0900 Tuesday, July 5
The verdict is in. Tazzarin's engine is going to require a rebuild here in St. John's. The plan is to pull the engine from the boat today or tomorrow using a boom truck. It will be transported to a facility in the city where a rebuild will likely take about two weeks. It looks like needed parts are available in Ontario which makes getting them here easier and quicker. Once the rebuild is complete, the engine will be trucked back and hoisted aboard. Then Jesse, my mechanic, will do the reinstall and tuning and aligning. So, if I am lucky, it will take two weeks. If we run into any snags, it could go to three. Fingers crossed.
Apparently the engine was burning lubricating oil very quickly. The high pressure fuel pump probably cut fuel to the injectors on purpose to prevent more damage. Jesse did pressure testing on the cylinders and they are only between 75 and 100 pounds, well below what a diesel needs for proper ignition of the atomized fuel the injectors put into the cylinders.
I have removed solar panels and the dodger and frame to make way for the hoist of the engine. We may also have to disassemble part of the companionway steps to get the engine out. Thankfully, Sabre, the original builder of the boat, kept in mind that engines sometimes have to go in or out of a boat. So, it should not be to bad.
My next step is to look at my overall schedule and see what has to change in the summer plans. I certainly will not get as far north as I hoped. I will also then reach out to the rest of my summer crew to look at options for them. This venture was planned out in detail with car rentals, inns, dockage, flights, provisioning all on a calendar. Many of the pieces will shift. So, once the engine is ashore, I will shift into planning mode. I will update all of you on the new itinerary.
I feel a bit defeated and have greatly appreciated all the words of encouragement and engine solutions over the past few days. I have enjoyed sharing everything with you and hope you will stick with me as the plan shifts. I felt I did a lot to make this voyage work, filtered fuel and tank cleaning, sail work, additional anchors and chain, medical supplies for being out of touch with shore based facilities, liferaft inspection, jacklines, servicing inflatable life vests, Updates satellite communications, 150 nautical charts, spare parts for engine and other systems, the list goes on.
So, back to reworking the itinerary. I will keep the emails coming. Thank you all for being there!
Bill
