Written by:
1/30/2010 10:11 AM 

I’ve never had a lot of patience.  I’ve always wanted things exactly when I’ve wanted them and mostly, I’ve made that work.  Sailing on the other hand both humbles and teaches patience.  The weather is good, but I still don’t have the new hose I need for the engine.  When I was doing a final engine check yesterday I found about 2.5 quarts of oil in the drip pan.  Not good.  My fear was that the oil pan gasket was bad or worse, the oil pan itself had a hole in it.  Given the access to my engine it would have required pulling the engine again to remove the pan to either repair it or replace it.  Fortunately, it wasn’t so bad.

I called the mechanic who did the rebuild as soon as I saw the oil.  After the time and money spent I was going to make sure he was there if I couldn’t resolve it myself.  While waiting for Elvis I began the dirty process of feeling all around and under the engine trying to find the source of the oil.  Eventually I found fresh, translucent oil on one of the oil pan mounting bolts and figured it was the gasket.  Shortly after Elvis arrived and we began cleaning up the mess.

With fresh oil added we fired up the engine and quickly discovered that I was close, but the source itself was a hose just above the bolt I’d noticed.  Oil comes out of the engine block from the oil pump to an external oil cooler.  That hose had cracked and was now drip, drip, dripping all my oil into the drip pan.  It is a custom part and not one I could have repaired at sea.  Elvis has the hose and fittings and should be back today with a replacement.  The good thing is that this was found here and not while I was trying to motor across the Canal.

All I really have to do is get some diesel fuel and go.  Depending on when Elvis arrives that should be this afternoon or tomorrow, but the way things are going I’ll just be patient and see.

As an aside, yesterday I said goodbye to my friends on s/v Coconut.  Greg and Kerri departed Kemah, TX last July and made it to Cartagena the same time I did.  They’ve started back to the San Blas and have taken Meg, Georgia’s consummate dog sitter, with them.  Coconut and I should rendezvous in Colon for the canal transit and the crossing to the Galapagos.  I am not used to being the one left behind.  It always seems easier to be the one moving on.

You can track Coconut’s progress HERE.

Cheers,

Lee

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