Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Titusville - Engine day

An Osprey surveying his domain - sailboat spreaders make such good perches!
First, it was the Mercury outboard. I needed to drain the carburetor of the last bit of gasoline. I didn't do that in Deltaville and found that the outboard would not start, it was clogged with old fuel that had evaporated, leaving deposits that would not clean up without disassembly of the fuel line. Having learned my lesson (I think) I ran the outboard dry of fuel while idling on the dinghy and then unscrewed the carburetor bowl screw to completely dry out the motor. Hopefully, that will work. I will know in January.

Next on the list of tasks was changing the oil on the main diesel, the Volvo D2-55. I've done that many times so it's now routine but still time consuming. The manual says to change the oil every 300 hours but I prefer to do that every 100 to 150 hours instead, just to be on the safe side. When we return to Fleetwing in January, we'll have Rowan in tow so I wanted all boat chores done now.

I never tire of sunset photos - especially off the aft of Fleetwing while sipping wine
The weather is predicted to turn cooler on Wednesday with a high of not even 70. That sounds like a good teak day, a chore for tomorrow. Work is never done on a boat!

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