AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/09/01 01:42
LATITUDE: 16-43.73S
LONGITUDE: 151-26.60W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 15
WIND_DIR: SSE
CLOUDS: 15%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1014.9
AIR_TEMP: 30.0C
COMMENT: Beach House – DOCKED – Uturoa, Raiatea – Leeward Islands
Update – Monday, September 4th…. We\’re still waiting for parts to be delivered today and some tomorrow. The dock we\’re at is well beyond uncomfortable and such is life. We went for a nice drive around the island and saw the historic sites and had a lovely lunch and dinner out.
Stand by, more updates soon.
No, I don\’t even believe it! (September 1st).
We pulled into Huahine after a 12 hour motor sail and when I went to do my normal engine checks, I found that the pulley at the front of the right (starboard engine) had sheared off. The high tensile bolts had sheared off and this put both alternators and the fresh water pump out of action and we could not use the engine. If this happened to the right side, might it not happen to the left? I checked and no problem….so far. We also noted an oil leak on the right engine from the interface of the transmission and rear engine. This was an issue on the old engines. Could it now be the transmission?
So, we moved on early this morning to the island of Raiatea where fortunately, Sin Tung Hings\’ engine rep, \”Robin\” (who we heard nothing but good things about since we arrived in Tahiti), met us this afternoon. He diagnosed the issue with the belts as the bolts were not tightened and one of the plates may have been defectively made to hold the pulley on the front of the engine. He checked the port side and found the same oil leak as the starboard side but first confirmed that the pulleys there were okay. The bolts were a little loose but not damaged. As such, he put them in with red loctite which should keep them in forever. He will remove the right engine front plate to remove the broken bolts tomorrow and have the whole assembly sent to Tahiti by air tomorrow. They will replace or remake the necessary parts and get back to us hopefully by Friday or Saturday – also by air.
As to the leaks. He said they did not level the engine correctly when they installed them to align to the sail drive transmissions. He ordered two new motor mounts to be able to lift the front ends of the engines up about 1/2 – 1 CM. 1/4\” to just under 1/2 \”. This will align the transmissions properly and according to Robin stop the leak from pushing at a seal. The seal he thinks is fine as the oil leaks are indeed very small. We only need new front right mounts on both engines. The port ones will be able to be extended high enough.
We\’ll do some exploring and try and relax and while here, I will try and get the boom shimmed up as well where it\’s \”working\” on the gooseneck.
It never ends folks. It\’s a boat!…..
We have from excellent to non existent internet here which has been capricious so far. So, we hope to get a photo blog up in the next few days about our time in Moorea and our \”moment\” in Huahine. If the weather cooperates and we get fixed fast enough, we might go back there for a few days? It\’s only 22 miles away.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki