Delightful . . . .

[Dave Richardson]

. . . . . . to come back and peruse the posts. I always learn. The exchange with Iain McAllister was wonderful. I envy the knowledge so many of you posters have. We've (me, my wife, her Yorkie and my golden retreiver) just returned from a trip the the Bahamas, about three and a half months of living aboard 949EE. I'll work up some notes and offer some thoughts in a day or so. But I will caution anyone with an old Westerbeke engine to check their oil lines. Not good have one rupture half way across the Gulf Stream. Actually, that wasn't bad; we sailed all the way from Marathon, Fla. to Cat Cay. Glorious sail, fabulous. The bad part is trying to find oil lines in the Bahamas.
Anyway, it has been fun catching up on David's super site.
And, Whit, I sent a message to mitchski offering whatever help I can. You're right: I do know cockpits, at least mine.

 

[Quetzalsailor]

Ahhh the fractured fuel line... Been there, on a Columbia 57 with an old Perkins. A thousand miles from land, if you don't count the stuff only three miles away straight down. I spent a jolly couple of hours over the propane stove heating a fuel line found in the bottom of a forepeak bin, but from some other engine, to cherry red and rebending it to fit the Perkins. Successfully.

The entire 8-9 day passage from St Thomas to Cape Cod was enlivened with daily engine breakdowns and the inevitable rebleeding, dirty fuel, broken steering cable.

I've got better and stronger memories of the great beauty out there!