Today the sun was in full glory but it was a bit cool since the winds were blowing the whole day at between 25 and 35 knots. The water temperature is downright cold so the wind is cold despite the warming effect of the sun.

The big event of today was starting and testing our two diesel engines and the big diesel generator we have on Leu Cat. While we were back in the States, we had Chris, the local diesel mechanic, work on each engine. At the end of each cruising season we like to have the engines maintained since they play such a critical role and the last thing we want to face is an engine problem while out in the middle of an ocean during a storm.

Also, as you may recall, we needed to remove the generator because it had pulled out of its mounting bolts last year due to the pounding we took in crossing over from Madagascar and then sailing down the coast of South Africa.

When Chris had pulled the generator out from its lazarette last December, he could have full access to all sides of it which made it very convenient to fully service it. However, whenever you remove an engine from its housing, you need to make sure that every little wire, hose, and bolt is properly restored and hooked up properly. Today was the big test.

While it took a bit more priming the fuel pump to get the generator’s engine to start, when it did, it just purred like a kitten. Plus, because each cylinder was functioning smoothly, there was hardly any vibration. I had a big smile on my face by the time we turned it off.

The smile stayed plastered on my face when we started up each of our two diesel engines. They also purred and purred. It is hard to describe the pleasure a cruiser feels when the engines run so smoothly and sounds so nice. Our engines are now 9 years old (the boat was launched in May 2006) and have been used a lot since it was built in France and it has crossed each of the major oceans around the world. The engines look and sound as good as the day we first fired them up when we came onboard in the British Virgins Islands back in January 2008 to start our cruising days.