CS34 Sandy Cove to Kerr Bay

We hoisted anchor at around 9am.  The batteries were low, so I had to hoist the 45lb anchor and 80 ft of chain manually (cound not use the electric windlass).

No wind at all, water was flat, and motored accross the Bay of Quinte, through Telegraph Narrows, and under the 2nd bridge at Deseronto.  Our batteries were getting really low just running the fridge and instruments.  When the chart plotter and depth meter went out, I got the diesel generator out, and ran it for a while on deck.

I didn't want to push the motor, so kept the RPMs around 1,500, doing about 4.5 knots.  I was falling behind the pack, so decided put increase our speed, but the motor would not go past 2,000 RPM.  I looked back and there was a LOT white smoke coming out the exhaust.  I thought maybe we had some weeds stuck on our keel, rudder, prop shaft, or intake, so I gunned the motor in reverse to clear it.  Well, TONS of black oil came out of the exhaust.  I immediately shut down, and radioed for Silhouette to tow us.  I went below and checked the transmission fluid; no problem.  I check the oil, and the dipstick showed it was WAY overfilled and the oil was like Coke!

I got out the Yanmar motor service manual, did some reading, and found out that when I was playing with the belt, I had accidentally flicked one of the de-compression switches on the top of the motor.  There are two de-compression switches on the motor (one of each cylinder).  They are used to allow you to manually crank and start a motor in the event you have lost your starter or battery.  You flick the de-compression switches on, crank the motor with a hand crank, and flick the switches back on, and motor would start.

Well the motor had been running for a couple of hours on one cylinder!  The diesel injector were still pumping diesel fuel in the cylinder, and it was leaking past the piston/rings into the crankcase.

We could not risk running the motor with Coke thin oil.

Silhouette was glad tow us for the next 25 miles!

Thanks Rod and Ondine!

Winds had picked up to about 6 knots on the nose toward Picton, but was on the beam during Adolphus Reach.  Again, I unfurled the jib to help out.  In tow we were ding about 4.5 knots.

French Vanilla radioed that thier broken motor mounts had taken a turn for the worst: their engine was WAY out of alignment, and the crankshaft pulley was rubbing on the fibreglass motor mount stringers.  They had to be towed by Sea Beyond to Adolphous Reach, where Aftica took over.

French Vanilla being towed by Sea Beyond

When we were passing the Glamoran Ferry, we passed a CS40 called AlexBrae.  I did a cheerful hello to Carson Woods from RCYC, the fellow that I spent 52 hours on Coug during the Lake Ontario 300 just two week ago!  I hailed him on the radio, and he was able to give us some phone numbers of a number of marine mechanics in Kingston.  Carson had been cruising the 1000 Islands with his wife, and they had their water pump pack it in, laying him up for three days., so he recommended the mechanic he used.

There is a gap open to Lake Ontario between Prince Edward County and Amherst Island.  Winds picked up to over 15 knots, so we dropped the tow line and sailed for about half a hour.   It was nice!

Silhouette is a Douglas 32
Nice looking boat!

We picked up the tow again when the wind was shaddowed by Amherst Island.

We started our motor only after dropping the tow line in Kerr Bay.

We dropped anchor between Marietta and Aftica.  The winds were blowing lightly from the SW, so we were close to shore to take the dog for a pee.  We had let out 60 ft of chain and 20 ft of rode; we were in 10 ft of water so that was 8:1 scope for the anchor.  Did NOT want to drag anchor into the shore!

We had a nice swim in the bay!

Jerry was low on diesel after towing French Vanilla, so I dropped my 20L reserve jerry can for him.

We had a nice dinner on Marietta hosted by Don and Judy, with Harvey and Sherry Lynn.

Trip Odometer: 43.9 miles
Moving Time: 09:30:00

Google Earth Track: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2012/20120808.kmz

Awesome sunset at Kerr Bay