By Rich

We are planning a couple of short cruises this winter, but we plan to keep fairly close to Lauderdale to focus on getting the boat ready for the “big cruise.” First up: our main engine is burning a ton of oil (one quart per 50 hours of run time). Since it was compression tested in Charleston before we bought the boat, we don’t think it’s generally a tired engine. Rather, I suspect the turbo seals may have been leaking since I noticed a film of oil on the rubber portions of the induction pipes just upstream of the turbo compressor. So we decided to have the turbocharger and oil cooler removed to be serviced and checked for leaks. As things came apart we did see quite a bit of oil in the induction pipes where it shouldn’t be:

And once the turbo came off we found the impeller pretty contaminated with carbon, so it was the right time to service the turbo anyway:

After a week or so we got back our shiny, newly serviced turbo and had it installed. Next we need to run the motor for another 50-100 hours and see if our oil consumption is solved.

We also noticed that our staysail stay was too long during our delivery south. The rigger that installed it may not have had it short enough, and in addition the stay may have stretched during the last 1,400 miles of travels between Charleston => Annapolis and Annapolis => Fort Lauderdale.

Having adequate tension on the staysail stay is vital to steadying the rig on a boat with inline spreaders, and in addition any roller furling sail will be a pain to furl, unfurl and generally handle if there is this much slack in the stay. Just ask Ken Read:

Fortunately, there is an adjustment available to shorten the stay once the furling drum is loosened up and moved out of the way:

So after pulling a half inch or so out of the length, we have the rig just pulled a bit forward by the stay before the checkstays are tensioned to pull it a bit back into column and really steady everything. Job done!

We’re also upgrading various bits of running rigging, including a new mainsail outhaul.

Our favorite sailmaker here in Lauderdale pointed out that bowlines take a lot of strength out of line, so he recommended we use a splice instead.

We opted to just replace the whole line and have it made with a splice from the start.

Currently, with the holidays fast approaching there will be a bit of a pause before we resume our projects and get in some winter cruises to Miami and the Keys!