Mike and Beth's Adventures

Every boater dreads the day their trusty diesel quits singing its sweet tune.  We experienced this once before in a boat with twin diesels.  Much less drama as you can easily travel on a single engine.  Amy Marie is equipped with one diesel, any unexpected stoppage is cause for concern.  Especially when you are in the middle of a bay in Desolation Sound with eight hundred feet of water under the keel.  You can't just drop the anchor and begin troubleshooting.  You drift at the whim of the currents and wind. Once a diesel is running, only one thing will cause it to cease operation.  That is the lack of fuel.  Combustion occurs as the piston compresses air to a temperature sufficient to ignite the diesel fuel that is injected into the combustion chamber.  Our task was to discover why the engine was experiencing fuel starvation.  The most common reason is contaminated fuel which can cause fuel filters to become clogged and prevent fuel from...

Sea Water Pump with Failed Seals and Bearings December 1st, 2021 On our way to pickup a new antenna for our Icom handheld VHF, the seawater pump started complaining about doing its job.  This is an important piece of equipment as without it, the engine will overheat.  We needed to get after this right away.  We reduced speed and arranged for a slip back at the Wharf.  Here's what a new pump looks like We called Charlie’s Diesel, and they had a mechanic already in the area.  He verified the seawater pump was failing.  They got a pump, new belt and a new intake air filter on order.  It took 4 business days for the parts to arrive.  The day after they received the parts, one of their mechanics brought them by and had them installed in 2 hours.  Well worth it as the pump was in a difficult to reach location.  It was installation by Braille.  One downside to smaller boats is the reduced space makes maintenance tasks more challenging. T...