Beautiful "Blub, Blub, Blub"!

Another run up to Herrington Harbour, this time to check out two boats in addition to another attempt to start Amanda Grace. After crawling through Sunday evening traffic snarled by an accident on the Wilson Bridge, my first stop was Quandary, a friend's Catalina 30. I'm trying to work out an owner-retained deal with her, so she can keep and use her boat, and we can have access to it on a regular basis. Oh, Quandary is nice! Standing on the carpeted deck below, my eyes roaming the cabin, I noted the accommodations and thought, "I could live on this boat!"

Next, a quick look at South 40, a Catalina 27 that is up for adoption. Friends of Sea Scouts of Maryland is taking her, but I wanted to have a peek, anyway. Not bad.

I met Steve Alexander aboard Amanda Grace at about 6:30 PM. The first order of business was to open the fore hatch, flip the "receptacle" switch and turn on the blower. Steve and I chatted in the cockpit for a few minutes while the fan dispersed the diesel fumes, and then he went to work. He showed me the fuel injector that he had had reconditioned for only $45. This is a great deal, considering that a new one runs about $300. Steve said he asked Arundel Diesel to go ahead and rebuild the other injector--which will cost $75--because we need a spare and that was a good deal, too.

Mr. Alexander crawled into the space next to the engine compartment and I stood by, handing him sockets, Vise Grips, a "great hammer" (say that with a Scottish accent), screwdrivers and such on request. Between tool fetching, I applied copious amounts of lemon oil to the teak in the cabin and around the companion way. The wood is still thirsty, but it is looking very nice.

When Steve had the injector in place, I went above to the cockpit to start the engine. Pull out the "cold start" handle, adjust the throttle to about half, make sure the transmission is in neutral, turn the key to position I for the oil pressure alarm, turn the key to II for start. "Give me about 5 seconds," Steve instructed. Amanda Grace said, "Chuh...chuh...chuh..." but no start. It took several rounds of 5- and 10-second attempted starts to clear the air out of the system.

"Okay, I'm going to give her a squirt of WD-40," Steve announced. We knew Amanda Grace likes it, as she had previously run on it for a few seconds. "Give her about 10 seconds." Amanda Grace said, "Chuh...chuh...bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh..." She ran for a few seconds, then sputtered out. "Was that the WD-40?" I asked. Steve acknowledged. She must be a high-test girl. Another attempt or two, then Amanda Grace said, "Chuh...chuh...bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh...blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub!" A single-piston diesel is noisy and coarse, but to us, it was the most beautiful "blub, blub, blub"! Steve said, "YAY!" and I yelled, "WOOHOO!" For the first time in about 6 years, Amanda Grace was running!

From his horizontal spot next to the engine compartment, Mr. Alexander told me to check for water coming out of the exhaust. Amanda Grace's 8 hp Volvo Penta single-cylander engine is water cooled. Sea water is brought in by a pump, run through the transmission and engine where it picks up heat, and expelled by the same through hull as the exhaust. Looking overboard on the starboard aft side, I could see the exhaust, but no water. This was not good. The engine cannot be run long without cooling or it will overheat and be ruined. I shut her down and Steve began to troubleshoot. He took the cover off the impeller--the part of the water pump that does the work--and said it looks good. I wanted to know what it looks like, so he moved out of the way and let me crawl back in there where I could see the rubbery blades that push the water through. Cool.

Next, Steve took the hose off the sea cock and turned it to "open" position, to test whether water is coming in there. It was, so he put the hose back on. By then, it was closing in on 9:00PM, and we had both had enough, so we turned off the "receptacle" switch, closed up the boat, and headed to the Skipper's Pier for a bite and a celebratory beer. The food and drink was pricey for my budget, but very good. Best crab soup ever! And, oh, the A/C felt really nice, too.