Having fun
The wind was totally against us all the way from Port Charlotte to Marathon. We were able to sail a few hours in the afternoon from Pelican Bay to Doctor’s Pass and again the next day after making the turn around Cape Romano shoals heading for Indian Key. We saw the normal occasional dolphins along with two large sea turtles. One turtle was spotted 5 miles off the coast of Fort Myers Beach and the other in Florida Bay just south of Cape Sable.
Being heavily laden with fuel and supplies the wind and the waves made it difficult at times to maintain 5 knots of speed with higher than normal fuel consumption. Half way from LittleShark to Marathon our engine temperature slowly began to rise. Normally being around 160 degrees it reached slightly over 200 degrees. We saw tons of sea grass floating in Florida Bay and I thought it might be plugging up our raw water intake strainer.
Yesterday I started looking for reasons the engine was running hotter. This meant all the supplies in the aft cabin had to be transferred to the main and forward cabins. To put this in perspective, it included 10 cases of beer, 10 3L wine boxes , 1 gennaker, several 40 gallon plastic food containers, spare life jackets, tons of paper products (tp, napkins, paper towels) folding beach chairs, and who knows what all. Then the mattress had to be removed. Fortunately it is split in half so only half the contents had to be removed. I thought for a while, I was going to find the kitchen sink from back home. No wonder we burnt more fuel.
The Raw water strainer had some sea grass but was not clogged but the shaft packing was dripping quite a bit so I tightened it up some. I was sweating like a pig by the time I finished. Next, I pulled the front housing off the raw water pump to check the impeller. It looked new but I replaced it anyway. The fan belt was loose and at the full extent of adjustment allowing me to turn the fresh water pump by hand. This may be the culprit allowing the belt to slip and not turning the pump fast enough. For extra assurance, I also replaced the thermostat.
After everything was back together I ran the engine to bring it up to temperature. It stayed just below 160 degrees but will not know it is solved until we can put a load on it. After shutting down the engine and checking for leaks, I discovered that the water seal on the shaft was leaking slightly. Don’t have that part in my spares so I have to look for it today and replace those parts I did use. The pump is at the front of the engine so no need to empty the aft cabin to fix. Hopefully, we will then have cool running engine.
Will look today for someone that can restitch the sun cover on our jib. Hoping for a quick turn-around.
We probably will be on the mooring ball here in Marathon for at least a week.
It’s great reading your post. So many ways to have an engine run hotter than normal. One we learned is that the glass on the strainer may look clear, but the basket inside can be full! We’ve also heard about things (like a Walmart bag) getting sucked into the intake and not getting to the strainer, and having to be fished out in a dive. Good luck.
Be sure to dine at Burdines.
John.
Burdines is always on the list. Ate last night at The Fisheries- great grouper sandwich
Never thought about a plastic bag blocking the raw water intake but it sure is possible. We had gremlins in the trucking industry that drove us crazy; like a stake dropped into the fuel tank by a driver checking fuel level then getting diesel logged and eventually sucked up on the pickup tube blocking fuel and killing the engine. By the time the mechanic got to it the stick floated elsewhere in the tank allowing the engine to start. Went on for weeks before the stick was spotted moving inside the tank.