We broke a mechanic...

Yesterday we got a call from the mechanic who was going to help us with the pump change. He got hurt and is out of service. It doesn't sound like he got hurt too badly but a sprained knee would be enough to keep me out of our engine hole. I certainly wouldn't ask anyone else to crawl in there injured.

The folks here at the marina offered us a couple of options for alternate mechanics. Deb left a message with the first on on their list and just a few minutes later got a call back. The gentleman jumped right in to helping us work out a plan. Like me, he suspects that the pump has reached the end of its service life. We agreed to him doing the job so he went to work sourcing parts.  Deb and I debated as to just how long and how much this might cost. Given how things have gone so far we were thinking big numbers of dollars and a long delay.

An hour or so later, the mechanic called back. He found a pump that would be at his shop this afternoon. Tomorrow he will come and replace it. The pump cost was way, way, less than we had guessed. Labor will be what labor will be. Shop to boat to repair to shop times whatever the hourly rate. I was a mechanic for a long time. I understand and have no complaint. Still, it was suggested that, since I can find my way around an engine a little bit, that I drain the system so they can pull the pump as soon as they get here. So Deb and I got that done yesterday.

I would pull the pump as well, but I suspect that thing is original equipment. I give it a better than 50/50 chance that one of the mount bolts shears off, leaving a drill/easy-out/tap/helicoil repair. I'll pay for it either way, but I'd rather they shear the bolt instead of me.  

In spite of our run of mechanical glitches, or maybe because of them, this trip has had us working with a string of really impressive, professional, friendly, and helpful people. Something that hasn't always been our experience when it comes to the marine industry. Maybe it is simply a matter of not being in Florida anymore. That state's efforts to drive cruisers out is pretty common knowledge. Whatever the reason, and in spite of our breakdowns, so far we have found that the further North we go the better it seems to get for those of us who live on a boat.

As soon as the repair is finished, we will likely head back over to the anchorage and wait on a weather window. Given the number of boats that motored out of here this morning it looks like we missed another one today. And so it goes.

Friends Taija and Janet leaving on Endeavor in the fog.

On a dock again...

We had a pretty nice night at anchor, once all of the weekend boaters went home. I guess people who rarely pay attention to stop signs, red lights, pedestrian crossings, and speed limits can't really be expected to pay attention to “NO WAKE” signs. But after the sun went down it was a good night's sleep even if today loomed as a challenge. There was a nice breeze blowing and the boat was doing that barely perceptible rocking that just feels right.

Come morning, I put on my boat-working clothes. We have two types of dress here on First Light. One is for traveling or for sitting around while paying someone else to work on the boat. The other is for working on the boat. The two never get stored or washed together.

Properly dressed, I climbed down into the hole while Deb started the starboard engine. It took a couple of tries but we eventually tracked the leak down to the engine coolant pump. It appears to be leaking from around the mount but I suspect the fluid is actually running out a weep hole, meaning the pump has suffered some kind of internal failure. It is hard to tell with the engine running as the belt is spinning around within inches of the wet spot. But at least we got it narrowed down. Since it seemed unlikely that we could repair it or have it repaired while out at anchor, we changed into our traveling clothes. We didn't travel very far, just a mile or so to Utsch's Marina. I didn't know it, but lying in wait was the most challenging docking I have ever done.

First, it was a long parallel run within twenty feet of a sea wall to stay out of the shallows. That came with a 10+ knot wind pushing me into the wall. Even staying as close as I dared, I saw 5 feet of water under a boat that draws four and a half. After that, was a 90 degree turn downwind through an entry about 45 feet wide. Port engine forward to shove the bow into the hole. Starboard engine aft to keep the wind from shoving the stern into the wall. Dance with the shifters as necessary, be gentle with the power. I didn't hear anything squeak as we went through, but it was tight.

After that, a putter along down the fairway barely half again as wide as the boat is long. No rudder, just steer with the engines. Then another 90 degree, bow up into the wind, turn into the slip. A slip with a dredging barge tied up on the other side of the fairway. I swear we missed the thing by about a foot making the turn. But I managed to not embarrass myself too bad, didn't bounce off of anything, and got the bow in between the pilings far enough for the dock worker to grab a line and help guide us in the rest of the way.

I have flown, landed, and handled airplanes in far more hazardous conditions where making a mistake was fatal. I don't ever remember being nervous about the outcome. Getting on a dock like this one had my heart racing. Truth to tell, I would rather be faced with a one-engine inoperative instrument approach to dead nuts minimums on a dark and stormy night with a 30 knot cross wind. At least I'll know what the airplane will do and what to expect from the sky. Even with First Light's twin engines, I still feel like I am giving it recommendations rather than orders. And though I have a good feel for what the sky is doing, what the water might be doing remains a mystery. At least First Light is more cooperative than was Kintala. Anyway...

Soon after we settled in, I got a call from a marine mechanic that was recommended by Tim, owner of Delaware City Marina and friend. (Had it been less than an 8 hour run we would have considered going back Delaware City. But on a sick engine?) The mechanic will be here tomorrow. Parts supply is a guess. Though I would love to just pay for an “O” ring that could likely be here in a day, my own mechanic's thought is that we are looking at a pump failure. That will likely add several days to the repair time. Then a day to install and test run. Not a full day, but a long enough day to keep us stopped for another night. So I say three nights at least, maybe many more depending on how difficult it is to source a pump. After all, the fuel pump we just replaced came from ENGLAND.

We still feel like we are making okay decisions based on what we know at that moment. And that's the best we can do. But I am starting to have doubts about the final outcome of this trip. We are falling way behind most of the other “Loopers”. We are now a month behind our own planned schedule. But all we can do is go as far as we can before the weather window closes for the winter. When (if) that happens we will simply have to make some different decisions.