Hi all,
Here's a story that fits in the "What's the chances?" category.
The boat we're traveling with (live-aboards for a decade on a CSY-44) stops only because we needed work done. They decide to have their gen-set looked at only to have it totally fail to run while being serviced. The Northern Lights gen-set is revived after the injectors are replaced and other serious work had been done.
Then the mechanic offers to adjust the valves since he's there and one of the rocker arms is a little sloppy. A tiny cap that fits on the valve stem is missing (go figure it is a limited run diesel engine and luckily stuff didn't fall into the cylinder). A search reveals no parts available until the end of January from Japan and a new unit is over $8K. The mechanic does find one in Alaska that might have a rocker assembly that would fit. So it's a "waiting for parts" evening.
While we've been docked here we've been socializing and helping other boaters as we sit and wait. The wives, fast friends, have been busy shopping and making several pot-luck meals. Well last night it was "Sing along" night with guitars, keyboard, and desert. After a nice evening of music and conversation we drifted toward the "When are you leaving?" shoreline.
Everyone spoke of their timeline on repairs and our friends repeated their story along with the anticipation for the morning delivery. Finally he mentions that it's a Northern Lights gen-set. Our host for the evening, who lives on a Catalina, reaches for his three-ring binder. "Could it be this model? We've been trying to decide how to get rid of it."
Well put away the sheet music and grab a wrench because tomorrow morning we're jumping into the aft locker and extracting a gen-set. This is the short version of a long week of activity, but missing one step and the story would be different. The cruising life is so much different than weekend sailing. "What's the chances?"
All U Get
Member of the Karma Yacht Club
Here's a story that fits in the "What's the chances?" category.
The boat we're traveling with (live-aboards for a decade on a CSY-44) stops only because we needed work done. They decide to have their gen-set looked at only to have it totally fail to run while being serviced. The Northern Lights gen-set is revived after the injectors are replaced and other serious work had been done.
Then the mechanic offers to adjust the valves since he's there and one of the rocker arms is a little sloppy. A tiny cap that fits on the valve stem is missing (go figure it is a limited run diesel engine and luckily stuff didn't fall into the cylinder). A search reveals no parts available until the end of January from Japan and a new unit is over $8K. The mechanic does find one in Alaska that might have a rocker assembly that would fit. So it's a "waiting for parts" evening.
While we've been docked here we've been socializing and helping other boaters as we sit and wait. The wives, fast friends, have been busy shopping and making several pot-luck meals. Well last night it was "Sing along" night with guitars, keyboard, and desert. After a nice evening of music and conversation we drifted toward the "When are you leaving?" shoreline.
Everyone spoke of their timeline on repairs and our friends repeated their story along with the anticipation for the morning delivery. Finally he mentions that it's a Northern Lights gen-set. Our host for the evening, who lives on a Catalina, reaches for his three-ring binder. "Could it be this model? We've been trying to decide how to get rid of it."
Well put away the sheet music and grab a wrench because tomorrow morning we're jumping into the aft locker and extracting a gen-set. This is the short version of a long week of activity, but missing one step and the story would be different. The cruising life is so much different than weekend sailing. "What's the chances?"
All U Get
Member of the Karma Yacht Club
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