River Forest Marina

Friday November 28, 2014
27 05 653 N
80 17 816 W

Steve said he could look at the #2 Gen if we got to River Forrest marina by 1.30 PM. We went back and forth with emails on Thursday and finally settled on 2:30 PM. To manage this feat we needed to leave at first light on Friday, and so we were up and away by 7 AM. It was a clear morning but pretty cool with a Small Craft Advisory for fun. Steve owns a boat just like Tide Hiker, is Captain in a 100' yacht and has worked on Tide Hiker before.

On the way we passed thru "the Crossroads" which is a heavy traffic area with the ICW meeting both the St Lucie Inlet and the Okeechobee Waterway along with traffic for Manatee Pocket and the St Lucie River.  There are frequent large sportfish boats traveling through here at speed and there are various shoaling issues. Plus it was blowing pretty hard.

As we felt our way thru I spotted a "fishing kayak" in trouble (Why was the idiot out there? Is that not the ultimate "small craft"?) The silly fellow was in the water, and trying to wave his paddle in distress. He was nowhere we could approach and so we radioed the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard is pretty good, but calling them on the radio can be a bit onerous. The first problem is that the person who stands by the radio seems just out of high school and has been given a list of 'all purpose" questions to ask, and has zero discretionary authority. But the benefit is that "everybody" hears the call and while the Coast Guard is asking you the color of the kayak, the rest of the boating community is reacting to the location info we provided. Sure enough, a local "Towboat-US" had heard the call and was quickly on the scene.

Of course, now we were famous and next boat we saw radioed us with a "Good Job, Tide Hiker"

The Diagnosis

After 2 1/2 years "all at sea" I have decided that the biggest problem with fixing boat operations issues is knowing precisely what they are. It seems that to many times the resolution is a "process of elimination" rather than a specific diagnosis and a specific solution. Its like pulling a tooth every week until you pull the one that is aching.

Not the case with Steve and #2 generator. I now know exactly what the problem is and how to fix it. The problem is serious, but it has an "easy" solution and a "expensive" solution.

There is a notorious device in a marinized diesel engine called an "elbow". This is where the hot exhaust is mixed with salt water (that has already been used to cool the engine). Hot salt water is rather corrosive and so the elbows tend to fail. When they fail salt water gets into the engine.

The elbow on the generator engine has failed. When Tide Hiker sat at Palm Coast the errant salt water was madly corroding the inside of the generator engine, causing it to "freeze up". So when I tried to start it the starter motor could not rotate so blew the 250 amp fuse.

The "better" solution

Steve and I were able to break the engine free by rotating it with a big wrench. Then I drained the oil (it was a disgusting color) and flushed the engine twice with diesel fuel, cranking the engine (but not starting it) between flushes. Then changed the oil filter and cranked the engine still it started, running it for just enough time for the oil to circulate.

Next step will be to order the part and have it delivered to Burnt Store where I will install it. If the generator runs consistently after that we will have dodged the bullet. If not, the engine will need to be rebuilt. That would be expensive.

That evening we went out to dinner with Steve and his wife Diane.