The Campfire Trail: March 17 - Resort Adventures - Mechanic Mike in the Engine Room

March 17, 2021

Day 76 - 289 Days To Go

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost at Sea...... (Just kidding, Lost on the Lake! Colombia/Sumatra blend in honor of todays Resort Adventures posting which is the day 3 video aboard Treasured Times in the Florida Keys)

I've decided to revisit yesterdays posting on the day three video of our Treasured Times cruise back in early February. As mentioned in the post yesterday, we encountered a mechanical problem on day three. It was certainly an issue, but once identified, it actually made perfect sense why it happened. Treasured Times is a 52' Vitech Motor Yacht. It had been home for the previous owner for five years docked in a marina and had very little ocean time. The Motor Surveys proved the motors to be very sound and in overall excellent shape. Our third day at sea was a choppy one with wind kicking waves up to about four feet. After about an hour or so, the engines and generator began having problems. Mike discovered air bubbles flowing through the clear fuel lines. Definitely not normal and something of a concern as diesel engines can stall out if enough air flows into the injectors. (My diesel truck will shut down on occasion if the filter is getting air or water in it to prevent it from reaching the engine) In this case, Mike discovered clogged filter screens leading from each of the fuel tanks.

The Culprit..........

The five year mostly dormant life of Treasured Times with the previous owner had been enough time for the fuel tanks to grow some algae. Yeah, I never heard of that either, but evidently it's a thing. The older fuel was treated to give it life back last fall and all the old fuel had been burned up since then with fresh fuel in the tanks now. However, the algae sediment that had collected in the tank must have gotten stirred up in the rough surf and become suspended in the fuel and then made it into the filter screens clogging them to the point of choking off the fuel supply to the engines and generator. The draw of the fuel pumps were desperately trying to pull fuel through clogged lines causing air to seep in through fittings which would normally never happen.

Once identified, the fix took probably 15 minutes. We were never concerned with this delay or problem. Part of what makes the Treasured Times crew so perfect for the "Adventure Charter" business is their knowledge and skill at all levels of boat operation. One of our goals was to put the boat through a long distance charter specifically to try and identify anything that might present a problem. We found only one and it's been identified as a new part of the daily maintenance routine to keep things running smoothly for future guests.

Day 3 of our "Adventure Charter" on Treasured Times.