I had the local Yanmar diesel mechanic to the boat today, to look at why the engine was losing oil. Great news, the problem is relatively minor. The crankcase oil is cooled by seawater, and it is common for a leak to develop in the oil cooler. Since the oil pressure is greater than the seawater, oil leaks out into the seawater cooling circuit and goes out the seawater exhaust.
I was concerned that the oil consumption was via another route, past the piston rings, but thankfully that is not the case.
The mechanic also noted that the valves needed to be adjusted and the turbocharger needed to be rebuilt. Since we're in Mexico, all of this work is relatively cheap.
It feels great to know that the engine will be solid and reliable going forward.
One thing I learned, is that Yanmar engines like to run at a high RPM, around 3000 or even higher. It turns out, that our boat reaches hull speed at 2700 RPM, which indicates the prop has too much pitch. When running at a lower RPM like 2000, the engine builds carbon deposits that will shorten the engine life.
|
Comments [3]
Cheers,
Bill
11/10/2008
We had a long windless passage from Cabo to Mazatlan. There was never more than 5 knots of wind, often less than 3. Therefore, we had to motorsail the entire way. Along the way, at 5 in the morning, we inadvertently ran out of fuel. Calou carries two fuel tanks, and we ran the first one dry. Normally this would not happen, but at 5 o'clock in the morning, well, it's easier to overlook such things. In a flat calm, I bled the air out of the fuel pump and injectors and got the engine going again on the second tank. Well, it's a good idea to practice this procedure once in a while, anyway.
We arrived at Mazatlan around 9 a.m., or about 25 hours after we left Cabo. The Marina El Cid is luxurious yet inexpensive. We have two large swimming pools and a hot tub just yards from our boat. We like this place so much we'll hang out here for a while before heading south after Thanksgiving.
Mazatlan has a great cruiser community, excellent shopping, and a very nice "old town". In fact Mazatlan is the oldest port city on the West coast of Mexico.
We have a bunch of projects to get done on the boat, and Mazatlan is the perfect place to do it. I plan to beef up the stainless steel radar mount that broke on us twice. I have a few other ideas for stainless steel projects that we can do while we're at it. And it's about time for a new dodger. We can get this work done in Mazatlan very inexpensively.
|
Great to hear you have safely arrived, we were hoping all was well with your trip. Great to see the photos. Karen & I hope your trip continues to be both safe and fun!!!
Best Regards to you all;
Larry
cheers, Bruce
11/10/2008
Here's a video clip from our first experiment with lofting a video camera with a kite from Calou while under sail. It's rough, and we need to design a more stable camera platform, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
|
11/09/2008
We're on our way to Mazatlan now, crossing the Sea of Cortez from the tip of Baja California to the mainland, heading East. There's 190 nautical miles of water between Cabo and Mazatlan.
The winds are very light just 5 or 6 knots, so we're motorsailing and making 8.5 knots. I hope the wind picks up some time soon so we can shut off the motor.
We passed a sailboat along the way, otherwise all we can see is water in every direction. Having left Cabo at 7 a.m. this morning, we will arrive in Mazatlan around 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.
|
11/08/2008
Our last day at Cabo San Lucas was a busy one for me. We had a tear in the UV covering of the jib, so I borrowed a sewing machine from another boat and tried to make repairs. The sewing machine couldn't handle the material thickness near the tack of the sail. So I borrowed another one, this time a Sail Rite [tm]. Boy, is that a powerful machine. It sewed through the heavy material like butter. We brought along some scraps of the matching gray sunbrella fabric so we managed to make a very good looking repair.
I also found out, in the process of removing the jib, that the vectran pennant at the tack had worn to almost nothing. I made a new penannt out of three wraps of nylon line.
While I was up at the bow I found that one of the cotter rings for the lifelines had disappeared. So I replaced it, and checked and taped every cotter ring fitting on the boat.
After that there was the awards ceremony for the Baja Haha. We, along with everyone else, got a third place trophy. Afterwards we had dinner with friends Glenn & Rose at a great restaurant, Mama's Cantina I think it was.
|
Francois, Antoine, and other kids from the Baja Ha-ha fleet play in the surf at Cabo San Lucas.
|
11/06/2008
It's 2:30 a.m., and I'm on night watch on our passage to Cabo San Lucas. It has been a beautiful sail; we are averaging about 8.5 knots with 20 knots of breeze. There's no moon out, so the stars are especially brilliant. The motion of the boat through the waves casts out bow waves that glow in the starlight. It's mesmerizing to watch.
Cabo is about 50 miles away. One can see the faint city glow on the horizon.
|
11/05/2008
We departed Bahia Santa Maria this morning at 7 a.m. along with the Haha fleet. We have 15 to 20 knot winds from the northwest and so we're making good time to Cabo averaging 7 to 8 knots.
We got out the piano today and Bruce, John, and Antoine played tunes on it. It's a Yamaha Portable Grand that only weighs 12 lbs and runs on AA batteries. It has a full size keyboard and a very sensitive action. It's great to have music on board. John's playing piano right now in the cockpit while he's on watch.
|
