Isle of Hope – Jack and Kay Cothren visit for dinner

Jack and Kay Cothren - part of PYC South

The mechanic from Hinckley came over around 9:00 and looked at our new leak. He did a back trace up from the drip point and found a path from the oil cap. It appears that the O-ring seal of the oil cap has aged and may not be sealing as well as in the past, allowing oil to seep out and run down the side of the engine – not much but after awhile it accumulates enough to drip. He recommended replacement of the O-ring and to ensure the oil cap was securely tightened. This leak appeared to be different from the original leak from the rear oil seal on the engine. Finding that particular size O-ring was no easy matter. We had to find a hydrolytic supply house that carried every possible size O-ring to find the particular one required. It was about 20 miles away we eventually found it and replaced the O-ring. Hopefully that solves the problem.

Meanwhile, I did receive new capacitors from Panda and replaced the one that tested defective in the Panda. Lo and behold, starting the genset resulted in a full 120v! It’s satisfying to actually replace a component that tests defective and then actually have the system work! My experience in the past has been that there “one more thing” that needs to be done to get everything to work – but not in this case.

After changing the engine oil and repairing the Panda, Jack and Kay arrived and we sat down to cheese and wine made more pleasant by the temporary alleviation of the swarming gnats. After a few more glasses of wine, all problems became more easily solvable and we moved to he main cabin for Ann’s shrimp dish. It was all very nice. It’s great to meet friends along the way and share stories and experiences, just great fun.