May 31 A Comedy not a Tragedy

At about 5:30 I asked Al if we had a plan. At this time I understood he could not finish the job today. Al said he was going to check a few things and we would then start the engine. I said without the turbo. Al said he had found the piece of hose he needed and everything would be ready in about 20 minuets.

At 6:16 we started the engine. Al spent about 20 minutes getting the tack working and we were ready.

At about 6:40 we headed out and ran the engine hard for 50 minutes. I drove Al sat beside the engine. I started and stopped, backed up fast, shifted gears and made everything shake. The engine ran perfectly no alarms. There also was no sign of water. The puzzle continues.

Gene the insurance adjuster comes tomorrow and hopefully we will be on our way Tuesday.

I will publish the lead up to success after we are out of Florida.

Day 24 and counting

Good morning everyone

We do not know exactly what is going on. This past Monday was Memorial Day. Al was kind enough to work on Irish Mist for half a day. The motor is getting put back together. Al left saying he would be back on Wednesday if all went well in the morning. If he did not come Wednesday he would be back and finish Saturday. Trish reminded him that Saturday things would be closed if he needed anything. Al said he had all the parts not to worry all would be completed Saturday and we would be ready for the insurance adjuster on Monday.

Al did not show up but did phone asking for the model of the transmission. I sent this information and waited. Yesterday morning I phoned Al who said he could do nothing due to the fact I had sent him the wrong model number. I said I would see what I could do.

First I opened the engine room and with a magnifying looked at the model number. It had worn a little and could have been a H, N, or M. I phoned Mastry in St Petersburg who told me that they only had the model ZF 30 no H, N, or M. I decided to call Bayshore in Annapolis who installed the engine 4 years ago. They had the records and told me they installed a ZF 30 M transmission. This is the model number I sent to Al.

I emailed Lori Al's office manager with this information asking her to call me, no one called. I then talked to Al who said I should call Mastry and straighten it out. I called and talked to Sue in the parts department. She said that Al had called concerning the parts and she assured him that the parts where available even the transmission hose. She asked him to call the Daytona Distributor. I asked if it would be OK if the distributor called her if he had any problems. She said yes that in fact he should already know he can do this.

I phoned Al and explained what my day's work had accomplished. I said that Sue had said the Daytona Distributor could get him all the parts. I said also that Sue had said she was well aware of the transmission model number ZF 30 M.

I then asked Al when he would like us to be ready for him by taking the bed apart. He said he needed to get the parts. Al continued saying " Bill believe it or not I am actually working on your boat more then any other." It is Friday, Monday Gene the insurance adjuster is coming, we are waiting for Al. Our confidence concerning his arrival is not high, we have not prepared the bed.

Well Al did not come. He did phone at 6:00 PM with the news that he was coming tomorrow, but would not have the hose.  The Yanmar dealer in Daytona sent the wrong order and nobody is willing to do anything about that until Monday. I suggested we put the old hoses on. This way we would know if the problem was with one of the hoses. Al said he did not know were the hoses were. This is strange because he had told me that he kept all the old hoses for Gene to look at.

Al also told me if he put the old hoses back on and they leaked he would then have to do the antifreeze all over again. In the middle of the night I woke up, as I do often, realizing that the leak was not antifreeze. The old hoses will be fine, if we can find them. If a water hose leaks we can just turn the raw water off and fix it. This way we would also find the leak.

Al is coming Saturday to do what he can, but this is really getting on out nerves. I hope he arrives with ALL the original hose and gets the boat moving this afternoon.

At 10:00 Al came and started work. The first thing he said was he was missing a part. It was decided relatively quickly that I should go and get it. The first place I went did not have it so I phoned Al and asked if he knew of anywhere else I might be able to go. He said not a clue, he knew of no one in St Augustine. I decided to go to First Mstes Engine Repair. I knew of them from various people I had talked to. When I got there I talked to Jimmy. He had a part that would due. When I told him the story about the hose he said I will have to talk to Al he normally gets his yanmar supplies from me. Just another mystery. I gave the phone to Jimmy and he and his good friend Al has a conversation. Remember Al knew of no one in St Sugustine who could help.

It is 3:00 now and we cannot start the engine. Now we are missing a rubber boot off the turbo. Al is hopping he can get one at his shop. The story continues, let me remind you that Al assured Trish on Monday the last day we saw him that he had ALL the parts.

The story has a happy ending. I am going to let you know in the next post

The Atlantic Ocean

Yesterday I went for a walk on the beach and there were no weddings so I shot a video of The Ocean.
I hope it turns out OK.

Memorial Day

First it is nice to have AC.

Al came today and worked half a day even though it is a holiday. When he left he said if everything goes well Wednesday morning he would be here Wednesday afternoon. He would then return with a couple of extra hands to complete the work Saturday.

On Saturday following the rebuild we would do a sea trial and find out what the problem is. Where is the salt water coming from.

On Monday Gene, the insurance adjuster, will come and see what happened, in theory. He will look at the rusted parts. Then he will decide it is covered by insurance and we are off. On our way to Toronto.

This is what may happen, so we have our fingers crossed.

More Dolphin Pictures

This afternoon I walked around the Marina looking for Dolphin. I found one and took some pictures.

The thing in the water is a Dolphin moving at about 30 MPH to catch a fish

Dolphin striking the fish

Blog Views

As of this afternoon the blog has had over 20,000 views. It is amazing were the viewers come from. This week we have 1 viewer from The United Kingdom, Poland, Australia and China. While most of our viewers come from Canada no the U.S. We have had 6 from India just this week.

All time Russia, France and Germany are numbers 3, 4 and 5. Canada is number 1 and The U.S. Is second in number of viewers.

,,

On my walk tonight

I went for a walk along the beach and you never know what you are going to find.

The Soap Opera continues

This morning Al came and put part of the head back on. He is coming Monday to do half a days work. It is a holiday so he is being very generous.

Before he worked on the motor he put the new AC pump in and we turned they AC on. The AC worked great and we are now cool. The problem is there was no leak. We do not know where the salt water is coming from. Al now has to rebuild the engine and the we will do a sea trial and in theory find the water source.

This will not be done by Tuesday. The insurance adjusters can only look at the boat Tuesday or after June 1st. This means we are here until June.

We are all trying to be patient, but it is hard.

More to come

May 22 the start of Memorial Day Weekend and more trouble

Last evening we found out we could go to St Petersburg and get the parts today. We set out at 7:20 and arrived at Al's about 3:00 with the parts. When we got there Al was on the phone to Gene the insurance adjuster. He was explaining how if he could not see where the water was coming from on Tuesday his next availability was June 1. Al cannot get the motor put together by Tuesday, so if the water source is not the raw water pump for the AC, we are here until at least June 1. If the source is the AC plumbing Al cannot finish the work until at least Wednesday of Thursday next week.

We are all hopping it is coming from the AC plumbing.

Mean while we are suffering with the heat. our northern friends just say they would all rather be here and we should be grateful. on the way back from St Petersburg Trish took a picture of the dashboard.

We are finally getting there I think

First we went to a very nice restaurant today for lunch. The lunch was good but our definition of nice was one with air conditioning. It is so hot Kelly is wearing shorts with out a jacket.

Now for the good news. Al called about 4:30 or so to say the parts were ready and I could pick them up tomorrow. We will drive to St. Petersburg tomorrow and deliver the parts to Al.


More to come


Bill Trish and Kelly

Wednesday May 20, The start of week 3

Having been told by Mastery they could get the Machining done in a couple of days, then they would have everything back to Al by the beginning of the week, I phoned. Yesterday afternoon I was told by Doug who I thought was taking care of us that he had been too busy to check. He would check and phone me right back. Two hours later I asked him to email me. The email stated he hoped the parts would be ready to leave Thursday.

I phone this morning to say if the parts would be ready Thursday might they be ready tonight. I could drive over and pick them up and deliver them to Al. No once we get them back we have work to do and I do not know if the parts we had to order are in. The frustration level keeps building.

I then heard from Al who said he had phone Mastry and was ready to go as soon as they were. He said he would call me back this afternoon when he hoped to know more. This eased the frustration level significantly.

We wait!

Last night we had Sundowners with three boats on their way through. First, Adirondack, a Monk 36. Jeff and Sally were from Stillwater MN. Second, Ensenel, a Catalina 385. Glenn and Lois were from Waterford CT.  Finally we sat on Maple Sugar, a Gizzard 36. Dale and Sylvia were from Brantford.
They are all leaving to day trying to get north before the Hurricanes.

Adirondack, Maple Sugar and Ensenel

Trish at the Beach

Kelly did not want sand in her shoes so she got close to the Beach

The ICW just south of our Marina, at Bing's Landing

Monday and not time to start worrying yet

Last week we were told by Mastry Engines in St Petersburg they would have the part in Al's hands early this week. I think early is Tuesday. We will call Mastry tomorrow afternoon. Then we will either continue to wait knowing the parts are on their way or screem.

Mean while Kelly is taking it all in stride.

Sunday May 17 Maineland

I got to church yesterday with the car. That was a good thing. Trish and I are still waiting to leave but are a little calmer now. We have no idea when we will head north, hopefully next weekend.

As we were sitting in the cockpit trying to stay cool, Kelly saw Dalphins in our bay. These are the best pictures I could get.

Friday May 15 nothing new

Today we went to St. Augustine, bought a new pair of shoes, had lunch, found a church and came home. Both Trish and I are feeling better and hoping to have Al finishing the boat Thursday or Friday. Then we will search for the cause. If we can find it and fix it we may be able to leave Saturday or Sunday.

For now this is a dream, but we all need our dreams.

A better day

First before I discuss the motor the heat is killing us. It is about 90 f but feels like 200. Not quite boiling. The sun is out and the days are beautiful if you are in an airconditioned car.

Last night I talked to the insurance man at Robertson and Robertson who agreed if the problem came from a broken hose it may be covered. He said do not touch the motor. I mentioned that part of the motor is in St Petersburg part in Daytona and part on the boat. He was giving me a hard time until I said we were trying to get north. Before we got hit by a hurricane. His attitude change and he suggested I take pictures"

We had stayed in Clearwater last night so an easy trip to St Petersburg for pictures. Then on to Al's.  When we got there with a peace offering in the form of a bottle of rum we saw Al. There is no problem with Al. He was happy to see us and anxious lot visit his Dad in New York. We still have to wait but feel much better. I hope this is readable for I am currently on my second martini.

We are feeling better and so should you.


Love you alle

May 13 started out really bad and ended up pretty good

This morning we started our search for a new mechanic. By 10:00 after a couple of phone calls by helpers we had our mechanic back and the parts in our rental car headed for St Petersburg.

We got there and talked to Doug Dykens who works for Yanmar's distributor in Florida. He said that he could get the job done but we would almost certainly be best off with a new turbo. Doug then said that if the source of the water could be found and it was not mechanical it may be covered by insurance.

I then talked to the claims gentleman at or insurance broker who said it could be covered but we would have to know where the water was coming from.

We have stayed in Clearwater and will go back to Mastry Engine Center to take some pictures tomorrow. After that we will go back to the boat. We have two dogs with us and that is one too many for Red Roof Inns. We have stayed at a Holiday Inn where the cost of the dogs is twice the price of the room at Red Roof. Also we reLized we could not eat lunch in a restaurant with the dogs. Just too many problems created by Bella and Lexie to enjoy a road trip.

Not a good day so far, but things may change

So I waited until 1:30 to phone Al and left a message. All I said was we were wondering how things were going. Al called me back and seemed mad at me. I do not know what I did or said, but he seemed to be mad at me. He said nothing had happened he had only had the parts for 24 hours. He would take it to his favorite shop and it would be 2 or 3 weeks.

I asked him if there was any way he could ask for a favour as he had told me he would. His reply was no he was not going to ask anyone for favour he had asked for too many already this spring. Then he said I was welcome to call anyone I knew. 

I phoned Jim France and talked to Leisa his assistance. After I explained how desperate I was and my tenuous connection, she said she would make some phone calls. Fortunately while never having met Pat Purcel she knew the name. After about 10 minutes she got back to me and said they had no machining capacity at the track. The head of the garage said he would send any of his work to Palm Beach.

I then heard from Doug Dykens the Yanmar Distrbutor for Florida. He knew Al and said they could do it in St Petersburg in a day or two. I told him that I had offered to take the parts for Al, but Al was not recievtive to this idea. He said he would call Al and see what he could arrange. It is 4:30 and I have not heard back. 

We have heard back from Al who has talked to Doug. I will not say any more other then we are picking up the parts tomorrow from Al and taking them to Doug. There will be more but for now this is all. Trish and I are upset but are dealing with it.

May 11, 2015 George has arrived

Today we got a call from AL saying the George would be here in 20 minutes and he would follow in 2 hours. George showed up took the engine apart and left with the headband a bunch of other stuff.

Now the head cargo to a machine shop and have the rust removed. Finally we did get some good news. Only one cylinder has salt and rust in it. George said he did not think it would be a problem. The cylinders could be cleaned where they were.

The next step is Al will look at the head and other parts and decide what has to be done. We do not know when this will happen. Just to get the head off while actually only taking about 4 hours of work took a week of time. We arrived here last Tuesday expecting to see Al that afternoon. We are trying to be patient.

Here are some pictures of the cylinders.


Cylinder #1

Cylinder #2

Cylinder #4

Sunday May 10 Marineland Marina

Another quiet day. There was a little farmers market at the marina today. Trish got some pasta, dressing, shrimp and smoked salmon. Marge then gave her a ride to the Public.

Herb was the gentleman that towed us to the pump out yesterday. He and his wife Marge came on board yesterday evening for a drink. They live in St Simons Island and bring their trawler down here for the winter. They then commute between their two houses all winter.

I did get a couple of pictures which I will now share.

Kelly resting in the shade.

Tiny crabs on a beach on the ICW.

A Gekko showing his colours.

The Dolphin came into the marina, but this is the best I could do.

Saturday May 9th

The big excitement today was getting taken to the pump out station by Herb one of our neighboring boats. He pulled us over with his inflatable. We did fine with a little help from our bow thruster which still works.

Perhaps we should come home sideways with the thruster.

It is a beautiful day and Herb and his wife are coming for drinks at 5:00.

The best I can do is a picture of the pump out station.

PS No word from Al!

I have some how hurt the engine

Somehow water is spraying up and getting into the engine through the turbo charger.

Last November we came into Marineland to fix our AC pump. it was not working even though it was only a year old. While replacing it Al found a little rust on the engine and salt deposits on the air intake. We thought the water was coming from the drip less stuffing box when I suddenly referred while going aground. At Al suggestion I put a skirt made of a door mat between the stuffing box and the engine. As of January there was no rust so I thought it was working.

Then the alarm went off and we checked the filters. There was no water so we kept going. It seems the water was coming in the air-intake. On Tuesday I checked the wires on the engine only to find that it was rusted much worst then last year. Al has taken the turbo off plus some other parts and decided the block has to come off and be sent to a machine shop. Exactly what the machine shop will do I do not know.

We are frustrated and upset, but there is nothing we can do but wait. Al has gone now to do some other repairs and has promised to be back today. I am hopping he makes it back tomorrow, for I do not think he will make it back this evening.

The motor

Another Dolphin picture from last November

As I have said last November we stopped at Mainland Marina and visited Marineland. They took a lot of pictures and put them on a CD. We have only just had the ability to retrieve them.
here is one of the good ones. I am making the Dolphin jump by putting my hand up.

May 7, 2015 Still at Marineland

We are still at Marineland. Al came last night took a look and said it was bad may be real bad. Salt water has gotten into the Turbo and may have gone further into the engine. He will be back tomorrow.

I came up with the idea that the salt water may be coming from the AC pump piping. I took the bed apart so as I could see and then turned on the AC. The new pump that Al installed last November would not work. It is frozen again. This is three pumps in about 15 or 16 months of boating.

I sent the pump information to AL who will get a new pump, but for now cannot test the water leak theory.

This morning we went for a walk on the beach. Both Trish's and Kelly's bad ankles seemed to be OK.

Trish Kelly and I feeding the Dolphin last November. I was unable to retrieve the pictures until now.

Wild life every where

After we got to Marine land
Marina I went for a walk. This is what I saw.

ICW homes

All along the ICW there are homes. Some relatively small, some big and some really big. They almost all have fly netting. You get so use to it eventually you do not consider it unattractive.

I have not been doing my job

FSorry

We have had some problems as usual. On Wednesday our water in the fuel alarm went off. At Loggerhead I checked the Racor filter, no water or at least very little. Thursday we went on to Fort Pierce with a delay. We stopped in Stuart for 2.5 hours trying to get someone to look at our problem. Finally Shearwater Marine said they would help a stranded transient in 2 or 3 weeks.

We headed north. In Fort Pierce I checked the secondary filter, no water. On Friday we left late to go under the Fort Pierce Bridge with low water. With a late start we only went to Vero Beach arriving in time to catch the free bus to the shopping. I went to West Marine to get a new life ring lost in Black Point and Trish and Kelly went to Publix to grocery shop. We caught the next bus and where back on the boat by 5:00.
The next day was perfect so we did a long trip to Titusville skipping The Eau Gallie Yacht Club. We anchored out in Titusville and gat off early Sunday. About 10 or 11 miles out the engine stopped. I had checked the diesel before we left and the gage showed about a third of a tank, but we stopped.
I had gotten Boattow US insurance so a very nice man maned Tim came and towed us to Sea Love Marina just South of Daytona.
Nic got on the boat Monday morning and checked for water in the fuel. He found nothing. Why had we stopped, simple we were out og dieesel, the gage was wrong. We left Sea Love thing that everything might be fine. An hour out on our way to Daytona the alarm started again.
When we go to Loggerhead Daytona we called Al of Al' Mobile Marine. He may install a new instructment panel if he feels it necessary.

It is 11:30 Tuesday May 5th and we are headed for Marineland Marina. By the end of the day even with our problems we will have covered about 300 miles. Not knotical miles but statue miles.

TowBoatUS

Loggerhead Marina at Daytona

This is where we waited for the tow

Vero Beach May 1, 2015

As I have said we slowed the boat down and got rid of the noise. We also have slowed down. This morning we got up slowly then did not move. We pushed off the dock at 11:30. This got us under the three bridges without any problem. We are getting much better at watching and using the tides.

We arrived at Vero Beach hooked on to a mooring ball and headed in to shop. by 4:30 we were on the boat having shopped at West Marine, Public and the liquor store. We also took a tour of the beach.

As we were getting on the boat a dolphin appeared.

Vero Beach May 1, 2015

Irish Mist anchored at Vero Beach

We were met by a Dalphin

The Donald Ross Bridge

This is typical of the bascule bridges we wait for the when open go through.

On the way we have seen no dalphins or manatee or sharks , but did see these birds. At first we thought they where Eagles, but decided they where too small.

The fuel alarm

On Wednesday we were motoring along when suddenly the fuel alarm sounded. I slowed down checked the engine oil pressure and tempature. All OK. The engine was running well so we headed for our stop at Loggerhead. I checked the Racor filter and found about 10 drops of water. I did not believe we had a water problem.

Thursday we headed for Vero Beach. The alarm started all over again, so we phoned Hinkley in Stuart. The gentleman said he would see what he could do. He understood we were in transit and needed help. I phoned back to see how he was doing. The reply was his machanic was busy he could not talk to him today. At this time as we waited the key alarm went off. The only way to turn it off was to turn the battery off. I phoned Yanmar in Georgia who agreed with me that with so little water in the Racor and a second alarm it was more likely an electrical problem. They gave me a number for their Florida Devission. They gave me the number for their Fort Pierce dealer. The Fort Pierce dealer he may be able to look at it May 13 or 14.

It was at this point I remembered Al's Mobile Marine. He had helped us with a pump problem in November at Marineland Marina. I talked to him and we agreed to meet when I got the boat closer to Daytona.

We stayed in Stuart about 2 hours. This meant we would be going under The Fort Pierce Bridge too close to high tide we decided to stay at The Fort Pierce City Marina South of the bridge.

Today we are headed for Vero Beach. I am doing about 2200 rpm with no alarm. If I speed up it starts to beep.

Fort Pierce City Marina.

Star IV

Owned by John and Hanne Welsh they are good friends of Chris Rich.