Delays for Days

In order to cross to the Bahamas, a few timely things had to happen:

• provisioning for 2 months worth of food
• 5 humans need negative COVID tests, within 72 hours of arrival in the Bahamas
• 1 dog needs a clean bill of health from a vet, within 48 hours of arrival in the Bahamas
• decent weather window for the crossing

Yesterday, we took Dixie for her final physical and got our 'rona tests completed. After a stop at Costco and Publix, we were all systems go. Today's plan was to travel south in the ICW to test out our rebuilt engines, then anchor for the night. Tomorrow we'd cross to the Bahamas.

We pushed off of the dock at 0900 and traveled about 8 miles. At around 0917, the brand new fuel injection pump lost its mind and wouldn't drop RPM or turn off. It hit 5,000 RPM (it redlines at 3,500) then the engine turned off. It bent every valve and push rod. (A more detailed write up of the situation is at the end of this blog.) Ben was challenged to turn the boat around with one engine and strong currents, but by 0922, we were turned around and heading back north. He called our buddies who were still at the dock asking for help when we pulled up because docking with one engine was going to be sketchy. Thanks to everyone, the docking was completely uneventful. At 1047, we were tied up and the mechanics jumped on board to diagnose the problem. We returned safely to our dock and will be delayed at least a few days at this point.

At 1542, the mechanics were pulling the head and fuel injection pump off to get rebuilt and had been working on the engine for 5 hours. The mechanics successfully removed the parts needing repair and started working on them. They told us we may be able to be underway in a week or two. Until then, we are making the most of our time- vacationing and spending time at the beach and pool. Special thanks to my generous aunt and uncle. 💓

The mechanics analyzed the situation and started working right away. Notice the size of the doorway and workspace.

We are hoping for the best and thankful we weren't 8 miles east, into the ocean! Thank goodness for a captain who thinks ahead.

The metal things with the yellow paint on them are the bent push rods. This is one of the results of the overrevving of the engine.

The brand new fuel pump that caused all of this trouble is on the left side of the picture with the 8 protruding parts, 2x4 (Ben says 4 nipples). The head is also off of the engine, so you can see the cylinders of the engine- two of them have the blue shop rags inside.

For those of you who are curious and know some mechanical lingo, here is the version from the captain, with some jargon thrown in:

The governor and fuel rack broke inside of the high pressure fuel pump. Even with the fuel cutoff lever pulled back it was still flowing full fuel (more than full throttle). We were headed straight for some docks on the ICW and with our tiny rudders and the port engine full power, the boat was virtually uncontrollable. We didn't have much choice with the stop engine solenoid ineffective. So Ben dropped the shifter into neutral and hoped for the best. It revved for 5 seconds before it floated the valves, bent the push rods, bent the valves, and snapped the camshaft in half (which we didn't find out about until a week later). The whole event lasted 15-20 seconds. Ben went to check for a fire and to see if the engine was in pieces and found it at first glance to be completely intact, at least on the outside.