Amy Marie Visits: The Day the Diesel Died...
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...