I was more than a little nervous as the main halyard and boom topping lift took on the full weight of the 34 year old diesel engine.  Slowly but surely we raised it from the hold, out through the companionway, and out over the water where a small fiberglass launch waited to ferry the beast to shore.  The heavy lifting over, Elvis began to break the engine down and determine just how much of an engine I had left to rebuild.  In short, the engine was done for and I just didn’t know it yet.

We caught the problem in time, but disassembly revealed that one of the four connecting rod bearings was shot.  Over time the bearing had worn away and the wearing metal was scoring the crankshaft deeper and deeper generating incredible amounts of heat.  Eventually the crankshaft, the large internal shaft that pushes the pistons up and down, would have broken into two pieces and the engine would have been beyond repair.  Elvis figured I had another ~ 100 hours before I found myself at the point of catastrophic failure.

In addition to the wearing crankshaft the pistons were well worn away.  All pistons showed signs of incredible heat and were scorched where they were rubbing on the cylinder walls.  Feeling inside the piston liners you could gauge how much of the liner had been worn away over the 34 years of use.  With some research I found a complete rebuild kit for the engine with original Perkins engine parts.  Tomorrow I’ll travel with Elvis to a machine shop where we’ll machine the crankshaft back to a mirror finish and bore the cylinder liners to the correct dimension for the new pistons.  When all is said and done I’ll have a newly rebuilt engine I can rely on.  It is good peace of mind for the Pacific.

This week will find me gathering quotes to replace the old cortan steel fuel tank as well.  The 90 gallon tank is rusting out from within and is the primary reason for the engine shutting down every time I go offshore.  The only real solution is to replace the rusting hulk, but that is no small task.  There is no access to the tank and my only option is to cut a 4 x 6 foot hole in the cabin sole to make access.  Once removed I’ll have a replacement tank fabricated out of stainless steel, reinstalled, and plumbed.  There are some excellent carpenters here so I am hoping we can brace the sole where we make the cut and secure the new access hatch even more strongly than it was before the project.

These two projects are huge, but the reality is that I am still only scratching the surface of what I should do prior to the Pacific crossing.  The effort is daunting, but I found some reassurance in a place I didn’t expect to find it.  Having read most of the books in my small library I picked up the book that started it all some seven years ago, Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum.  It is only the second time I read the book that planted the seed that grew into this voyage.  Reading it again I found a new respect for what the man accomplished in 1896 with the new found insight that comes from several thousand miles under my own keel.  Not the least of which was the number of refits Slocum had to complete to keep his vessel, the Spray, seaworthy. 

It is all a part of the experience.  When things become difficult it seems you can usually find yourself becoming stronger as long as you don’t quit.

Lee Winters
Skype: lee_winters

www.SailingForSOS.com