Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Daytona Beach, FL Wednesday November 13, 2013

It's been awhile since my last entry. We are in Daytona Beach and I will attempt to cover this past week in small doses as we continue to our goal of reaching Vero Beach.  Lots of good things have happened to Fiu and us.  I'll start back on Tuesday, November 5 when Fiu was fixed.  Ray installed the vent loop valve which breaks the siphon of sea water entering the engine.  We started the engine and decided to leave the dock and travel as far south on the ICW as possible the rest of the day.   Believe me when I say we motored as far as we had originally traveled on October 30th when the engine failed to start. The anchorage in the  South Edisto River near Watts Cut became a familiar place. The engine ran like new with good oil pressure, temp gauge in green and no idling or power issues!  We were able to travel so far due to catching the tidal currents just right.  We were running with the current most of the way and when 5.5 to 7 kts is normal for Fiu, this day we ran between 6.2 and 8.9 kts!  The 28 miles were fun and our adventure was finally underway with abundant sunshine and a warm breeze.

Entering Watts Cut was a concern at low tide  since 7.2' is alot less than desirable with as ship that requires deeper water and carries a 5' draft with the centerboard up.  Needless to say much of the 3/4 mile dredged cut saw plenty of engine idling and lateral moves to find the deepest water.  The magenta line on the GPS is not always as accurate as we would like due to shoaling.  A light misty rain developed as we began our anchoring sequence.

We lack a firm schedule when sailing since I believe it creates a climate of "poor decision making."  We were a week behind our original broad plan to head to warmer climates.  We decided to travel a long day and get as far south as possible with the good weather which included many clouds but warm temps.  Even the Coosaw River was fairly flat (a first time ever) and a tidal current in our favor.  Beaufort, SC was our next stop with a generous bridge tender at the Ladys Island Bridge who held it open extra long for Fiu to slide through comfortably with only a slight increase in throttle speed. The Downtown City Marina was our noon time stop for diesel and pump out. We spend much less on diesel fuel for Fiu all winter than gas for our hybrid car in just a short summer of driving.

Skull Creek and the Hilton Head Marina  were early afternoon passages with a New River anchorage at 4:30pm.  Emails and texts were sent while dinner was being prepared.

Capt Sid


Saturday, November 2, 2013

Saturday, November 2, 2013

While we are still in Charleston we are being well cared for by Karen, Bon's college roommate.  It's important to know why we are still here.  Mud dobbers plugged the vented loop through hull.  Since the marine diesel is cooled by sea water it is important to limit the amount of water coming in to the engine.  As I understand it, the vented loop valve lets air in to break the siphon and stop water from coming in when the engine is shut down.  If the through hull is plugged then air will not get in to break the siphon.  This caused water to fill up the exhaust and eventually fill the cylinders. Usually no damage is done until the water is pumped out which lets in air to begin the corrosion process.  We (I assisted Ray the mechanic) started the engine right away and it is running as before!  The other potential problem besides corrosion is water doesn't compress.  If I had continually tried to start the engine with water in the cylinders then rods and bearings could be permanently damaged! Near miss! A new 62 horse diesel is around $15,000 installed!  Yikes is right!
Today we walked downtown from the Battery to the Customs House.  Near there is the Pavilion 225 Grill.  We enjoyed a cold drink in the glassed in roof top restaurant.