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