No longer stranded
I mentioned yesterday how our friends Dave and Dirk helped Rebecca and I reinstall the new Yamaha 40HP engine onto the Leopard’s tender. The process went infinitely smoother than the initial removal, partly due to a different method of handling the engine but also because the water where we were doing the job was calm. It was not so when we removed the engine. As it often is, Marigot Bay in St. Martin was bumpy when we disconnected the outboard but to add to that, we were getting waked by fast-moving boats every 60 seconds or so. That was not helpful!
After bolting the engine back on the tender’s transom, I surprised myself by remembering how to reattach all of the necessary wires and cables. Believe me, it was not a given that I would be able to do so! Inspired by this success, we all piled in the dinghy for a test run. Our initial happiness would soon be deflated though when after motoring only a short distance from the boat, the engine quit, leaving us adrift.
Because of the way that the engine stopped, it seemed to all of us that the problem must be fuel related but on first glance, we couldn’t see the problem. After being towed back to our boat by a good samaritan in a little dinghy with a 3.5HP engine, we took a better look under the hood. The fuel spraying out from the engine when we squeezed the priming bulb quickly led us to the culprit… the intake nipple had been sheered off the fuel pump. How did that happen? If you look at photo 6 on this post, you’ll see how. Obviously when we were getting bounced around by all of the boats zipping by us, I must have let the engine bump on the swim platform. 🙁
For the last two days I have invested no less than 4-5 hours sourcing a new pump and then babysitting the order to ensure that it gets shipped to us promptly and properly. It took way more effort to do that than it should have. I am happy to report that FedEx shows that our pump is presently at their sorting station in Florida and thus it should soon be in our hands. Our friend Jeff, captain of the catamaran Delphine, was adamant that we should not have to be stranded while waiting for that new part.
With no prompting from us, Jeff went shopping for the bits and pieces that he would need to fix the fuel pump. With only a small piece of copper tubing and some J-B Weld, he fashioned a repair in about 20 minutes that after curing, would get us back in business. How cool is that? Hopefully some time in the not too distant future we’ll be able to repay his kindness.
Jeff added extra epoxy to build up the thickness of the tubing
to something close to the plastic piece that broke off.
I did have to use a real hose clamp instead of the spring clip normally
used in order to get the hose to seal fully.
Back in business. Woo hoo!
Mike
So glad it worked and you all are mobile again. Sucks being with out your ‘car’ as we all our boaters and rely so heavily on our dingy’s to get around.
Exactly. Without the dinghy we were forced to stay on the dock.
Good temp fix, you got to love the feeling of when you conquer a problem like that. Now you got a temp spare when the new one comes.
Spares are good!
We always have JB weld aboard and have used it many times!
Valuable stuff.
Don’t forget your Marine Tex!
I have never used that. How does it differ from JB Weld?
Just another epoxy product that comes in much larger volume
containers. Different catalyst, don’t really know the strength
comparisons but I’ve never been aboard a boat that didn’t carry
Marine Tex. It’s saved my ass a couple of times.
I think JB Weld has been around in the automotive
industry for a longer time.
Thanks.
Make do and mend, is a primary skill. Well done.
Mike
Jeff did a good job. In this case I merely watched him work and handed him tools.
Hi Mike,
We are new to your blog and FB page but have been reading it voraciously. Love, love, love all the stories, photos and helpful info. This article with you pictured in your dingy has me wondering about a couple things. 1) what does a dingy of that size and power cost? Can you raise it on the davits behind your Leopard 4600?
We’re hoping to buy a boat in next couple of years and do something similar to what you and Rebecca seem to be doing so successfully. We admire you for what you’ve accomplished in such a short time! Keep it up and thanks so much for the inspiration!
Luke & Staci
Hi Luke
Thanks for the comments.
What things cost depends on where you buy them. The dinghy is an AB 13ALX and the engine is a 40HP. We purchased ours in St. Maarten (St. Martin).
http://www.budgetmarine.com
As for raising it on the davits, yes, but we also invested 8k to reinforce the davits so that they could handle the weight. It is also a bear to lift!