made. All lines set, water tanks full, shore power stored away. Upper and lower helms powered up, chart plotters loaded with the route, batteries fully charged, everything stowed, all hatches closed.
The port side engine chuffed to life. The starboard side engine... The starboard side engine... Dead slow turn, no start. Emergency battery switch to “Both”. It almost felt like it was going to start but...no Even if had started, is that good enough? The next few stops are anchor stops. Dock fees north of us are also north of our budget. What if it will not start at anchor? Also, this place has maintenance and we know we can trust them. North of us, no clue. And then there is the weather. All indications are that, if we had made Cape May today we would be sitting either there or in Atlantic City for several days waiting out the weather. The larger picture suggests that leaving here today or leaving here a few days from now will not make any difference as to when we get to the Hudson River.
It is my experience that it is rare that everything is working on any live-a-board boat when it leaves the dock. Kintala, First Light, friends' and customers' boats. If everything was reported as working perfectly that usually meant that someone didn't know something. There are a lot of things that can be broken that don't make the boat unsafe, but this boat had an intermittent engine so, it was rather seriously broken. Back in my aviation days I had a reputation for flying just about anything just about anywhere it needed to go to get fixed. But even I never took to the sky in an airplane where half the engines wouldn't start. Though, truth be told, I did launch a couple of times with engines that didn't keep running. Fortunately, except for one time, I always had two when that happened. The one time I only had one I was already over an airport. So that was just a glider landing. Anyway...
Leaving the dock in a seriously broken boat going "out there" is just silly. When we are “out there”, moving or on the hook, we are off the grid. Being off the grid and being seriously broken at the same time? Been there. Done that. Going to do my best never to do that again.
I was, shall we say, a little disappointed, particularly when the boats around us stated dropping lines and heading out. Rue the way life unfolds sometimes, but then? Drink a little coffee. Toast the sunrise. Take some pleasure out of making a good if really (really) annoying choice. Suck it up. Shrug it off. Next?
“Next” was getting a mechanic down in the hole. (Yes, a mechanic on a weekend!) Obviously the first step was to hit the starter button so he could hear what had happened. I did. He didn't. The starboard engine fired up almost instantly. So did the port side. Shut them down. Try again. Same result. Are you kidding me? One thing I know for an absolute certainty is that broken things don't fix themselves. I also know that intermittent problems are the worst.
My original thought was starter or start relay. I have seen intermittent failures of those more times in my life than I can remember. But two starters and two relays at the exact same time? Don't bet on that.
Another thought was the start battery, though intermittent batteries are a bit of a stretch. The things either have and hold electric juice, or they don't. Besides, First Light has an emergency start system that ties starter and house bank together. We tried it and it didn't make any difference.
In the time that had passed between us trying to leave and when the mechanic climbed down in the hole, we had hooked back up to shore power. Is that why it started? But that didn't really add up as the boat had been on shore power for days until this morning meaning the battery should have been just a juiced as it was when the mechanic climbed down in the hole. Still, a test of the start battery suggested that it is near, if not a little past, its service life. It will take a full charge but, the instant you put a load on it, the voltage falls away. Why the battery failed early in the morning after being on the charger all night, but not after couple of hours on the charger after the aborted starts? Beats me.
Another mechanics (two - on a weekend!) jumped in his car and headed off to get us a battery. The lead tech crawled back into the hole and changed the start relay on the starboard side. They had one in stock and the one on the engine looked to be an original part with a few rusty bits. When the battery was delivered I stayed out of the way while the two mechanics wrestled the old battery out and the new battery in. This beat up old bod of mine isn't up to that kind of task down in that kind of hole. With the new parts installed, both engines started just like they should. After a long look at the weather we decided that Monday is the next (planned) departure day.
I have to admit watching the boats parade out of here this morning was a bit depressing. But two of them who are traveling together came back. One of them hip tied to a Tow Boat US due to an overheating engine. His will not be quite as quick a fix as his parts will not arrive until tomorrow. So, all in all, a trying day that ended up as good as it could. Tomorrow? Who knows?
1 comment:
"Intermittent problems are the worst". Truth! Good call.
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