Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Monday evening we anchored "early", about 6 pm, because I was afraid that we would be forced to choose a second-rate anchorage just before nightfall. Our choice of an anchorage, though, reminded us of why we avoided the ICW through Georgia our first time through.

We still can't figure out why the boat behaved the way it did, though. We chose our spot, turned bow to the wind, and Peter dropped the anchor. I backed down on it, setting the anchor, and the boat then turned around, stern to the wind, bow riding over the anchor rode. I backed up, turned the boat around, and it would have nothing of it. It turned around and rode over the anchor again. Peter tried tying the anchor rode off on one of the pontoon bow cleats. It kept the anchor to one side of the boat, but we were still stern to the wind, bow riding over the anchor. And it sat that way all night long.

We were in an area where there are strong tidal currents, but still can't figure out why the boat ran forward over the anchor and refused to ride bow to the current no matter what we did. Fortunately there was no wind or storms all night, so we had no dramas, because we were in the middle of nowhere, tucked into the marshes, with only one channel mark light to be seen anywhere.

Next morning we pulled up the anchor (easily) and was on our way by 7 am. Peter announced that we would do two 12-hour days so we could take a layday in N. Carolina. Sounded good to me, and off we went. But within a few hours there seemed to be something wrong with the engine. The first few days we were running hard at 3200 rpms. This morning we couldn't get the engine up to 3000 rpms. Peter said he thought it was fuel filter problems, but we needed to be able to have a mechanic look at it. So we found a marina just outside of Savanna and called a mechanic. He'll be at the boat 8 am Wednesday morning.

We're pretty sure that at least part of the problem is fuel filters, but now we have another problem, and it's an absurdity. There are two fuel filters for each engine. A pre-filter and the Yanmar fuel filter on the engine. The pre-filter is a Racor. Model #? Not a clue. We have a set of spare Racor filters, and went out to find another set of them. Couldn't find any, and the model number doesn't appear on the filter housing. Peter looked at the Racor filter in the housing, and it's a different part number than the spares that we have. Now what? Well, go to the PDQ owner's manual, right?

Right. The index gives us a page for Filters - Fuel. Turning to that section, we read: "A fuel filter/water separator is provided beside each engine. Check frequently .... Filter element change is recommended at 500 hours, ....." There is absolutely no information about the make of fuel filter, model of fuel filter, or any other information that would help us. Most frustrating! Now where do we go?

It looks as if we'll be here for at least one day, maybe two. I hope we sort this out quickly.


May 4, 2005
We called the diesel mechanic that the marina office recommended, even though we could find no authorized Yanmar dealer/service in the Yellow Pages. Turns out they just haven't updated their listing, and they are an authorized service for Yanmar. Phew! Sometimes we get lucky.

Another diesel mechanic we met, who is in Savannah to visit, said our problem sounded like clogged fuel filters, and he knew the company we had called and said they were reliable and good and we would be treated right. Reassuring, since we also spoke with David yesterday who told us he stopped at a different marina and thought that he had been taken badly with his engine problem.

$550 later and we knew that it was indeed the fuel filters that were badly clogged. Though not badly rusted, there was enough rust on the filters to lead the mechanic to believe that the Racor filters hadn't been changed in a very long time, if ever. We also doubt that the 1,000-hour service had been done, and so the mechanic did that, too. Adjusted the valves, put a diesel "Cetane Improver" in the fuel, and then took it out for a test drive. The engines, which since we took the boat couldn't go over 3,300 rpms now got up to 3,800 rpms easily. The tachometers were adjusted, and everything is now normal.

First thing this morning I received an email from PDQ with the replacement parts list for the boat. I didn't even have to shout to be heard. It is appreciated. It's too nice a boat to make do with second-best

It's interesting to see quite a few PDQs as we travel up the waterway. When we stopped for fuel Monday a woman came over to say "hi" and "what's your hull number?" She loves hers, and I just wish we weren't in such a hurry so I could see how others are personalizing the boat. On the way south, I hope, we can do it.

While the mechanic worked on the engines this morning I walked to the local Piggly Wiggly, a little more than a mile away. I think I did it more for the excuse to walk than for anything we "needed". Back pack on my back, I'm in cruising mode for sure.

Weather report doesn't sound good for tomorrow, so we might not leave. Then again, we've been sitting for two days and we're itchy to get going again.