Tag: engine

Getting better on Sava

A couple weeks ago we posted about the issues on Sava. Overheating engine, freezer not working, Domino, battery challenges, and more.  And that was before we hit our lowest point yet with the electric head!

Well, we have good news: things are looking up right now.

The Engine

When we were in Tortola we hired a diesel mechanic, Wilbert, from Parts and Power. Wilbert and I worked for three days to diagnose and fix the overheating problems. We systematically went through the whole raw water coolant system and discovered that the pipe that fed water through the transmission was almost completely clogged. Three days of hard work later we cleaned it up and replumbed the system to prevent the clogging in the future.

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What’s Broken On Sava

You may be under the illusion that everything works fine onboard Sava. Not true. While our autopilot is still going strong, a lot of other boat parts don’t work. Below, a comprehensive accounting of what’s broken on Sava, and some things that broke and got fixed.

Also, I am not a handy person so my explanations are very basic because that’s my level of understanding. Thankfully Brian is at a much higher level than me. If he wasn’t so handy, we wouldn’t have made it out of Florida. Brian also recommends a good resource for these jobs, the Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual.

Freezer

We thought we got this fixed after the engine debacle, but this freezer is finicky. A couple of times we noticed it was off and we are now very vigilant about ensuring the freezer is plugged in. We also keep the vents clean – got to get rid of the cat hair.

Yet still the temperature regularly creeps above freezing. This is understandable when we haven’t been under power or it’s cloudy, but we don’t know why the freezer doesn’t work when the solar charge is full and we run the engine.

This freezer is driving me crazy. I obsessively check the temperature, which is not easy to do. Because the freezer is strapped into our salon sofa, we have to peek under the table to see the power and temperature indicators.

freezer
A view under the salon table of our freezer indicators
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Stuck Outside of Provo

Proof again not to make plans on a sailboat came this week in Provo, Turks and Caicos. We brought Captain Jeff on board on Wednesday and were ready to go for our passage to Puerto Rico. Provisions were in, boat was clean, we were ready. It wasn’t to be: the engine conked out on our way to the fuel dock and we are stuck outside of Provo, Turks and Caicos.

Engine Problems

We hadn’t even left the island. An hour in, heading to a marina to fill up the water and the fuel for the journey, I smelled burning. I mentioned it and Jeff saw smoke. Brian turned off the engine and we went down below to check out the damage. Based on our history, we tried adding coolant. Then turned the engine on and looked. It looked like we needed a water pump.

After sourcing a pump from the U.S., we think it will be here on Tuesday. Maybe we will get out on Wednesday. But I know better than to make any plans!

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