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Starblazer - 22/04/2016 - We have an engine!



The World ARC finished with a Parade of Sail from Marigot Bay to Rodney Bay via Castries Harbour on Saturday 9th. All the boats travelled in line, led by the smallest boat then in order of length. Starblazer should have been fourth in line but sadly couldn't take part though we did, thanks to a couple of boats. First of all we had to get to Marigot Bay so were offered a lift on a big motor boat which escorts the fleet every year. 23 knots was stunning! Two boats kindly offered us a ride back to Rodney Bay; we opted for Chat Eau Bleu, an Australian owned catamaran with just Pete and Debbie on board. The reception on the pontoon was great, but tinged with sadness. First there was the euphoria of returning to what, for the majority of the fleet, was our departure point but the sadness was knowing that very soon the boats would start to leave to go their separate ways. That evening we had the final dinner and awards evening at the Royal St Lucian Hotel. It was a good night.

On Sunday the party continued under another guise. Many of us gathered by the swimming pool to help Bluebell celebrate her birthday a bit early. By Monday the party was over and boats started preparing to leave. John had e-mailed a parts list to Marintek on Sunday then confirmed a couple of details with Egbert on Monday morning. I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the week. Apart from releasing lines and waving goodbye at regular intervals, John cleaned up the cylinder head and removed the rest of the valves discovering that in total 4 of the 8 valve springs were broken. It is amazing that the engine worked as long as it did! He then ground in the valves, ready for the rebuild. I set about replacing the rest of the zips in the cockpit seat cushions, which were not designed to be removed! I had bought two 3 yard (2.7 meters) rolls of heavy duty zip with 12 pullers in Australia, so I could cut to size with no wastage. Unfortunately I needed 6 metres almost exactly, a fact I discovered a few days ago. This necessitated a bus ride to Castries to find a sewing centre. The 20 inch heavy duty zip cost EC$ 4.15, just over £1, and the bus fare was a very reasonable EC$2.50 each way.

Last Friday John finally received a tracking number for the Volvo parts which were picked up in Belgium at about 1700 on Friday then flown to Paris Charles de Gaule. They arrived in Memphis USA on Sunday and were shipped on to Puerto Rico. Monday they travelled from Puerto Rico to Vigie Airport at Castries, finally arriving with the Customs Agent at the marina on Tuesday morning. By Tuesday evening the valves had been reinstalled and we managed to lift the cylinder head back into place. John then bolted it down, closely following the assembly directions. John had hoped to complete the rebuild by Wednesday evening and we had invited Pete and Debbie on board for drinks and dinner. Unfortunately the job wasn't quite complete, leaving a few more bits to be connected before we could try to start it. Thursday morning the moment of truth arrived; I turned the key while John bled the fuel lines until he had diesel at each injector BUT the engine wouldn't start. Eventually he phoned Egbert who came along after lunch. There was a problem with the throttle connection to the injector pump. With 'full' throttle the engine started but clearly the throttle wasn't fully open. Egbert said normally they didn't touch the throttle plate to pump connection but John couldn't get the inlet manifold off with the plate in place. While I dinghied across to the supermarket John refitted the plate by trial and error. As soon as I got back we primed the salt water cooling and I started the engine, success! We ran the engine for a while to warm up the oil then John drained the oil out. We were invited across to Chat Eau Bleu for sundowners, together with Peter and Marion who had just returned to Exody, so the oil refill had to wait.

While all this engineering has been going on we have also managed some sailing. Last Sunday we were invited to join Chat Eau Bleu together with 'yellow shirt' Peta and her sons on a day sail. We sailed to Anse Cochon, the bay where we had picked up a mooring on our way up to Rodney Bay. The sailing was great, 5-6 knots in light winds building to 9 knots when the wind freshened. I can see the attraction of catamarans though they are clearly more suited to hot climates (lots of outdoor living space) and areas with lots of anchorages or cheap marinas, so that discounts the UK!

One other problem was swiftly dealt with when John contacted Prudent, recommended by Egbert, who came along while I was shopping, discovered a leaking O ring in the freezer lines, replaced the O ring and recharged the system. The freezer is now getting colder again! It is now looking highly unlikely that the Fischer Panda will be reinstalled before December. Palm Tree Marine just aren't communicating with us, the last e-mail said they would send a tracking number when they have one. If the replacement alternator section has not left the U.S. yet there is no way we can get to Grenada to have the unit reinstalled and be in the British Virgin Islands in time to leave with ARC USA. This is not a good situation, especially as the little Honda still has problems. The service in Grenada did very little to the running of the generator, John could have cleaned the carburettor himself. He has now found that the little electric motor which sits on top of the carburettor and adjusts the throttle when you put a load on to keep the RPM constant, has failed. This part was replaced in Opua, sourcing a replacement in the Caribbean is proving rather difficult. Fortunately the 'intelligent' 50 amp battery charger can be reconfigured via the laptop to only put out 30 amps which the Honda can cope with. We just have to run it for longer.

Life isn't all problems, they just seem to attack us mob handed! Hopefully we will leave St Lucia today and start our trip north. Watch this space.

Joyce



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