04/03/2011, La Cruz Marina
Well, we made it to Punta de Mita, about 8 miles west of here yesterday afternoon and dropped the anchor in a bit of wind. All was well though a bit rollie as Zephyr rolled from side to side in the swell. The wind was 90 degrees off the swell so what was to be was to be. Rolling rolling and more rolling through the night.
For the last few days, I've smell a faint whiff of diesel when I go below decks. I pulled up the floor boards and the top of the tanks were covered in fuel!!! Yuck!! I'd installed new seals when we were in Paradise Village but the tanks were only about half full. Now, with them full, the sloshing did it's job and the new seals were not going to keep the fuel where it belonged--in the tank. With that being said, we had little choice other than to up the anchor and head back to the marina since we needed a calm environment to take the lids off and redo the seals. With the tanks full, opening the tops could have made the mess even bigger.
The first time I installed the seals, I used a new neoprene gasket and added some liquid gasket material from Permatex. I guess I didn't use enough since they leaked. Once off, I scraped off the old material and added a new, bigger layer of the stuff from Permatex and reinstalled the inspection plates. Now we will have to see what happens. I think we will try and rock Zephyr back and forth so see if we can make her leak tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm off the the new Auto Zone to see if I can find more liquid seal stuff to keep on board as I used everything I had here. Gee, boating sure is fun......
I think we may set a new record for most times leaving the dock to do the Puddle Jump. This next time, we will not be stopping at Punta de Mita. We will set the sails in what ever wind there is available(no wind is in the forecast for as far out as the weather folks are forecasting) and go. I don't really want to use the engine unless there is no choice.
Stay tuned for more of our odyssey. We'll get out of here yet!!!!
|
Comments [1]
04/01/2011, La Cruz Marina, La Cruz,Mexico
All the work is done and the Zephyr is now FULL of not only food and water but diesel also. We have our Zarpe(exit documents) and are preparing to pull in the dock lines tomorrow morning and head out to Punta de Mita(about 8 miles west of here) for a day or three to await an improvement in the winds and weather. As of now, the winds are out of the west as are the waves. Not the best to head West.
Stay tuned tomorrow night to an update. We'll let you know how it goes on our first night on the hook in many months.
|
Here's a picture of the bad "off" switch.
|
Butch, the mechanic, spent the better part of the first day playing detective in our engine room going through each and every and I do mean every system that supplies fuel to Zephyrs engine. A different tank to make sure the fuel was good. New lines to make sure the old were not blocked. The list goes on and on. After about 5 hours, it was finally narrowed down the the small electric fuel pump used to help bleed the air out of the system. It was putting more air in the system than taking it out. Butch showed up Tuesday morning and went straight to work putting in a more sophisticated fuel line system. As you can see from the photo at the top, it looks a bit Rube Goldberg, but take my word for it, it's the cat's meow for making sure we get fuel to the engine. The new electric fuel pump can even fuel the engine should the main fuel pump fail plus it is strong enough that I will no longer have to fill the fuel filters before installing them on the engine.
With that being said, we ran the engine for an hour the day Butch left and it ran just fine. We just got back from Nuevo Vallarta and it did just fine getting us back and forth the 12 mile distance.
Unfortunately, the "off" switch on the engine has now decided to malfunction. Not a big deal as all we have to do to stop the engine is to open the door to engine room and throw a switch. The normal one that does it is electric so makes it handy to be able to shut off the engine from the steering wheel. I took off the wires and cleaned them and added my copper based grease to the contact and still it didn't work. We did see that the small rubber bellows that goes over part of the switch had finally come apart after all these years but though nothing of it. A call to Butch and voila--the answer. With the torn bellows, the arm that moves forward and backward to shut off the engine travels too far on the back stroke and locks in that position so it won't go forward when the button is pushed. Now we have to figure out a way to solve the problem. Shouldn't be too hard. A small line tied on it to restrict its movement and it should work just fine.
|
03/27/2011, La Cruz marina
Butch showed up about 0800 and I sat down with him and explained the problem and it's symptoms as well as what I had done on Saturday to try and fix it. In he went tools in hand. Now Butch is about 6 foot 5 inches tall so most engine rooms are a bit tight for him. Ours was a cinch. Big and airy. He disconnected and re connected and started the engine. It ran for about 8 minutes and shut down just like it did on Friday. Back in again. We did this several times, each time the engine dying about 8 minutes later. I won't boor you with all the things he did but we found that the washers--yes that's right, the washers under the bleeding screws on top of the secondary filters were defective. They are supposed to help seal the bolts once they get tightened. Instead, they leaked, not only air but also allowed air into the system. I just happened to be looking across the engine with a flashlight and saw some bubbling by the screws. Out came the screws and on with new washers and that part was fixed. But as expected, the engine still didn't work right.
After more exploring, it finally came down to the small electric pump that we use to bleed the air out of the fuel lines. Instead, a seal had broken somewhere on it and it allowed air into the system. So, Butch disconnected it from the fuel loop and once the engine started, she ran really well.
Tomorrow, Butch will be returning with a new pump and will plumb it in where it belongs. For some reason, it was after the first filter instead of before it. Now it will be put in where it belongs, before the primary filter so it can do its job properly. We let the engine run for a good 50 minutes in gear at the dock to put some stress on it and she ran just fine. Once the new electric back up fuel pump is on, we will run it again for several hours at the dock to make sure it works as it should.
With that being said, our new cast off date is Wednesday. The weather window is good for that day(at least that is what the forecasters think). We will fill up the water tanks tomorrow and get more things stowed safely so that by Wednesday, we will be ready to cast off.
Say a prayer for us that tomorrow works out. We are both chomping at the bit to get out of here and see new sights.
The picture is of the electric fuel pump that caused our problem. Tomorrow, out it comes.
|
03/26/2011, La Cruz Marina
We started in early this morning on Zephyrs engine. I disconnected fittings and blew air through them and ripped out fuel lines until I had changed out every fuel line on Zephyr(except the copper lines). Cut new ones and installed with hose clamps. Then a quick lunch and on to the water lines we had found so badly rotted out. These lines are so tough that they have to be cut with a hack saw becouse there is wire running inside the rubber lining. With them cut, on they went and hose clamped on.
Next--time to bleed the air out of the lines and there was lots of it since I'd blown through all the lines making sure there were no obstructions. That alone took quite some time. Once done, with Tracy on deck, i turned the key and after a few seconds she fired up. She ran and ran and ran. I checked the engine for leaks and found that one of the fuel filters was leaking so we pushed the off button and nothing happened. The engine wouldn't stop. So I grabbed the switch and turned it off manually. Heaven only knows what is wrong with it. It's an electric switch and the wires looked fine so who knows. Any way, off with the leaking filter and on with a new one. Bleed the system and turn the key. Again she starts right up and runs great--for about 6 minutes when she suddenly looses power and shuts herself off. It's like deja vu all over again.
It was time to throw in the towel and call in a "professional". I wandered up to the offices and sit here using their wifi as it's the fastest around. I'm lucky that the office lets me use their net or I would be back to really slow speeds. I called Butch(he fixed our water pump several months ago) and he will be at Zephyr tomorrow(yes--on Sunday) to see what the problem is. That's the way it works down here. These folks will come out any day(even Christmas) to make some money and get the work.
So tomorrow, we should be up and running. Then comes several days of testing the engine, early in the AM when the winds are less and if we break down, we can tow Zephyr back to the dock like we did yesterday.
So here we sit. We've done everything we can think of and still success eludes us. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe Tacos on the Street for dinner. I guess we will see.
|
