My Hand Still Hurts....

From having had to hand-pump a zillion gallons of motor oil a few weeks ago, when the oil cooler blew and the motor nearly filled-up completely with sea water. See a previous post for a look at the sludge which got pumped out. An additional 5 gallons or so of fresh motor oil was later put through the motor, to help flushing out all of the remaining sludge. The hand-pumping went on for several hours over 2 days. Not again. I sure hope I will never again face such a dilemma. To assist with future oil changes, I have now installed an electric, 12 volts "Reverso" pump, as a back-up to the hand-pump. A valve allows easy switching between the two.

THE Skipper

I have been mentioning Skipper 150 so many times that I thought I should show you a photo of the real Skipper. It is an old and somewhat grainy photo and shows some crooked teeth, but, hey, I cannot deny it, it is me.

Being Green Is Not Easy! Or, My Favorite Yacht!

No further comment required! Or?

Saaiilllling, Part II

Another photo which was taken at the start line in Marion a couple of weeks ago.

Saaaaiiiliing, we are saiiillliing!

Well, I call this my sailing blog, so I should say something about sailing. The best way I know of doing this is by posting a photo. They say a thousand words and it saves me from having to think of something more to say... :-) - I do particularly like this photo! Click on it for a much larger view!

Internet At Sea

Today, I am on the boat and am playing with my newest toy, the "Skipper 150" Inmarsat FleetBroadband Internet terminal. As you can see in the photos, I am downloading iTunes from the Apple web site and have the Panbo web site open on my mini notebook. At the same time, I have been on the phone, calling my mother in Germany, who shared with me all the news of the neighborhood during that 20 minutes phone conversation. The Skipper amazes me. I have had satellite phones on board Bremer Speck for probably 6-7 years. The kind most other cruisers have, i.e. Iridium and Globalstar. I still have the latter mounted on the wall inside the pilothouse and glancing at it right now, this is one of the rare moments, when it has been able to connect to the satellites. Of course, I could never have done with either sat phone, what I am doing right now. I am typing away on my notebook, connected to my on-board WiFi network, editing this blog post live on Blogger, uploading 3 photos of about 4MB in total, while the download on the primary PC has pulled down 60MB of about 74MB during the past 40 minutes. Me thinks.. The "Skipper 150" is a winner!

A Hydrovane wind vane called Emma!

In a previous post I mentioned "Emma", our "Hydrovane" wind vane.

A wind vane is also referred to as a self-steering and or emergency steering system. The Hydrovane employs an auxiliary rudder to perform its duties and does it extremely well. Just a couple of weeks ago, on our way to Bermuda, we got caught in a Nor'easter for almost 3 days with sustained winds of 60 knots and very confused seas! A normal autopilot would almost certainly have blown its pump trying to cope.

Not the Hydrovane! Emma steered our yacht through it all, while the crew of Bremer Speck sat "high and dry" inside the pilothouse, protected from the elements. I have owned this Hydrovane for almost 7 years now and am extremely happy and satisfied! It is not cheap but worth every penny! I would not want to be without it and I use it every chance I get. A wind vane uses..., guess what?..., ...the wind!... to steer the vessel. Thus, unlike the typical autopilot which you hear grinding below deck, a wind vane is totally quiet. No noise whatsoever! All you hear is the water rushing past the hull. Peaceful an quiet.

July 4 Holiday Weekend and "thank you" Emma!

We spent a week in Newburyport. $1200 in mechanic's and marina fees later, we are sailing again! Woo Hoo! The new oil cooler seems to be doing its job and the Ford Lehman appears to have survived and is running strong. I will have it checked again, anyway. I learned a lesson and have paid dearly for it. We are sailing along the coast as I look out the pilothouse window and am typing this post. The wind is blowing strong at times, then it dies down, to pipe right-up again. Our speed is between 4.5 and 6 knots. Not bad at all. Emma has been steering the boat, ever since Bremer Speck left Newburyport. She is doing an excellent job! I named my Hydrovane wind vane after my late mother-in-law, Emma Orlemann. She sailed with us only once, at age 80, and took to the wheel, immediately.

Would you like some sugar with your Mocha Java? Or, A Bucket Full of Sludge!

After having gotten a 50 miles tow, courtesy of BoatUS, Bremer Speck is tied-up in the Windward Yacht Yard Marina in Newburyport, where we have been staying since this past Saturday. The mechanic visited the boat on Monday to take a look at our problem. And what a problem this turned out to be. The motor was almost completely flooded by water! Well, a mix of some oil and water, which created a grayish kind of sludge, as shown in the photo. Approximately 5-6 gallons of this stuff was pumped from the motor! 2 new oil coolers later, replacing the broken one on the engine, which caused this problem to begin with and the equally old but working cooler on the transmission, the oil leak has been fixed. Now, only water is pumped out through the exhaust, which will make Neptune and the fish very happy! However, With the motor having been full of this stuff, it took another 6-8 gallons of motor oil to flush the remaining sludge out of the motor. This job took several hours. Add 4-5 quarts of oil, check the dipstick, start the motor, let it run for 2-3 minutes. Then use the hand pump to pump the oil from the oil pan. Repeat this process many times.
While I am pretty good working with electronics and most electrical work, I am mechanically challenged by having 2 left hands. So I am amazed that the motor is still running after this ordeal and near-disaster. The 20 years old Ford Lehman diesel sounds good and the oil pressure appears to be back to normal. The proof will be found, when we return Bremer Speck to her slip in Maine, which will very likely include a couple of hours of motoring. Keep your fingers crossed!