For the first time in two years, we have a port engine that runs! From the very first moment that it turned over, & we heard the purr of the new engine, we started cheering. It's time to celebrate!!!

Shortly after we purchased our boat back in April of 2009, the port engine pretty much died. We knew there was a chance for this, since it had already been rebuilt, not only once, but twice. So, Wil managed to find an identical Perkins engine that only had 150 hours on it. We pulled out the old, and put in the new. We only needed to add a heat exchanger and a deeper oil pan. Last month, after bleeding the fuel injectors, Wil had the engine ready to start, but it just didn't happen. The engine turned over, but wouldn't go all the way. Talk about discouraging!

After much head scratching, yesterday it was discovered that the problem wasn't mechanical. It was electrical. The discovery was happened upon while attempting to start the engine, and for whatever reason, Wil decided to push the "stop" button in addtion to the "start" button. The engine almost jumped to a start! So, with Wil in the engine room, making sure the engine was getting fuel, and I at the ignition, this is how we got the engine to start . . . I turned the key & pressed the "start" and "stop" buttons at the same time. When the engine kicked over, I released the "start" button, but continued to hold the "stop" button. The engine purred like a kitten! My release of the "stop" button turned the engine off.

In order to get the wiring straightened out, we resorted to getting an electrician onboard. Now, the engine starts with the push of a button . . . and the correct button. What an awesome feeling!

Our fingers are crossed that we'll get the starboard engine, as well as the generator, running this week. The starboard engine needed new raw water coolant lines, and the generator issues are still up in the air. We'll see how things go.

In the meantime, other jobs we've been working on this week . . . replacing more hatches with new glass, repairing broken hatch hinges & other parts, overall organizing & cleaning, and dinghy repair research. A couple of projects that are standing in line . . . installation of our new fridge/freezer plates and compressors, and installation of holding tanks.

In the meantime, we're toasting to a working port engine!