As of the last post, we got the exhaust connected back up, but there’s a little bit of a leak. I shut down and waited to talk with the mechanic because if there’s a chance of water getting into the cylinder, it’s likely all over. If there’s a chance of water getting into the exhaust earlier than where it’s supposed to, it’s probably a crack in the engine and it’s all over.

So, this morning I sent another text to the mechanic to find out the severity of this engine issue and whether it seems a danger to the engine, or something we can run with temporarily to get into the marina and get his hands on it. I got a reply this morning (last time was on a Saturday… no reply). So, out to the boat this morning to take pictures and take another look starting from dry to answer his questions.

There’s the drip. Someone should have done a neater job with the gasket!

So, it looks like it’s not dripping from the threads, but from the weld. I think the good news/bad news is that it’s not an integral failure in the engine and we should be able to run with it for a little while, but it’ll probably all have to come off again to get the weld fixed. There’s no indication of water in the oil or anything that would make one think there’s a crack somewhere letting water where it doesn’t belong. Of course, the leak is on the back side of the part in a spot where I can’t get eyes on, so I’m only going by touch to feel where the water seems to be. I’ve slathered some JB Weld on the spot where the water seems to be coming from, before I got word from the mechanic to not do that, but he’s since said it doesn’t matter, it’s OK. I’m guessing we’ll just have to knock it off to re-weld it properly, again. Since I couldn’t really prepare the surface with sandpaper, etc. I’m betting that’s going to be pretty easy. Temporary fix anyway.

The exhaust hose is bent around the fuel tank

He did say that the kink in the exhaust hose has to go… a kink could cause water to back up and blow into the engine. The kink is there because the hose comes off of the exhaust elbow and runs pretty directly into the fuel tank, then bends around the tank to go to the rest of the exhaust system. It’s not a good setup, and will, I think, be a problem long term as it’ll wear through the hose or the fuel tank. So, again, I’m looking at this as a temporary fix until I get it in to him to do it up right. An expensive, and time consuming temporary fix at this point. I think I’ve got it unkinked enough to be fine for the run to the marina. Not much more I can do. Honestly, I’ll be looking to sail most of the way to the marina, just motoring into the harbor, through the bridge, and to the mooring.

The mechanic is booked until next Thursday. I’m contacting the marina to find out what their schedule is, since they are having issues with their crane, so we can’t get the mast down and hauled out until they’re ready anyway. And am verifying with the mechanic that he’ll be able to work on it on the hard… I imagine he just needs to put a hose on the intake to get water in there… certainly something he’s done a hundred times. Once I hear from him, I’ll schedule with the marina. Once I have word from them, I’ll contact the surveyor and find out whether he will want to be involved before or after the mechanic and my crack spackle job. So, that gives us what might be a schedule.

Jenn might be home before we leave. While it’d sure be nice to see her and have her there to see us off, I’m not really pleased with the schedule. But, we’ll surely miss hurricane season… though we might have some frost on the deck before it’s over.