The Generator has declared Jihad. After rebuilding the exhaust, raw water pump, fuel system, etc. the genset has once again shows us who is in charge. The Control Unit arrived...a very nervous Captain/Engineer then began to re-engineer a $200+ wafer board. Connections needed to be severed and new ones made...did I mention that I needed to cut about 2 inches off in the process? It works and that's what counts. I won that round.
Then I tracked down the issue with fluctuating output...the capacitor had died. Found a supplier for the large one I needed...it will be sent from Italy...he was making an order anyway so no charge but for the part. Pretty cheap, $20. I will win this round when the part arrives.
We took the dinghy up to a deserted island today, landed in a bare spot (no oysters) and decided to scrape her off. Well, tide was good and low. Sand was only a thin veil that covered thick muck. We perservered and carried the outboard up to an old wrecked wooden sailboat and put the engine on one of her broken ribs. It looked odd hanging there in space above the marsh.
Dragged the dink up and propped it up with its own paddles, muck held it beautifully in place. Got about 1/2 scraped off when it got dark.
Real dark.
So we hustled and got everything put back together, puttered back to HP, and the wind picked up just as we finished rinsing off in the cockpit - we stank like death. 45-55 mph winds on our beam set us to a good heel and we spun to the wind. Good sized rollers built quickly and a ketch out by the channel began to drag. Drug all the way into the channel. An abandoned houseboat drug to within 10' of Frank on Stardust. I put on my foul weather gear and went over to offer a hand.
A good bit of drama for a Tuesday afternoon.
Oh, don't talk when scraping barnacles. They taste like wahala. They were in our hair, shorts, sandals... I want to develop BarnaKill...you spary it on and they fall off.
That idea would fund a lifetime of cruising... | 