POOH BEAR REPORT - 21 October 2002 A Cruiser's Schedule Many of the readers of the Pooh Bear Reports are themselves cruisers and can appreciate that, by definition, cruising means a flexible schedule. But I think we have expanded the meaning of flexible. We arrived in Whitby on 3 October, expecting to stay a few days, then make an overnight passage to Lowestoft, followed by day sails to Harwich, Queenborough, and up the Thames to arrive in London in mid-October. Many fellow cruisers will also be familiar with the "love/hate" relationship that sailors develop with their engines. I think they will relate to this report. For other readers this may be utter boredom and they need read no further. First off, since Pooh is a "sailing vessel", the engine is considered as an "auxiliary" propulsion device. This does not diminish the importance, or rather the requirement, of a good, reliable engine (known to some as the Iron Genny). Yes, our forefathers went to sea in engineless boats and did fine; or at least most of them did. But they had no choice. Judy and I do. In today's crowded marinas, with locks and minimal passage space between rows of yachts, sailing in and out ranges between dangerous and impossible. But even once at sea we motorsail frequently. Especially when beating into a sea, the engine boosts our speed dramatically, i.e. maybe 3.5 knots to 5 knots. And even when sailing free in light to moderate winds with a destination time crunch such as darkness, lock opening, etc, we keep the Perkins ticking over at only 1600 to 1800 rpm. This may only boost our speed from 5 to 5.5 knots which may not seem li! ke much, but a 10% increase is often very beneficial. And of course, the engine is the primary method of charging the batteries and is used an hour or so each day even when we have all the wind we want. When Pooh Bear arrived in Whitby on 3 October, the engine hour meter read 3291 hours, 412 hours greater than when we left London in May. All season the engine has been running very nicely and starting almost instantly at the touch of the starter button. But, it did have two problems. One was oil usage was two or three times normal, a quart every 25 to 40 hours. The other was that it emitted a huge cloud of blue smoke upon starting. Our stop at Whitby was dual purpose: to visit with friends we had made in Scotland and, because Whitby was reputed to be the home of a first class diesel mechanic, Steve at Coates Marine. What follows is a somewhat detailed blow by blow of the ups and downs of getting the problem fixed. Let me explain there are two main players in this tale. One is Steve, the mechanic. The other is Steven, an owner of Coates Marine and Steve's boss. Day 1, Thursday: We were scarcely tied to the pontoon before Alan, one of our Whitby friends, appeared with Steve, the mechanic. I described the symptoms and Steve speculated it could be rings, worn valve stems, or worn valve guides. The last two involved pulling only the head, not the whole engine. Could Coates Marine pull the head in a few days? Day 2, Friday: Steven, the owner of Coates Marine, arrived Friday morning, listened to the symptoms, and agreed that Steve would remove the head Monday morning. Day 3 & 4: Weekend. Day 5, Monday: Steve arrived and efficiently removed the head and took it away, noting the valve stems were quite loose even with the springs still in place. He also observed it was unlikely we had a ring problem as all four cylinder bores looked perfect. Day 6, Tuesday: Steve disassembled the head, confirming worn valve stems, and guides and sent the head off to the machine shop. Due back on Thursday morning. Day 7, Wednesday: Nothing, but nothing expected. Day 8, Thursday: Nothing, but the head was due back from the machine shop. Day 9, Friday: The head came in; Steve reassembled it, brought it to the boat and reinstalled it. With some difficulty the engine started, but seemed to run well enough once started. Day 10, Saturday: I started the engine, but only with much difficulty and after several attempts and 45 seconds of cranking accompanied by huge great clouds of white smoke (not blue). Later in the day, it started easily. Day 11, Sunday: Exact repeat of Saturday. Even with the wind blowing, while cranking the engine, white smoke obscured everything astern. It was impressive. Day 12 and 13, Monday and Tuesday: Steve was sick. Otherwise the same as Saturday. Day 14, Wednesday: I demonstrated and Steve puzzled over the problem. He tightened a few fuel connections, but since the problem only occurred with a cold engine, we had to wait overnight. Day 15, Thursday: Demonstrated start problems again to Steven and Steve. Engine still very difficult to start and emitted prodigious quantities of white smoke. Steven was convinced it was injectors. At my request Steve ran a compression check and all four cylinders measured 400 psi (dead on per Perkins). Steve took the injectors away for test and repair. I remained skeptical because these injectors appeared to work perfectly when we arrived so how could all four be bad now? Day 16, Friday: Injectors not back, but promised for Saturday morning. (Coates Marine shop closed Saturday and Sunday) Day 17 and 18, Saturday and Sunday: Waiting. However, Alan King backed the bad injector theory and explained it thus. Before the head rebuild, when the engine was shut down, oil would drain down past the worn valve stems into the cylinders leaving a pool of oil. Hence the great cloud of blue smoke upon starting. But this same pool of oil would enhance compression and would ignite at the first compression stroke of the piston, thereby starting the engine. Once started the dribbling injectors would carry on delivering fuel acceptably well. With the newly rebuilt head, no oil could drain down into cylinders and the poor injector spray alone would not ignite properly. Day 19, Monday: Steve showed up with the injectors, installed them, we pressed the button and in less than 5 seconds the engine was running! And no white smoke. And after warm up, no blue smoke. Postmortem: How did four injectors go bad on the bench? They didn't; I am now certain they were bad all along. Give Alan a Gold Star! So this is the tale of how a four or five day job became a 19 day job. I can't be certain this is the end of story, as I have yet to start the engine from cold. Tomorrow morning I will do that. But I am confident we have a good engine. Actually, even in the morning I still won't have the whole the story; I have yet to receive the bill! Before I finish I must point out this tale does have a good side. Earlier I mentioned our stop at Whitby was not just to get the engine looked at, but also to visit with three friends we had met in Scotland. During our stay, Alan, David and Jeff with their wives and partners have been most gracious hosts. They have shown us around the Yorkshire countryside and invited us into their homes. They have driven us through the beautiful Esk valley and the surrounding moors. Whitby itself is a neat place steeped in English history. This is Captain Cook County. Cook was born and raised nearby and sailed from Whitby on his three famous voyages of discovery around the world (OK, so he only made 2-1/2 trips). Cooks ships were built for the purpose in Whitby. And Whitby was the home of the inventor of the Crow's Nest (a bit of trivia you must remember!). So we have had plenty to occupy our time while here. To be honest, had the engine been running perfectly three days after our arrival in Whitby, we would still be here. And we may still be here a week from now. Or even two weeks. The weather has been dreadful. The beautiful Indian Summer of September switched to winter in a day. The pattern is a series of lows sweeping up from the Atlantic, crossing the British Isles and moving off over the Baltic. Each brings near gale to full gale easterly and northerly winds, low clouds and rain. Looking out over the Whitby entrance at the breakers rolling in from the North Sea can be awesome. As each low moves northeast the winds ease and tend to become westerly. But always close behind is another low and before the winds and seas lay, another gale is on the way and the sequence is repeated. The approaching low is the deepest yet, 970 mb at noon today, with flood warnings issued for all of central England. Our barometer has ! fallen from 1011 to 989 in 24 hours, almost a millibar an hour, and with the heavy rains in this area, logs and trees are floating down the Esk River past Pooh Bear. While a bit warmer today, yesterday morning's low temperature was 25 degrees F, reaching a high around 50F. Because this section of coast is quite exposed and has very few useable bolt holes in an east wind, we must wait for a break in the weather pattern that will give us at least 48 hours of westerlies. We then, with our engine running smoothly and our long johns on, can depart on the 30-hour passage to Lowestoft. From Lowestoft, three one-day passages will see us to St. Katharine's in London, though a bit later than planned. But that is Cruising! End of "A Cruiser's Schedule" ********************************************************************** Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear in Whitby, England) P.S. You can check our latest "reported" position (usually updated each night when traveling) at the following URL: http://www.aprs.net/cgi- bin/winlink.cgi?W5TFY