We have a new problem. For the last few months, we had a very small oil leak in the engine. We'd long since found and fixed the bigger ones. Engine do leak oil don't they? Over the last few days, because Mother Nature had been playing games with us and not giving us good winds to sail by or putting them right at our bow, we've had to run the engine. The leak has gotten bigger, much bigger. We needed to go exploring to see where it was coming from. Bad hoses or bad seal, I had a feeing what it was but we needed to make sure.
While Tracy started exploring inside the engine room, taking out all the oil soaked absorber pads(don't leave the US with out them), I did some other jobs--tracked down a water leak, checked and filled the batteries, fixed a line to the Hydrovane,etc. Once it was cleaned(she had oil up to her elbows, we went in with a video scope that had been loaned to us by Terry off Teka Nova. It's a camera on the end of a flexible wand with a tv screen at the end so you can see into tight places. Scoped all over the place and saw nothing. Next step, put in new clean pads and run the engine for 30 minutes or so and see where it was coming from. Once the engine had run, we took a look in the engine room and found oil coming from the bottom of the bell housing. For those of you that know about as much about diesel engines as I do, this is where the crank shaft exits the engine and goes through a bunch of gears and then joins with the transmission. It's not supposed to do that. It looks like the seal that keeps the oil from getting past the crank shaft has failed. We get to take the engine apart again!!!
We're looking at alternatives as to where to do it. The lift at the yard close by can only handle up to 20 tons and we are a bit over that unless we dump all our water. The government will(at best) give us a 30 day visa plus there is no import tax exemption for "Yacht in Transit" as there is in most countries so all the parts we would bring in will be slapped with a big duty(up to 40%). We're considering going to Langkawi where we can stay for 90 days and the boat can stay forever if need be. There are places to stay at anchor and a marina where we can have parts shipped to duty free. A boat yard with a 60 ton lift(no problem getting us out)and bottom paint is available. We are weighing all the options but look like we will be heading south instead of west again till be get this done. I'd so hoped to NEVER have to open up the engine EVER again.
Stay tuned for a trip delayed.