We'd noted during our routine inspections of the boat that there was a little bit of sea water accumulating in a small bilge compartment near the exhaust/seawater elbow bend muffler. It wasn't much, probably not even 250ml but we do like a 'dry' boat (not to be confused with an alcohol free boat) and we prefer seawater outside the boat rather than in it. So with not very much other than 'recovering from surgery' on his agenda, the Bloke decided he was feeling quite 'up' for a little bit of boat inspection work. What might be the source of the water? Step one; is it salty or fresh? We'd just had huge amounts of rain. We were delusional of course, this particular bilge area is made up of several small tray-like areas specific for capturing leaks from the propeller shaft, gland and motor; water found here could only be sea water. Just checking!
Lots of careful sponging and groping around hose pipes and clamps and the Bloke was pretty certain that the culprit was the exhaust/seawater elbow bend muffler. Research on the internet revealed that Jeanneau owners have frequently reported a problem with the exhaust/seawater system. There was a recommendation that a manifold be replaced due to cracking. A manufacturing problem with the Yanmar engine. A diesel mechanic recommended that the part be replaced every 500 hours. Great! That might mean that we were long overdue a replacement if our manifold was one of the faulty ones. Whoo spooky. The Bloke's scrutiny of the area suggested that the manifold was not one of the 'bad lot' and was not the sources of the leak. What else could go wrong? "We'll dismantle it a bit and just tighten things up". What could go wrong? As usual, this activity was in a space requiring a certain amount of contortion and although it was agreed that this job was not critical, once the tools were assembled there was no turning back and no possibility of waiting until the directive to "Take it easy and don't do anything too strenuous" was lifted.
Manifold looking good
Air extractor in the foreground.
The effort of separating the black pipes from the elbow box have pretty much separated the Blok'es pipes.. doh!
Of course the job could wait. The boat was not being flooded and the ingress only occurred when the motor was running. At present, this is mostly just to heat up the hot water system and assist with a bit of battery charging. It could definitely wait but once you've seen the problem you can 'unsee' it and the Bloke felt compelled to see the task through. Leaving things semi-dismantled to effect the repair in stages just isn't the Bloke's style and he professed to feeling so much better. Mistake!
The job ran to pattern with sockets and nuts frustratingly dropping into impossible-to-retrieve places. Thank heavens for the telescopic magnetic probe I bought, for no particular reason, at the $2.00 shop. It's been a life saver so many times!
How we love this telescopic thingy.
Escapee socket attached... yeh!
The culprit for the leak was eventually located. A perishing gasket. Attempts to replace it would normally be complicated except for the Bloke's cheeky personality. There is a 'Little ship' in the marina. Talk on the jetties is that it was formerly owned by Dick Smith and had been built to do some research in the Antarctic. It's certainly huge and constantly being washed and polished by an attentive crew. The Bloke reasoned that a little ship like this would definitely carry 'spares' for it's ocean adventures and might have a suitable gasket they could offer until a replacement could be sourced. Better still, it turned out that the ship's workshop had a gasket cutter and the crew very generously manufactured a replacement in a jiff! What luck. I think it will require a 6pack of beers or a tray of pumpkins scones for reward. What's your vote?
The repair is now completed and tested and without doubt the next couple of days are going to be 'recovery days'. The little job, as usual, turned into a BIG JOB and I'm just hoping that the Bloke hasn't burst a gasket of his own in the doing of it.
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