Friday, May 13, 2005

Journal Entry – May 13, 2005 Pacific Puddle Jump Day 9 – Friday the 13th Strikes Tournesol

Author: Scott

“Houston I think we have a problem…”! For those of you who remember those chilling words uttered across space and most televisions during the flight of Apollo 13, then you will understand why that phrase has been appropriately stuck in my head today.

If you recall we have just recently had a minor mechanical incident that seemed to have a quick and painless resolution. Well, as is often the case curing one symptom does not necessarily eradicate or treat the disease. In this case we were about to learn that Tournesol’s engine would challenge us again and that the Friday the 13th gremlins were out in mischievous full force.

I woke up anxious to double check the engine after the prior night’s adjustments. An overheated engine is always a big concern not only because it questions the future use of the engine during a passage, but because use of our engine guarantees that we can produce any energy our solar panels may fall short of producing. Immediately following the morning net check in I set out to check the engine. I ran the engine and to my frustration, the temperature gradually crawled up to 190 degrees, 10 degrees higher than the expected 180 degrees. I was beginning to have flashbacks to our overheating incident in Turtle Bay. Armed with Nigel Calder’s “Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual” Pam and I walked through all of the scenarios that can lead to engine overheating. We even removed and rebuilt our raw water pump (our problem in Turtle Bay) but we found it in perfect working order. We then read that a slipping belt can cause overheating if the fresh water circulating pump is not providing enough water flow to be cooled by the heat exchanger, so we checked the V belt again and it seemed a hair loose still and so we really tightened it down hard. I filled the header tank with a little more coolant, and we gave the engine another test. After running the engine for about a half an hour it seemed to stay below 185 degrees and we victoriously celebrated our mechanical success, thanks Nigel. However, being thorough, I later checked the level of our fluids and realized the header tank was dry as a bone and there was no fluid in the overflow reservoir. I poured some more coolant and water into the tank and to my surprise it flowed mysteriously right on out. This is when I started thinking about telling Houston that we might have a problem. Now I am no mechanic, but I knew that if we were not holding water in our header tank (very similar to a car’s radiator) then we either had a simple leak or a major problem. I knew it was time to get some assistance from our version of Houston and I got on the sat phone looking for mechanics who have worked on Tournesol. I called Tony in Nuevo Vallarta who just checked over the engine prior to this passage, and I could not reach him. I then called Berkeley Marine Center in California to find one of the two mechanics who know Tournesol. You do get the attention of the boat yard when you tell them you are on a sat phone and are having a problem and you are over 1,000 miles from land in the middle of the Pacific. One mechanic was off in the boat yard, but she gave me the cell number for Terry the other mechanic. I gave Terry a call and he remembered us right away and almost nonchalantly started to help us out, as if he gets called from the middle of the ocean all the time, no big deal. We discussed the symptoms and he gave me a few scenarios to check out and report back with the outcomes. I went back and faced the great mechanical beast. First, I closed the water intake through hull and filled the tank again, if there was no leak then my problem would most likely be in the engine and would not be a problem with the fresh water mixing with raw water in the heat exchanger. The water just drained right out again. Next, I poured more water in and traced the leak to the engine by finding water leaking into the bilge. I lay atop the engine with my arms encircling it as if I was giving the beast a big bear hug. I used my arms to reach around and feel for the leak. Very slowly I was able to follow the dripping water to the source of the leak. We had water leaking from one of the pulleys on the engine block. I called Terry back with my findings and he asked a few more questions and then had a diagnosis. We have a faulty fresh water circulation pump. This is a much less prevalent problem than a raw water pump and is much more challenging to fix. Now we have all kinds of spares aboard Tournesol , we even have exotic parts such as replacement gaskets and spare injectors, but of course we don’t have this particular part aboard. Even if we did have the part, it appears as though the bearings that turn the pump are also shot. Without a new pump and bearings we are out of luck and can not run our engine any further. The only work around is to pour water into the header tank as we run the engine, letting in flow into the bilge, but we could keep the engine cool in an emergency. We could also look at jury-rigging the engine to cool it with salt water, but this option sounds extreme and complex. I thanked Terry and hung up so Pam and I could consider our options.

Here is what we discussed; first, we are a sailboat after all and there are people who cruise around the world with no engine at all, and we do have solar panels to generate power for our vital systems, so for now we were fine. We talked about rerouting to Hawaii and even turning back and heading to Puerto Vallarta. We decided we should call back to our version of Houston again for advice, and this time it came in the form of Arnstein Mustad our sailing instructor, friend, and Jedi Master. “Hi Arnstein, its Scott and we are in the middle of the Pacific…” Arnstein listened to our situation and after careful thought, felt we should continue on to the Marquesas. Hawaii was about the same distance but we would be heading into Hurricane season in the north and there was currently a weather high blocking out path. Turning back to Mexico was an option, but by now we were near the halfway point and if we returned we could be becalmed when we leave the trade winds. Continuing to the South Pacific allows us to stay in the trades and Tahiti will eventually provide an array of boat services.

So, we have a broken fresh water pump, but we have a plan. We will continue to sail to the South Pacific and deal with the engine problem there. It is said that sailing around the world is really about fixing your boat in exotic ports and we are proving that this can be very true.

We want to reassure our family and readers of our journal that we are in no immediate danger whatsoever. You don’t leave for a passage like this without the confidence of succeeding with or without an engine. Our trip may take a little longer, but we are well provisioned. We are well equipped with communications gear if we need further advice or assistance. Finally, many before us have made this trip with no auxiliary engine and we are now simply in their category. Also, before thinking that Tournesol is a problem ridden dog, remember she is 27, still running well (usually) on her original engine, and this is a standard wear and tear issue (it just could have happened much more conveniently at almost any other time). Tournesol is also an excellent sailboat and one of the best built for sailing us the rest of the way to the South Pacific.

Now, we may sound like a bunch of crazy optimists out here, but I will admit we were disappointed when we realized we would have to frugally manage our power for the remainder of our trip to the South Pacific. Our refrigerator is one of our few luxuries aboard, and we are not going to have any more cold anything, now, this made us both sad!

We spent the rest of this freaky Friday the 13th a little frustrated, but we both have the determination to not let this bump in the road slow us down. If Apollo 13 can get home from outer space safely then stand back because Tournesol is on the loose in the Pacific and we are off to our next exotic port to have our boat fixed!

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