An eventful launch

[dpearson]

So... Buster is in the water. She made it in for the second weekend of May, but we were out of town and didn't get out until the May long weekend.

My mechanic came down and apologized for the winter damage as the water heater did not get properly flushed and is now 2 sizes larger than original.

Then, on our first trip into the islands, one of the motors blew up. OK, it did not actually blow up, but it might have caused about the same damage. The oil hose going to the filter parted at the swaged end and blew oil all over the engine compartment. It took me some time to realize what had happened as the engine management system was interfering with throttle control. I was trying to destroy the engine by throttling up and the EMS was trying to save the engine by reducing power. It took me about 2 minutes to notice that there was no oil pressure on the one engine, so I am hoping the EMS was smart enough to save the engine. 2 minutes without oil could be disasterous. There is a glimmer of hope as the engine had a fresh batch of synthetic oil. If the engine is not destroyed, I will become a fanatical spokesperson for synthetic oil.

Of course, that left us with the nice job of cleaning $60 worth of new synthetic oil off of the engine compartment walls. There was oil EVERYWHERE. If picked up a family pack of Bounty paper towels on sale at Canadian Tire and used most of them to wipe down the floor, walls, engines, fuel tanks, etc.. My biggest concern was that it might rain and fill the bilge with water. If I let the bilge pump run, it would create an oil slick I was not prepared to see on the evening news. So, I shut off the bilge pump switch and went to work removing the oil. By Sunday afternoon we had enough of it cleaned up that I was no longer worried about Environment Canada. One of our boating neighbors offered to drop off some oil cleanup pads to soak up the last few drops. Thanks Tony.

Now I am thinking of what to do about

1) possible damaged engine
2) definitely damaged water heater
3) the water pressure pump is dripping
4) what's next?

I hope everyone else's launch has gone more smoothly than my own.

Cheers
David

[Terry]

Wow, my biggest problem was that I cooked the steaks medium instead of medium-rare for our first Bar-B-Q. And I purchased a Merlot for the occasion but was later told that I should Have gotten a Cabernet Sauvignon.

[Rob]

Catherine Ann launched May 2nd without any cause for alarm (so far )
My dock fell into the river last winter, so Spring has been mainly about building a new dock (the downside of belonging to a self-help club)
But things are now sorted away and the new dock is way better than the old one. A number of new boat projects got delayed, but by July, we should have new stainless railings in place for the top deck and (finally) a power windlass to make anchoring less work. Eventually, I will generate tech articles on both of these . . . . .
Rob

[Rob]

David,
I experienced a similar engine compartment "oil everywhere" scenario a few years back (in my case it was the the gen set)
I bought a couple of gallon jugs of citrus based degreaser, and the refillable spray bottle, from Home Depot and sprayed all two gallons of this cleaner into every nook and cranny where the oil went and let it soak for a bit.
Then, I pulled the bilge pump hose off the hull outlet fitting and stuck it in a bucket. Next was a good pressure washing of everything. (As I recall, this included me . . . so a good pair of goggles is advised) I emptied the bucket as the bilge pump filled it up.
When I was done, the engine room was cleaner that it has ever been before or since. Maybe I should do this again (just kidding)
But, if you don't do something like this, oil will be drippping out off everywhere, for a long time.
Rob