New Engine Second Sea Trial -- Sept 16 - 22

Saturday, September 16

If our first sea trial with the new engine had been successful, we would be planning to leave New Bedford and start heading west toward New York City and up the Hudson River.   But since the sea trial was NOT successful we are staying in New Bedford and we extended the car rental for three more days.

During Thursday's sea trial our house batteries had a very low charge and we didn't know why.  We kept seeing a "Low Voltage" warning on the chart plotter.  Jeff worked on that problem this morning and  found a blown fuse in the house battery charger.  We drove to a nearby West Marine and got a fuse and some spares.  Of course, when in West Marine you look at other things and so we bought a few other things.

On Friday, Bill, our mechanic, told us about Holiday Bakery in New Bedford, and the Portuguese sweet bread. We went to that bakery and bought the sweet bread and Jeff got a few other pastries.  It was a very busy bakery.

Bakery wall full of Portugese Sweet Breads

Sunday, September 17

Sunday we did a bit of a tourist thing walking around New Bedford. We went to the New Bedford Whaling National Park which covers 13 city blocks and historical buildings. and the Whaling Museum. It was interesting to learn about Fredrick Douglas.  He was born as a slave in Maryland and became a freed man and lived in New Bedford. He was an excellent orator and abolitionist.

There was a display of a whale skeleton at the Whaling Museum.  Oil has been dripping from the skull since 2006.  They expect it to continue dripping until 2025!

New Bedford Whaling Museum

Bill also told us about a local Portuguese restaurant, Antonio's.  We had supper there on Sunday night.  Looking at the menu we really didn't know what we were ordering.  Jeff chose fish with rice and french fries.  Barbie ordered one of the specials: roasted pork tenderloin.  It came with rice (seasoned and with one or two peas and corn kernels and one black olive with the pit still in it) and little potatoes that were covered with a red rub and broccoli as her vegetable choice. The meat was a little spicy but very good and tender. The potatoes were delicious.

Monday, September 18

Before the mechanic could re-assemble our engine, they had to order some gaskets.  Today we waited for their arrival via UPS.   We were still wondering if our engine was completely ruined because of the salt water in the piston chambers.

While we waited, Jeff put a new cleat on the stern rail for holding the dinghy more securely than it had been.   Problem was, we needed a hole in our canvas cockpit screens.  Jeff found a canvas shop fairly close by.   We took the items to them and although they didn't promise such fast repair, we were notified later the same day that it was ready!

About 1:00 PM we contacted Brad at Niemiec about re-assembling the engine.  The gaskets had arrived and he sent the mechanic to work on that.  He moved the pistons by hand and they were moving freely -- that was a good sign that the engine was not ruined.   We then were directed to start the engine .  Once the starter motor started turning, the engine did not start right away.  As it turned over several times, a cloud  of smoke was coming out the exhaust.  This was a very dramatic moment as we waited for it to start.  It FINALLY STARTED!  That was such a relief, Barbie had tears of joy. WE HAVE AN ENGINE!  It was too late in the day to take a trial run, so that will happen tomorrow, if the weather cooperates.

Jose, a hurricane, is coming up the cost and expected to start giving us rain and wind.  However, we are very protected in our slip and north of the bridge.  To really test the engine we will need to go past the bridge and the hurricane barrier.  We're very hopeful of taking that trip tomorrow.   We had repaired the engine from the towing incident of flooding the pistons with sea water -- but we still had not done anything to diagnose or correct the problem of this new engine overheating.

Tuesday, September 19

We were ready to go on a trial by 8:00 a.m. and waited for the mechanics.  At 9:00 Jeff called Brad Niemiec.  Jeff discussed  a possible cause of the overheating that happened last Thursday on our first sea trial.  There is a cabin heater and a galley hot water heater plumbed into the engine coolant line.   Jeff suggested that these lines be capped off at the engine so they could be eliminated as a possibility of leaking coolant or having an air pocket -- either case could lead to our overheating.   Brad agreed that this would be a wise plan  and he sent down two of his mechanics --  Dave (the senior mechanic) and Brian (who had done the new engine install into Aisling).

Engine coolant lines to external heaters are removed

After a lunch break and 45 minutes before the next bridge opening, we left the dock at 12:30 PM. Brad, Dave, Jeff, Barbie, Hans and Greta were aboard for the second sea trial.   First we went to the protected waters north of the bridge with Brad at the helm.   He opened it up to FULL THROTTLE briefly and all was well.   At 1:15 we passed through the bridge opening and proceeded on through the hurricane barrier.  Because of the approaching tropical storm, Jose, Brad had called the Corp of Engineers earlier to be sure the gate would be open.

Underway for sea trial 

Underway, Dave diagnoses the engine

Now the sea trial was really underway.  While Brad steered among the somewhat rough seas being kicked up by Jose, Dave used a digital infrared thermometer to check for open thermostat and any clues to possible overheating.

After about 45 minutes of high-RPM testing, we were back at the New Bedford hurricane barrier and we did a few figure eights just for extra testing.   The Engine had  PASSED this second sea trial without any overheating.    Engine temperatures never exceeded the expected 212 degrees.

Under-sized sea water inlet and hose

Although the overheating issue seemed to be solved, Brad brought up a point that we should be concerned about.  The Ranger factory had installed an under-sized sea cock to provide raw cooling water to the engine.    We discussed  our options and decided to replace that sea cock as soon as the work could be scheduled.   This would involve a haul-out onto land for the work to be done. We are hopeful this work will be done Friday if the weather cooperates. We are expecting 20 - 30 MPH winds with rain and wind gusts of 40+ MPH.  Hopefully, Jose will not stay around to long and we can be hauled on Friday.

Wednesday, September 20 and Thursday, September 21

Because tropical storm Jose is positioned off  the New England cost we have spent the days rocking and rolling in our slip.  We decided we should take the bimini completely off.  One of the seams on the top was looking like it might tear. We took the top to the canvas shop that we had used before. They said they would be able to get it fixed by Friday.

Jose winds buffet Aisling - double dock lines with chafe gear

The winds on Thursday have been steady at 15 - 20 MPH and gusts as high as 42 MPH.  The harbor we are in has waves with white caps.  We are in our slip which is closest to land and we just rock and roll and hear the wind.  I am amazed that I am not experiencing sea sickness.  When we were on our sailboat, Cynosure, 28 years ago I experienced sea sickness often.

Friday, September 22

The wind is still blowing, there are still white caps and Aisling will NOT be hauled out and worked on today.  We will be waiting until Monday for the sea-cock upgrade.

New Engine First Sea Trial - Sept 12 - Sept 15

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017

On Tuesday morning, September 12 we went to Enterprise Car Rental in Towson and picked up a minivan.  Barbie filled the car full of fuel.   Then she stopped at our son Eric's where he and Tina got the seats to fold down.  We spent the rest of the morning packing things we had taken off Aisling and packing more warm clothes for what we think will be cooler weather.  We were full! We were ready to leave around 1:00.  We wanted to get through the New York City area before 4:00.  We ate lunch in the car and only stopped once.  We made it though the congestion of the New York area by 3:30.  The van was very comfortable.

Mini-van packed with cruising gear

Hans and Greta are comfortable travelers

We had reservations for a motel near Providence, Rhode Island.  Jeff realized it was near an Ale House Pub.  After checking into the motel we went to the pub which was right next to the motel.  We enjoyed a dinner of fish and chips and portabella mushroom sandwich and a chocolate brownie with ice cream that we shared.

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017

The next morning we had the continental breakfast (one small waffle) and were on our way.  Even with rush hour traffic we arrived at Niemiec Marine center by 9:30.  We finally met Brad Niemiec, and other Niemiec employees, whom we had only talked to by phone or electronic means.  They are very nice.  Brad told us of the work they had done in getting Aisling ready for the new engine.

Niemiec marine where our boat was repaired

We went with Brad on a short 20 min. sea trail and everything went well.  We knew we needed to break-in the engine in and Brad talked to us about how to go about doing that.  We spent the rest of the day unloading the minivan, getting the dinghy blown up and installed on the swim platform on Aisling, trying to find a place for everything and everything in its place.  Jeff was very excited to get going, but Barbie knew we needed to get the minivan unloaded so that it could be returned to Enterprise by 10:00 the next morning.  We were exhausted but got most things done, fed the puppies their evening meal, and went grocery shopping.  We found a Giant (called Stop and Shop up here) and it was nice to have the familiarity of the store.

Unpacking all our gear to stow aboard

 We got back to Aisling, stowed everything and left by 8:00 to go to the Moby Dick Brewing Company.  Jeff said that the beers there were OUTSTANDING.  The food was also OUTSTANDING!  Jeff had a plate of mussels and a bowl of clam chowder (after all this is sea coast country).  Barbie had a haddock sandwhich that was THE BEST fried fish she had ever had.  We finished it off with a peach cobbler that we shared.

The Moby Dick Brewery

We enjoyed sleeping on the boat, with the motion of the boat in water.  We are about 20 feet from a major road that connects the island the marina is on with the mainland.  There is a swing bridge that opens once an hour, but during the night only on demand. Both of us heard it open occasionally but it did not bother our sleeping.

Thursday, Sept 14, 2017

Thursday morning we had a good breakfast, did the dishes and a few other chores.  We then tried to take the minivan back to Enterprise.  The Enterprise office for our return was on the SeaLink ferry peer.  We spent at least a half an hour trying to find them.  We finally went to a different Enterprise a little further away.  The Ferry office is only open during the peak tourist season.  We got a ride back to Aisling and got ready to take our lines off and start our first trip with the new engine.

After passing through the swing bridge

Following a commercial fishing boat toward the Hurricane Barrier

We made the 1:15 bridge opening and were on our way to Cuttyhunk Island.  Barbie found waiting for the bridge to open a bit unnerving as there were two HUGE commercial fishing vessels also waiting near us.  We all made it through the opening.

New Bedford Hurricane Barrier protecting the harbor

We are on our way to the New Bedford Hurricane Barrier. This is like a dam with a gated opening that is designed to protect the city from storm surges.  Since we had  just followed Hurricane Irma in the past few days, we appreciated that barrier.

We followed Brad's instructions as to how many RPMs to run the engine and for how long before changing speed.  We were running the engine at 3000 RPM. The temperature got to 212 °F but that was expected since these engines are designed to run fairly hot.  After a half hour we increased the RPMs to 3200.  However, a few minutes later the engine alarm sounded that our new engine had OVERHEATED!  We SLOWLY reduced throttle, and the temperature decreased.   Jeff called (on the cell phone) TowBoatUS of New Bedford to come and tow us back to the marina.    He also called Niemiec Marine and they said they'd reserve a mechanic to look at Aisling first thing the next morning.

With the engine idling in neutral, we were rocking and rolling in the 1 1/2 foot waves.  The current was about 2 knots or so.  The rolling motion was NOT comfortable.  So we could steer into the ways to be more comfortable,  we used forward gear at idle speed.  The dogs, Hans and Greta, were very comfortable and not alarmed at all through all of this!  Even when the tow boat arrived they didn't show any signs of  concern.

When the towboat arrived we stopped the engine, Jeff went to the bow in the rocking seas and attached the tow bridle to the bow cleats.  It was about a 7 mile tow.  However, back in the harbor we had to wait half an hour for the next bridge opening.  We got to our slip and tied up.  We are glad that we paid for unlimited towing insurance!

Under tow approaching New Bedford

Another boater with a boat on our pier, Chuck, helped us tie up and invited us onto their boat, Sandpiper, for "docktails".  They are from Rock Hall, MD and Sandpiper is a large motor yacht. We enjoyed talking with them, eating snacks and wine that Chuck had made.  It was excellent wine. He not only made the wine he had also planted the grapes, tended them and then finally made the wine! Before we left, they gave us a tour of their beautiful boat - very impressive with three bedrooms with real beds, two heads, and a large refrigerator/freezer.

Aisling's slip at Niemiec Marine

Friday, Sept. 15, 2017

By 8:00 am Dave, the mechanic was on Aisling and looking at the engine. We gave him a rundown of our trip and experience with RPMs etc. He did some tests. The coolant was low and had leaked into the bildge - WHY?   He then had Jeff try to start the engine and there was a CLUNK but the engine did not turn over -- absolutely NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH!  He had Jeff try again and the same thing!  He then went to the office and returned with Brad.  Brad said he feared that the engine was water-locked, that is, there was water in the piston chambers.   This could happen during towing if the captain did not close the sea cock.  Jeff had not known to do that. Brad said that the water can sometimes enter the exhaust and flood the muffler and end up flooding the piston chambers. Closing the engine raw-water sea cock when towing helps to prevent this.

Another Niemiec mechanic, Bill, was assigned to work on our engine, removing the intake air manifold, then pulling the glow plugs.

Opening up the engine

Next he used his hand to move the crankshaft so the pistons would move.  If he could NOT move the pistons our engine would only be good as a boat anchor! HE WAS ABLE TO TURN THE PISTONS! YOO HOO!  WE STILL HAVE AN ENGINE!

As he moved the crankshaft the water spurted out of the glow plug holes.  

Removing the sea water from the piston cylinders

After removing the water, the engine oil was drained and replaced with new oil.  New gaskets for the manifold were ordered which hopefully will arrive on Monday.  Once those get put on the engine the engine will be run, then change the oil, the run again and change the oil.  Then we need to find out WHY it overheated.

Oh, and just to keep our live exciting, we now have the possibility of Jose, a hurricane/tropical storm, approaching New Bedford and giving us rain, high waves and making it so we stay put for a few more days!

So lately as we have been spending a lot of money on the boat, we have a new name for $1,000.  That new name is one boat unit.   It seems lots of boat units have been spent lately.   In talking with Bill, our boat mechanic, he reminded us of the acronym for B. O. A. T -- it stands for:

Break Out Another Thousand 

Engine disaster -- July 7 to Sept. 8

When we last wrote about our adventure, we had returned on June 29 to Tidewater Yacht Service in Baltimore with a very serious engine problem.    We had moved some of our gear back home where we would wait out the repair.    Anyway, once the mechanic begin working on the boat, we could  not be living on the boat since the engine space would need to be accessible.

We were very hopeful that work would start as soon as possible but the 4th of July holiday added to the delay.

On Friday July 7 we got word from Tidewater that they had been researching our problem with the help of the Yanmar distributor and they were planning to test the oil cooler first which is not very difficult or time consuming.   If that tested OK, then they would have to address the possibility of a blown head gasket.   That would involve removing the engine from its mounts and lifting it up and out of the boat to gain access to the components that were involved.   That was a possibility we dreaded to even think about.

On Thursday July 13 the mechanic finally began working to remove our oil heat exchanger and oil filter assembly -- they are mounted together on the engine.   In the shop he built a test apparatus which pressurized the coolant side with soapy water to 35 PSI.   The oil filter had been removed and the oil filter assembly was empty.   However, a fine stream of soapy water was entering the oil filter through some cracks or defects that SHOULD NOT BE.  Replacement parts were ordered and we paid extra to have them delivered by next day.

Testing the oil cooler assembly

On Wednesday, July 19 the new parts were ready to be installed.   This went well and by the end of the day the motor had been run at the dock and the coolant filled including the in-cabin heater and domestic water heater which are extensions of the engine cooling system but are located remotely.   I cleaned the coolant recovery tank and left it completely empty -- the engine coolant is supposed to expand into the recovery tank as it warms.

On Thursday July 20 I was getting ready for a sea trial.  It was oppressively hot and forecast to be around 100.   Barbie joined me for the sea trial.    We had a nice trip, running the engine at high cruising  3000 RPM toward the Key Bridge and then turning toward the inner harbor and running slowly because they have a 6 MPH speed limit in the harbor.

It was a very enjoyable cruise.  However, when we arrived back at the dock we saw some problems:  The coolant overflow tank had overflowed and there was engine oil in the coolant.   Filling the coolant next morning, I added about a quart.  We were very concerned and discussed the situation with Tidewater.

On Wednesday July 26 we took another sea trial with just Jeff and Barbie.   This lasted only 9 minutes operating first five minutes at  2400 RPM and then 4 minutes at 3000 RPM.    Jeff opened the hatch to observe the coolant recovery tank.  It was full and spurting coolant through the tiny vent hole in the cap.

Coolant being forced to overflow reservoir

On Thursday we discussed the situation with TYSC. They said that a leaking head gasket would explain the current situation.    We returned to the boat and unloaded all of the perishables such as beer, coffee, dog food and any food it the refrigerator and the freezer.   Now we are prepared to have the engine worked on with major repair.  They will probably have to remove the engine because there is little room to access it while in the cramped engine room.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017
We received a message from Tidewater and it was bad news.  They had removed the engine and placed it in the shop. They disassembled the engine head and inspected the head gasket and cylinder walls. I arrived at Tidewater the next day to survey the damage.

The head gasket was OK, but the piston cylinder walls had unusual wear.   Most  importantly, there was a 2 inch long thin crack in cylinder 3.   Our mechanic said we would need to find a "long block" which is a new engine block and head assembly.

Tidewater contacted the US East Coast Yanmar distributor, Mack Boring Parts Company, and found that our engine is not made any more and no replacement blocks are available. On my own, I started to check for the parts we would need for repairs. I contacted Mack Boring on my own, plus I contacted engine service companies in Annapolis and New Bedford, MA.    There was a positive response from Niemiec Marine in New Bedford.   Although they were not available in the US, Niemiec could obtain a new engine for us from Canada.   We received a detailed quote for new engine and the labor to install it.  The price was reasonable as far as could be expected, but very expensive none-the-less.  We had few choices: different engine (wouldn't fit the space), no engine (useless boat), sell this boat as-is (who would want it?) -- We decided to go with Niemiec which is an ideal shop for engine replacements since they do this type of work very often.

Friday, August 11, 2017

We went to our credit union and withdrew the deposit money.  This was sent to Niemiec by UPS messenger envelope. This covered the cost of the engine but not the labor to install it.

We researched transportation for getting Aisling to New Bedford. It would require a hydraulic trailer which can load a boat while it is blocked and supported by stands.  We went with a company recommended by Niemiec.  They would be able to pick up the following week and deliver next day.
They would need to transport our old engine as well.  That old engine would be needed for the boat-specific parts to successfully install the new engine.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

We started preparing Aisling for the truck transport.   First we removed the dinghy from the stern and brought it home where we folded it up and stored it.

Ready for transport by truck

I took off the Bimini top and took it home to fold it.   It is back onboard and stored in the v-berth. The bimini frame is folded and taped together to keep it from shifting in transport.  The anchor on bow is lashed firmly on the deck.   Also the anchor on the stern is lashed firmly and the chain lashed into its small basket on the swim platform.

Tidewater started to prepare the old engine on a pallet with the associated parts in boxes or securely shrink-wrapped in plastic bundled with the engine.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Our transport company picked up Aisling on Wednesday and delivered her to Niemiec the following day.  Meanwhile our new engine was being shipped by truck from the west coast of Canada.  We expected it to arrive by Friday, August 25 but  it was delayed and arrived Thursday August 31.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Niemiec Marine had already removed the transmission from the old engine and refurbished it by removing surface corrosion and with new paint.  They began working on the engine for installation in the boat.

Friday, September 8, 2017

Today we received the news that the work is almost complete with just a few details to work out.   Next week we are preparing to rent a car one-way from Baltimore to New Bedford.  We will take the items we removed from the boat, plus our dogs Hans and Greta.   When we get there we will take Aisling for a Sea Trial.  If that goes well, we will start living on the boat while docked at Niemiec Marine.   After a few days of that, we should be starting out on our journey.