I suffer terribly from engine paranoia. Over the years, we've had marine engines stop on us, overheat, fail to charge my batteries, or generally mess us about. There's always something to worry about.
Good care and feeding helps, but won't prevent prop wraps and other bad luck.
In the latest episode, we're experiencing some excessive vibration when cruising at 2000rpm. During yet another duck diving drip underneath, I found the rubber fairing around the saildrive leg had come loose. This is a common problem. The fairing smooths the water flow around the saildrive leg, but is mostly cosmetic. After a quick call to Mr Pedro, I cut it off.
The vibration is still there. There's a chunk of paint missing off the propeller boss, but the shaft is clear and it all looks good. The engine runs sweetly out of gear. Gear box oil is clear. Conclusion: the prop is a little out of alignment. Its not serious enough to be worth the time, expense, and hassle of lifting the boat out.
So... the paranoia will continue for now. If only the wind would get up and give me something else to worry about.
Good care and feeding helps, but won't prevent prop wraps and other bad luck.
In the latest episode, we're experiencing some excessive vibration when cruising at 2000rpm. During yet another duck diving drip underneath, I found the rubber fairing around the saildrive leg had come loose. This is a common problem. The fairing smooths the water flow around the saildrive leg, but is mostly cosmetic. After a quick call to Mr Pedro, I cut it off.
The vibration is still there. There's a chunk of paint missing off the propeller boss, but the shaft is clear and it all looks good. The engine runs sweetly out of gear. Gear box oil is clear. Conclusion: the prop is a little out of alignment. Its not serious enough to be worth the time, expense, and hassle of lifting the boat out.
So... the paranoia will continue for now. If only the wind would get up and give me something else to worry about.
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