Ah happy days! We fixed the jib halyard, replaced the diesel lift pump, stress tested the engines (3000 rpm for a minute or so), all with no ill effects. All the alternators are working perfectly. Smart arduino regulator on the starboard engine with 100A of power. The port engine still has a wimpy alternator. Both engines start from idle. The bilge, after a rough day at sea, remains dry. No water, no oil, no fuel, no leakage from the shaft seals.

But I’m back to a starter problem. Just when you think my starting problems are solved, because it starts fine on a cold morning with no throttle, I find it wouldn’t start when I got near Angel Island. I was starting to suspect that cheap Chinese one I threw on the starboard side. The port engine starter, which is gear driven, hasn’t skipped a beat when starting. But after some reflection on some of my prior starter problem research, it’s way more likely to be the path from the starter switch to the starter solenoid. This only happened when it was hot, so probably some latent corrosion is making the resistance of that longer wire run. There are two other possibilities, which are both less likely: the starter is slipping from the flywheel or there’s a really rough spot on the starboard engine such that having it in a specific spot makes it harder to start. I ordered a remote starter switch to test with the next time this happens.

The watermaker install also didn’t go so well. I’m sucking in some air into the pre-filters and that’s messing up the high pressure pump and not giving me any water. I called Rich from Cruise RO Water, who asserted that I do have air coming in before the pump. I believe this is happening because of the T fitting off to the saltwater pump. I will test this theory by putting a closing nozzle on the hose and see what that does. A more permanent solution is to remove the T fitting and run the saltwater pump from the port side, which previously had an intake for a generator, but has nothing now.

Past weekend trip

I had some different help this weekend -- Nickey and Vince, who are heading out on the HaHa with us from San Diego. Vince was kind enough to remove the remaining diesel from the bilge after the fuel leak was fixed, helped repair the jib halyard, and a few other odds and ends. Nickey helped adjust the hot water temperature so we won’t get scalded.

Our crew of 4 (Mary, Vince, and Nickey) sailed out to Angel Island, had a late lunch, then sailed back. Jane’O handled exceptionally well, hitting a top speed of 12 knots again while on a beam reach through the slot. You can see our route, you can click on the white dots and get our speed.

Tim to the rescue

The weekend finished with a late arrival of Tim, who helped me empty out the garage, hang up the ceilings, and begin the put-away process. We didn’t finish, but we got pretty far.

And now I’m down to lots of high priority remaining items. Nothing to prevent me from sailing south at this point, but here’s a sampling of what’s still needed:

  • Starboard engine starter diagnostics continue.
  • Replace the last three wastewater hoses. Yuck. But the boat smells much better already with most of the hoses replaced. There is still a minor smell from the closet and down near the macerator, which is expected since those are where the last few hoses are.
  • Replace charger/inverter. This has been on my list for weeks, but hasn’t been on the critical list.
  • Finish replacing the window I removed. It has a really cool porthole now, but it’s not glued back down and I don’t have all the hardware.