When I had all those engine problems, I talked with Doug, the marina owner, about what size outboard to get to push me around.  He suggested a 15 HP. Well, Steve N. had the outboard I’d sold him when I bought the boat and wasn’t using it, so he offered to let me use it until he was able to sell it, or until I got the inboard fixed, whichever came first. The outboard was a 9.9 HP Mercury Big Foot, a 4-stroke engine.  It was what came off the boat, so of course it should be able to push it through the water.

And it did. When it was running. 🙁

Problem is, Steve hadn’t done anything with it since he bought it from me a couple years ago.  Mind you, we did start it, with little trouble, in his back yard.  Wanted to do that before hauling it all the way out and finding it didn’t work.  Problem is, it wouldn’t stay running. And each time you tried, it would be harder to start.

So I changed out the spark plugs and the fuel filter.  And, because the fuel line was falling apart as I tried to remove it from the filter, I replaced that, too. It still had problems.  Which meant, I know, and had confirmed by others with much more wisdom than I, that the carburetor was going to need cleaning yet.

Ever see a diagram of a carburetor? It’s pretty scary! All those parts! I was paranoid that I’d get it apart and have a pieces left over when I tried putting it back together.  So that I am leaving to Brent, the mechanic at the marina.

But I digress….

The engine would at least start. So I emailed the crew and told them we’d be participating in tonight’s race. As usual, I checked the weather and tides before heading out.  The tides would be coming in, with high tide about the time we finished up.  There was a small craft advisory, and the winds at the nearby buoys were showing winds in excess of 20 MPH. But hey, I’ve braved a gale. This would be something I could handle.

Right.

If I could only get the boat out of the marina and into the river!

I had some newbies on the boat tonight: one gal whose first time on a sailboat was the previous week when we just puttered around, since there was no wind and I didn’t want to come in after dark with a newbie, and two gals who this week was their first time on a sailboat.

Well, we had the usual problems getting the engine starting, but it would at least run.  Problem is, that poor little thing couldn’t push the boat out of the marina. We steered one way; it moved the way the wind was blowing.  We’d make a little progress, but not enough to even make it to the channel.  We spent about 15 minutes trying to maneuver her out of the marina area and just couldn’t do it.  And those poor newbies were helping us not hit the docks too hard, or hit the other boats parked at the end of the docks!

At that point, I decided we’d skip the race and just try to get back to the slip. No go. We couldn’t get that far: 200 yards maybe?

<sigh!>

We finally pulled over at the end of the pier and tied up. I went to Doug’s house, since I didn’t remember his cell number, and let him know where we were.  I wanted to make sure that no one else was going to be expecting to tie up there. And tomorrow morning I’ll try again to start the engine so I can get moved back into my slip. Then Brent can get it fixed, which will at least let us get the thing started, if not moved out to the river, until the inboard is repaired.

Those of you who have been following these posts for awhile know that I had problems with the engine not starting last winter.  Well this year I tried to avoid that problem by trying to turn it over every week or two.  But it wouldn’t turn over.

Let me back up a bit, because there’s more to this story that I’ve not had time to share will you.

Back in November, during the last race of the year, the engine died on us on the way out of the marina.  So along with getting stuck in the channel, I had a dead engine to contend with.  The tank still had plenty in it, but I added the gallon I keep around for emergencies anyway.  Now the engine worked fine, which made me suspect that the fuel was dirty.  So I asked at the marina about having the tank cleaned out.  I was told it would run about $300.  Better to just try changing the filters first.  So they did that.  And their diesel expert, who changed the filters, suggested getting the tank cleaned out.  No duh!

So the tank was cleaned.

But, if you’ve also kept an eye on the Mid-Atlantic weather, you’ve seen that we’re having quite a cold winter this year. And, when the mechanics were through, I still couldn’t start the engine.

Because it has been so cold, as per Nelson’s suggestion last winter, I’ve kept a light bulb on the engine to keep it from getting too cold.  Apparently, though, that didn’t make it warm enough to get it started. Brent, the diesel mechanic, suggested I might want to get something to warm the engine and see if the thing just doesn’t like cold weather.

I have a sister who lives in New Hampshire.  She told me years ago about dipstick heaters that they use in the winter up there.  But when I tried to find one online, the ones I found either were oil pan heaters (which I was told weren’t the best to use on this engine) and dipstick heaters that didn’t warm the engine enough that it would be able to start.

Oh well!

Oh, the marina did try using a block heater.  But apparently there isn’t enough flat surface on my engine to stick the thing on.

So, I talked to my engine guru, Dan.  He suggested something that would warm the antifreeze instead.  So I’m purchasing one of these:

It’s a Kim Hotstart coolant heater. I’ll let you know how it goes!