I couldn’t reach Andy on the VHF but Mark from “Sea Life” was kind enough to call them on the phone. Andy came by an hour later and we started working. I had purchased a new fuel pump, had installed the new fuel filter but couldn’t put the whole assembly back together alone. Our first problems occurred when the brass fittings on the fuel pump were seized or hard to move and we broke one of the fittings completely off. I went ashore to procure replacements (plus some extra oil for the generator and fuel mats and other items) but I ended up not finding the exact part with a 90° bend but one with a straight fitting the would hopefully work out.
The fuel drip had gotten bad when I returned to the boat and I was happy to have the extra fuel mats to prevent the diesel from spilling out of the enclosure into the bilges. Andy arrived and he’d brought a Shop-Vac which we used to clean up a bit. The new fuel pump was quickly replaced, but then we worked in tandem almost 2 hours trying to get the 2 bolts and nuts into place to reattach the assembly to the engine. We gave up and attached it with just one bolt as we realized that we weren’t going to have any luck with the second bolt – but the assembly doesn’t support more than the fuel filter weight so we are confident that it will hold.
Towards the end of the day we finally sealed the system and Andy left to visit another client while I put the hoses back on and inserted the new impeller plus filled up the oil. Shortly before dark I had the generator ready for a test run. I primed the system for almost a minute to bleed the air from the diesel lines and the generator fired up (a bit rough at first, then smooth) and I couldn’t find/see/hear any water or diesel leaks so it seems that our surgery was successful.
I’d used mats and the Shop-Vac to remove as much diesel as I could find and I hope that airing it out and using the kitty litter that Andy swears by will get rid of the diesel odor.
The Heineken Regatta Volunteer party began at 19:00 with a tombola (I purchased $20 of tickets and was fortunate enough to win a Gill technical long-sleeved shirt) and free drinks and food plus a blessedly short series of speeches by various people.
