We have our rocket with us again
Following up on my post yesterday, this is what transpired. We were up early and following coffee, moved on to the dock at Port Louis Marina. After exhausting my engine-repair skill set, I called the pros at Palm Tree Marine and had them come to the marina to see me. They started off by cleaning the carb as I did but netted about the same results, meaning, it didn’t fix the problem. After a bit more troubleshooting, they came to the conclusion that the problem is more likely electrical as the engine is running on only one cylinder. I ultimately had them take the engine back to their shop.
With only a slim chance of getting the engine back that day, I decided to make the trip to Grenada Marine to borrow the tender from ZTC. Fortunately we have friends! Rebecca was out grocery shopping for our trip this week so I talked to Chrystal from LTD Sailing and borrowed her truck. I also had our friend Ken lend his time and muscles to help me get the job done. While it was a PITA, we managed to get the RIB and engine all the way from Grenada Marine to Port Louis with a minimum of drama. The good news? After acquiring some fresh fuel, ZTC’s engine started right up. Man, I love that tender-engine combo… it is a rocket!
Glad it started right up. That would of really been disappointing so close to your guests arriving. Happy to help Mike.
No kidding!
Happy to help. I would have like to see the dingy on the roof of the car, though. Ha ha!
I just said to Rebecca that I dropped the ball by not taking a photo of that.
Just curious, what kind of dinghy and what motor do you have on her that makes her such a rocketship? Thank you for your writing, I enjoy your blog.
The dinghy is an 8.5′ fiberglass bottom BoatUS RIB (no longer available). The engine is a Yamaha 2-stroke 9.9HP tweaked to be a 15HP.
Okay, now I have to ask how it was “tweaked” to change it from a 9.9 to a 15HP. Installed a 15 HP’s carb.?
The reed valves were adjusted to match those of a 15.
I wish Richard Dyson or Elon Musk or some other genius would invent a new outboard with no carburetor.
One that can run on salt water would be nice.
I’ll guess one Plug has no Spark..
May I ask– Why didn’t you just use the motor from ZTC’s Tender? Wouldn’t it been easier just to move the motor? I’m sure you have your reasons..
Direct Fuel Injection Two Stroke Outboards– Here Ya go.. No Carb..
The problem was not just the engine. As I noted, the tender that came with the Amel is too big (for our purposes).
I’m glad to see everything worked out with the dinghies. (don’t forget to tell us how you get the dinghy back to ZTC) I’m confused, why did you move dinghy and motor, or am I just reading this wrong? Didn’t you use the ZTC motor on the new boats dinghy?
The reason I asked about an email a couple postings back is because I didn’t want to come out of the blue with something that has nothing to do with anything you are blogging. To wit, a few months ago, a blog I was following went dead because the couple split up. http://www.svwildcard.com/2014/10/17/new-beginnings/
I’m curious because there is no mention of what happened to Wildcard, other than she was in Grenada at the time of the last post. I’m just wondering if you may have seen her around there.
I read many stories about Wildcard through the writings of Fatty Goodlander. It would be a shame for her to be abandoned.
Hi Ric
I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I don’t know them.
Looking back at this, it seems I may have left the wrong impression. I wasn’t asking about the couple, I was wondering about the boat, S/V Wildcard. The way their blog ended made no mention of what they did with the boat. If you don’t know that’s ok, I was just curious.
Understood. I still don’t know of the boat.