Well as I sit here typing, Jettie and Kevin are out buying a replacement engine for our leaky port diesel. The blasted thing has had a slow oil leak since we bought the boat. Moorings did nothing to fix it and then the repair guys in Tortola would not even look at it last summer when we had the seals replaced on that engine's saildrive. So as directed, til we got back to the States, we were just adding oil as needed. Given we are to leave soon, Jettie changed the oil as it has been a year since we got the boat. Then these folks at the marina made us move as they rented the slip we were in (don't even get me started on that ridiculous procedure). So while we were backing in the new slip, the port engine alarm went off indicating low oil pressure. How about NO OIL pressure?

While backing with wind and current, the port engine dies. We aimlessly drift into the outside piling and it settles against the new solar panel rack and next to the dingy and outboard motor and bangs around til we get a line tied to it. We get tied off to the other slips piling midship and are pointing directly at the big 50 foot sport fishing boat. The marina guy runs and got the owner so he could stand by if we were going to hit him. Luckily for us, the crew of Quest was in their dingy going past and stopped to help. We got two lines tied together and taken to the dock by the dingy. It was attached to our starboard aft cleat and then the dingy tried to pull us around. It was too much for the little 9 HP engine, but he could push us from the other side. I stuck fenders between us and the piling to keep from marring up the boat and more lines were tossed to those on the dock to pull us the rest of the way into the slip. Whew! That was stressful.

Once again we have to call Kevin. How will he stay in business when we leave? He came over and tried to turn the engine with a crowbar. No such luck. She is frozen solid, but by heat with metal to metal with no oil. BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand and it surely will apply now that the engine is ruined.

Kevin calls a guy that is a diesel mechanic at a Volvo Dealer, I believe, and oddly enough some guy came in with a dual engine like ours with one that was bad. He replaced both engines, so the guy has our Volvo Penta 2040 sitting in his shop for $500. Wow, what a lucky coincidence. Now we just have to get the old one disconnected, out of the boat as it weighs about 400 pounds, and the other one fitted with all the stuff from the old one and back in the boat.

Kevin came over and disconnected and hauled it out with the help of our trusty dingy motor lift and several lines to help it from bending under the weight, since it was made for 150 pounds not 400. The defining moment of this whole mess was when Keven lifted the motor and the oil drain plug fell out. That means it was Moorings fault and the repair guys could have spent five minutes and found that it was the plug, in stead of telling me they couldn't do it, it would take too long, too much work, blah, blah, blah. Just a little look, where they knew to look and we didn't, as the engine would have been fine. :: sigh ::



Poor baby... all seized up. ::sigh::



Snuck a pic of Kevin doing his thing with our little motor lift. The screen is one of those Magic Mesh things as seen on TV, works great on the boat.


At one point, Jettie and Kevin thought it was the wrong oil filter as the one she replaced was longer, despite the fact that they looked up the engine and supposedly gave her the correct stuff before we left Road Town. It was thought that it possibly leaked out due to the filter, but that does not seem to be the problem once the plug fell out. I suspect that it was barely holding on in there and between Jettie pumping the oil out and the movement generated by the boat, it finally was completely dislodged. By the time the alarm went off, the motor was showing no pressure and you cannot move one of these beasts with one engine. Someone was looking out for us with the cheap motor. I just hope it works well.


More of the continuing saga to come...