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Larry's LogI worked on the outboard the next day for most of the day. I took off the carburetor (for the umpteenth time) and found that the gasket I had made of thin neoprene had developed a tear, probably because it didn't like gasoline. I got out some "real" gasket material I had as a spare for the main engine and cut out a gasket from that. The original gasket seemed like it was supposed to seal the little fuel pump next to the carburetor. I thought though that it might also have to vibrate a bit since there was a small dish-shaped indentation on the carburetor next to one of the reed valves. That's why I had tried the thin neoprene rubber initially. Unfortunately, the other gasket material I had was pretty stiff but I had to try it. So I cut out another one, installed it and the engine finally started but again kept stalling. Diane suggested that I call Cliff from Koncerto, who we had met at bocce ball a while back. I had helped Anna, his wife, with a computer problem and she had offered Cliff's services to take a look at the problem also. I got very frustrated; although I thought I was on the right track, I said sure, give him a call. Maybe I could figure out what was happening and Cliff might have some of the proper (very thin) gasket material. Cliff came over with some other gasket material and a tube of high temperature silicone. The material he brought was much too thick but we looked at the carburetor and little pump together and he suggested taking the gasket from the other side of the pump and using that. When we looked at it, I had pointed out that it was the same material as the original one, and he said that the dish-like concavity must be there for a reason, probably because it needed to vibrate like a diaphragm as well as act as a gasket. So I carefully peeled the other side away from the outside cover and modified it for use on the inside edge. I then cut a piece of my gasket material for use on the outside cover. I reasoned that that side didn't need to vibrate and so it could be of the thicker material. We would see. I installed everything, cleaned the entire carburetor and spark plug just because it seemed like a good idea, and put everything back together and then put the engine back on the boat. By this time, it was late in the afternoon but I tried to start the engine. It wouldn't start but then I started to adjust the mixture screw and the idle. The engine would now start when I gave it some throttle so it seemed that now it just needed some adjustment. I fiddled with it, adjusting the mixture screw to 4 half turns back from in full, as the mechanic in Trinidad had told me and then adjusted the throttle cable so the engine was just at dead slow with the cable all the way out. I then adjusted the throttle stop to that point. Now, the engine started on the first pull and kept going. I tested it a bit it by running around the anchorage for 20 minutes and it seemed fine. Only time would tell now. That evening, Diane went in the water for an hour to clean the bottom a bit. I had done some the day before but since we hadn't done it in a while (since before going into the marina), the bottom was in sad shape. The prop, shaft and engine intake looked like an underwater garden and the rest of the bottom had some growth. I had done the through-hulls the day before but needed to use a metal scraper on the prop, shaft and engine intake strainer. The next day, we had planned to go into town to get some breakfast and to get dinghy gas. I had used the remainder in our jerry jug after filling the tank when Diane ran out of gas a few days earlier. So we had breakfast, (2 pain aux chocolat and a café au lait) and then walked the mile or so to the gas station. We then came back to the boat, had lunch and just relaxed the rest of the day. We had heard from Nirvana, one of the boats that rescued Destiny when she dragged in Anse Mitan last year. They were back in Martinique and we asked if they would like to come over for a drink. They had to go into Marin and weren't sure if they would be back in Ste. Anne that day or not. We had also gotten an invitation from Piano to come over. We told Jan and Ghislane that if we didn't hear from Nirvana, we would be glad to come over. We hadn't heard from them for a couple of days so we felt we probably would go over to Piano. And at 5, we called to say we would be there in a little bit. So, Monday night we went over and the dinghy behaved well. We had a wonderful evening with Piano and were surprised went we got there that it was Ghislane's birthday, so she had made an apricot tort that was really good. We also had champagne and snacks. They had found some Belgian beer, Leffe, which was really good. It was somewhat stronger, with 6 percent alcohol, but very smooth with a nice flavor. They were very glad to have found it and enjoyed it a lot, especially since they were from Belgium. We spent a few hours there and then went back to Destiny, wishing Ghislane a very happy birthday. They were going into the marina at Marin the next day to get some work done and we weren't sure we would see them too soon. The next day we went into town fairly early to get breakfast and water. We used the jerry jugs since I didn't want to use the watermaker too much - it used a lot of electricity. After we got back, I ran the engine since I needed to charge the batteries and monitored it very closely. It was the first time using the temporary jumper wire from the battery positive distribution post to the on/off tab of the voltage regulator. I had rigged this to bypass the ignition switch and was hoping that it would prevent the previous error condition. I ran the engine for a little over three hours and the error never showed up. Hopefully that will continue when I charge them again. Later that day we went in to shore to play bocce ball and enjoyed that. We came back around 5, showered and just relaxed the rest of the evening. I made a CD for Anna on Koncerto since we were going to try to upgrade her PC the next day. That used a fair amount of power but I also took the opportunity to back up some of my files on a CD. Tuesday morning we went in to town again to get breakfast and some water. We also tried calling Diane's Dad for his birthday but nobody was home. We also tried calling the Yamaha dealer but he wasn't in either. Not a good day for phone calls. After eating breakfast and making the wasted phone calls, we walked up to a shrine on a hill above Ste. Anne. The walk wasn't too bad and the view was really nice. We hadn't done that the first time we were in Ste. Anne since we didn't stay long enough. We also planned to take a much longer walk to Pt. Saline but that would have to wait. It was about 90 minutes to 2 hours one way. After trying to call my father-in-law again, we left a message wishing him a Happy Birthday and that we would try again tomorrow. We went over to the fish market to get the water, filled the jerry jugs (they seem to get heavier every time), and went back to the boat. After lunch, I called Koncerto and went over there to help Anna with her laptop and the upgrade. While there, Cliff and I talked about multihulls and how they perform, etc. Anna and Cliff's boat, Koncerto, was a Freebird 50 catamaran built in New Zealand, although they had bought it in the Canaries. The interior room was fantastic and finished very well. They had sailed it across the Atlantic and had been living on her for 28 months. They had originally cruised in a 36 foot boat that Cliff built while living in New Zealand. Then they decided to cruise the Caribbean and buy a bigger boat. Originally, they felt that they would just look at catamarans to say they had done it and then try to find a 48 foot pilot house ketch. Well, after looking at cruising cats, they never looked back and finally bought Koncerto. I was beginning to become a convert myself! After finishing the PC with Anna, I went back to Destiny in time for the planned dinner with Jacque and Jim from Lady J. Diane was making her pasta with Brie again - a very nice dish. We enjoyed the evening very much and they left late - almost 9! The next morning we went into town again and called Diane's father, this time getting through. Diane and her Dad had a nice conversation and then she spoke with her Mom. Sometimes you need to have closer contact than just email. We then called the Yamaha dealer and he said that our engine was still due next week. Sounds good! Back at the boat, we just did some miscellaneous chores and went to play bocce ball in the afternoon. The cruisers had decided to play on Tuesday and Thursday rather than Tuesday and Saturday because the beach was so crowded on the weekends. Playing bocce may not sound like much but it's a very nice social gathering and gets us together for a friendly game that's easy for anyone to play. Thursday night was very windy but good for generating power. When its windy like that, we tend to not sleep well but this time I slept fine. I guess I was fairly confident in the anchorage about not dragging and nobody dragging into us. The next morning we went in to get more water via jerry jug. Even though we had plenty of battery power, I didn't want to run the watermaker too much. When conditions are good, like enough wind and good sun, I don't have to run the engine very much, usually about every 3-4 days. But if I run the watermaker for any length of time, I must run the engine to charge the batteries since the wind generator and solar panels generally can't keep up with the electrical demand. That's true unless we have conditions like we had in the Tobago Cays, where the wind was a steady 15-20 knots and the sun was out more than not. During that period, we had so much power that I could run the watermaker and also watch videos. That doesn't happen too often though. We went over to Koncerto later in the day to let Diane see the boat and so I could help Anna with a residual PC problem. Anna also cut Diane's hair a little, although I thought it was fine. That afternoon, we went into a party on the beach, near a small rented cottage that another cruisers family had rented for a week. People brought in their own drinks and a snack to share. Some of the hors d'oeuvres were really good, particularly a feta cheese pie that someone had baked. We hardly ate dinner that night. Saturday we got some more water and then I started working on the vent in the forward head. I removed the dorade vent rim so I could check on the deck core and hopefully fix the leak that had been occurring periodically. I found the core fully exposed and so I removed about an inch so I could fill it in with epoxy. Fortunately, none of the core was wet so I didn't have to worry about any damage further into the deck. I dug out the epoxy supplies and fixed that, and while waiting for it to dry, I tightened the packing nut on the handle of the aft head toilet. It leaks a little almost constantly but gets worse sometimes, so I tighten it and it stops a little. It's been impossible to completely stop the leak. |