We decided we should head into Beaufort to have the stabiliser pump fixed instead of relying on the one pump for an indefinite amount of time. Gregory Poole the CAT dealer in this area did a great job for us in 2012 when we were last here in the area having our engines serviced. This time, they offered a dock space for us right outside their facility for as long as we needed on Adams Creek on the ICW about 8 miles north of Beaufort . We’ve never traversed any part of the ICW before so this was a new experience for us. For anyone in countries other than the USA who have never heard of the ICW, it is an inland waterway 3,000 miles in length on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts used by tugs, barges, sailing and motor yachts of every shape and size. It is supposed to be dredged to a minimum of 12 feet but there are many stories of vessels running aground and others having prop damage by hidden logs. We like the wide open space and safety of the ocean however, there are certain sections of the ICW that are quite safe for us to navigate.

Jarrett Bay Marine Industrial Park is a full service shipyard with 175 acres of boat storage, boat building and all services needed for any vessel. It has at least 6 boat lifts ranging in size from 220 ton down to 50 ton and is very impressive. The hydraulics on the NAIAD stabiliser are driven by a Vickers Vein Pump that is mounted to the Power Take Off (PTO) on the front end of each of our CAT C-18 Engines. When we removed the NAIAD stabiliser pump we found that the splines on both the male end (NAIAD) and the female end (CAT) were stripped. The debate was which part was at fault as the CAT engines are under warranty. After some debate, CAT agreed it was their problem so they replaced the stabiliser pump and the PTO gear. The NAIAD tech we spoke to thought that the check valve cartridges in the manifold may have played a part so they were replaced as well. The engines were started and the pump functioned without any problem. The stabiliser pump problem is fixed for the time being but we will keep a close eye on the splines to see if this occurs again. The Vickers pump that drives the stabilisers can be examined easily, so we’ve added it to the Maintenance Calendar to check it every few months.

Our second job was to fix the raw water pump for the port genset as we’ve had quite a few fail. They either leak oil or they leak water after 300 – 400 hours which is way too fast. We found out that Onan has superseded the original pump. The new one is a bit different with bent inlets and outlets where the original pumps were straight so we had to get a hose kit as well and Mike was able to re-plumb the raw water system so the new pump would function properly. We bought a second pump and hose kit so when the starboard side leaks again we will just replace it. We hope this fixes the problem that has been bothering us all along. Tim at Gregory Poole also recommended doing a 1000 hour valve adjustment on the engines even though the CAT manual says every 3000 hours. All of the valves were within tolerance or slightly loose which is a good thing. We also ran barnacle buster through the raw water system on both engines as it hasn’t been done for a couple of years and it cleaned out the scale and growth.

While anchored last week, each time Maynard started the starboard genset, it would take longer and longer to fire up. Maynard and Mike were concentrating on fuel starvation problems and were talking about it one day in the car on the way to lunch. I piped up and said, “Well it works when we’re plugged into shore power but doesn’t work when we’re on the anchor so maybe it’s something to do with power.” Lo and behold Vicki hit on an idea. Lightbulb moment…it’s a battery problem! Sure enough, the battery was dropping to 9.4 v on startup instead of low 11’s so we then needed to source two new AGM 8d batteries which we achieved on the weekend. They weigh 165 lbs each so it was quite a job to remove the old batteries and install the new ones. I have a hidden talent of feeling when batteries are about to fail as I caught Maynard’s Yacht Controller’s near dead battery last week as well. After sitting for 8 months, it is expected that a boat with so many systems will have issues and only so many systems can be exercised at the dock. We are not at all surprised that a few pumps and batteries need some tlc. All problems seem to be fixed now and we are ready to head off again soon. The decision is whether to pass Cape Hatteras at sea for our third time since 2012, or take on the challenge of the ICW up to Norfolk, Virginia.