A Quick One

Well, I made it out of False Creek.  I can’t exactly say I made it unscathed, as I managed to somehow burn out (part of) my exhaust system again – but at least I’m out, and out of the immediate danger of being towed away and impounded by the VPD.  Instead, now I am broken down at anchor about 300m due west of the Maritime Museum, bobbing around in the wake of every ship that enters or leaves False Creek, and potentially in danger should the weather turn foul.  Tomorrow I will be picking up a few replacement parts that will help get me up and running again and over to a slightly more comfortable spot.

hoooooovercraft
completely unrelated: Friday morning I was woken up by yet *another* hovercraft. how awesome is this photo!?

I think I actually know what’s going on now.  At some point, X minutes after pushing the engine hard, the cooling water ceases to flow into the exhaust and the superheated exhaust burns a hole in the tubes.  There are a pair of thermostats that redirect the water flow from the exhaust manifold and into the main engine block once they heat up, though the water should then flow into the exhaust manifold and out the exhaust.  I now suspect that the engine block has become fouled with calcium scale, and now water no longer flows through it.  Fixing this will likely require a heavy-duty descaling solution, or perhaps straight-up muriatic acid.  It’s a touchy procedure, but there is hope – I may have finally sorted out a way to barter myself some time with a proper diesel mechanic!

More soon.  I simply have too much work to do to write proper, long blog posts right now.

UPDATE: Swapped in an edited version of the hovercraft shot, with levels and curves tweaked by Jason Sims.  Nice one!

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