https://youtu.be/EExahMsBoWM?si=9IIyPuxUuN2tbn3u

It looks like we're on a roll here doing boat maintenance this week. The weather has cooled off a bit and the wind has been pretty active so no snorkelling trips for the next few days. (Not complaining as we know about the snow back home but relative to the excellent weather we been having here, now it's been downgraded to just good) We aren't sure how long we're staying here but Yan needs a spa day so out come the tools again.

Diesels are pretty basic engines that require clean fuel and air to run properly. I had cleaned out the fuel tank as water accumulation leads to bacterial growth and a thing called diesel bug. If left unattended it can clog up your fuel lines, filters and your injectors and engine problems never seem to occur at the dock. So I pulled the fuel level sender unit out of the tank back in August and cleaned a bit of debris from the bottom of the tank. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised how clean it was.

The full spa treatment consists of oil and oil filter changes along with both the primary and secondary fuel filters and the cooling water impellor and drive belt inspection. We have put just over 300 hours of engine time in since leaving Brighton so this is the second oil change. Fuel filters are done very 500 to engine hours so they were close to being due but given the potential of questionable fuel quality and cleanliness in the upcoming months, I figured I would get everything done so we are ready to go whenever.

Because marine engines sit very low in the boat there is no oil drain l plug like on a car so you have to use a vacuum pump to suck the oil out via the dipstick hole. This takes about 20 minutes and while waiting for that I decided to change the impellor, high is a little rubber waterwheel-like piece that spins via a drive belt from the engine. These pieces are responsible for sucking cooling water through a sea strainer to cool the engine. When they get old the vanes on them start to crack and sometimes break off. When this happens the pump doesn't circulate as much water and the broken vane gets lodged somewhere downstream in the system blocking the flow of water. So this kind of failure gangs up on you and causes an overheated engine. (remember when I said most engine problems don't happen at the dock, seeing as it would take time for the engine to overheat that would mean you'd be out on the water somewhere when it decides to overheat)

Upon pulling the water pump off I saw that the drive belt (like the old fashioned V fan belt on a car, had a cut in it. Not sure how that happened but It had been getting loose a lot more frequently lately so time for a change. Fortunately I have multiple spares of belts, filters and a good supply of the various fluids the engine needs. Ended up dropping a small bolt out of the pump cover which managed to fall down into a hole slightly bigger than the bolt itself, which required pulling up a section of floor to recover. There may have been a 4 letter word or 2 uttered at that point!

Anyway, oil drained, filter replaced, new oil in, engine started, oil level topped up and that part is done, No leaked from water pump and lots of water circulating and blowing out exhaust. Next up, fuel filters. Our engine has a large 10 micron primary water separating filter and a 2 micron secondary filter. Both are replaceable similar to an oil filter but you have to be careful not to spill fuel all over the place. Once removed, the new filters need to be filled with fuel prior to installing. If you're lucky, your engine will start up as there is minimal air in the system.

https://youtube.com/shorts/KALhynXxKp0?si=XML7pxDkcfgwTtcw

Engine fired up and ran for 20 seconds and died, so not so lucky this time. Spent the next 20 minutes bleeding the fuel lines and then it fired right up and ran like a top! So we're pretty much ready for our next leg of the journey from a boat perspective anyway. All of our old oil and diesel fuel is stored in a jug for disposal at some point where they have a facility.

We have access to a car right now so we went to a gas station and filled up 2 of our diesel jerry cans and our gasoline for the outboard. It was pretty expensive at $1.33 /litre US so a bit more expensive than back home with the conversion factored in. But better to buy here while it’s reasonably accessible and where there is more demand (so the fuel is newer and hopefully cleaner) than some small island where it’s a dinghy ride ashore, walk or bus ride to a station where the fuel has been sitting in a rusty tank for months at a much steeper price. We do have a neat little fold up 2 wheel cart that can handle 3 jugs at a time so that came in useful for the trip between the boat and car. Each can is ~50 lbs so it is ends up being heavy fuel!

Today shot is from a couple of weeks back on the morning of our trip down from West End. The old “red sky in morning, sailor take warning” adage certainly applied this day.