Engine repairs

On Saturday (4-October-2014) I went to the boat to get the engine running. Last week on Saturday, after we sailed all day, the engine died on us as we were coming back into the dock. Luckily it died as we were making the final turn into our dock area and our momentum allowed us to glide into our slip without any issues. We quickly had a look at things and saw a minor leak at the fuel prime bulb. We thought that the leak was allowing air to get into the fuel line. Diesel engines do not run with air in the fuel line.

On Sunday, we bought a new prime bulb and went the boat hoping for a quick fix and an afternoon sail. We had a closer look at the fuel system on Sunday and found that the fuel hose between the fuel filter and the high pressure fuel injection pump had a crack in it. We tried the parts store at Larsen Marina to see if they had a hose in stock…they didn’t. So we called it quits for the day.


Fuel hose with a crack in it

The following week I tried to find a replacement hose and was unsuccessful. Our engine is a vintage 1975 Yanmar SB12 and it is hard to find parts for it anymore.

I ended up cutting the fittings off the original hose to reuse them and bought a foot of fuel injector hose from the local auto parts store to make a replacement hose.


Cutting fittings off the old hose

So, on Saturday I installed the prime bulb, new fuel hose and after several attempts at bleeding the air out of the system got the engine running again.

New prime bulb and hose installed


Yanmar SB12 running again.

Relaxing sail….meaning very little wind.

On Saturday (27-September-2014) my friend Joe, my brother and I went out for a pleasant sail. Winds were light…6 knots max. It was a relaxing time on Lake Michigan though we did have a little excitement when the engine died on us as we were coming back into the dock. Luckily it died as we were making the final turn into our dock area and our momentum aloud us to glide easily into our slip without any issues.



Joe and my brother Rich



Me



5 foot long rolling waves

On Saturday (6-Sept-14) my wife, brother, a couple friends and I went out for a sail. The winds were nice for the first couple hours, but then died down to less than3 knots.

The waves were in the 2 – 5 foot range, but the wave length was the longest that I have seen in the 3 years we’ve been sailing on Lake Michigan. They were long rolling waves and not too uncomfortable.

A good time was had by all.

Sunday (31-Aug-14) Sail

On Sunday (31-Aug-14) my brother and I went out for a great sail. Winds were 8 knots as we headed out and got to 14 knots with waves about 1 foot providing an excellent afternoon on the lake. Winds did die down to about 5 knots late in the afternoon, so we headed back in a little earlier than we would have like.

On Saturday the winds were gusting to 35 knots so we and other sailors did not get out, so on Sunday there was a lot of boats out enjoying the day.

When the winds were touching 14 knots we did dip the rail in the water a few times for brief moments.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge & Sailing into WI waters

On Sunday (24-Aug-14) I went out with my brother and a friend, Mark, on a beautiful day for a sail on Lake Michigan.

I also took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge while sailing.

We headed straight north and ventured into Wisconsin waters.

Our SOG (Speed Over the Ground) was ~6.0 knots while sailing north.

After we tacked and headed south again the wind let up a bit and we were heading into the waves. Our SOG was ~4.0 knots.

Sailed into Wisconsin waters for the first time.

My brother and I took vacation days on Friday and went for a sail north towards Kenosha WI. The winds didn’t cooperate enough to make it all the way there, but we got within 3.75 miles. It was the first time we sailed into Wisconsin waters. After we turned around to head back towards Waukegan, a significant storm grew over the Milwaukee area and was heading south towards us. There was 1” hail in some parts of the storm cell. We kept an eye on it and pulled back into the Waukegan Marina about 30 minutes ahead of the storm.

( Light winds from directly behind us)


(First time in Wisconsin waters)


(Storm front chasing us)

On Saturday, my wife and I went for a sail. The skies we sunny with winds in the 5-10 knot range and waves less than 1 foot. Just the way she likes to sail. There were a lot of other sailboats out enjoying the day on the lake.


(Not a cloud in the sky)

On Sunday, my brother and I went sailing and had a brief unpleasant experience has at one point the wind died completely and 10 million gnats descended on us when we were about 2.5 miles out on the lake. They covered our shirts, hats, sails, deck and were thick in the air. We quickly started the engine and motored away from them. The winds did a 180 degree change and we had a really good day sailing after that.

(Gnats everywhere. This is after we motored away and banged on the main sail to clear them away. You can still see some on the sail and in the air)


(Nice breeze)

Single handed sail

On Friday I took a vacation day and went for a single handed sail.

Winds were in the 15 – 20 knot range when I left the marina and quickly started gusting in the 25+ knot range. I had to put a reef in the main and let the jib out a bit. After about an hour the winds calmed down a lot and I un-reefed the main.

Because the weather radar was showing rain heading my way, I headed back towards the harbor, but it turned out to be just a few sprinkles and quickly cleared up. So…I kept sailing and had another couple hours out on the lake.

Check out the YouTube video for the day’s sail. I was playing around with the “slow motion” feature on my iPhone and set the slo motion clips to “dramatic” background audio.

On Saturday, my brother and I went for a sail. Winds were almost nonexistent when we left, but picked up nicely after about a half hour. We had a nice sail 6 miles straight out from the harbor when someone turned off the fan. We tacked back towards Waukegan and didn’t go anywhere due to the lack of wind. We did catch a slight breeze for a while, but it didn’t last long so we motored back in and were all tied up by 4:00.

On Sunday the forecast included a small craft advisory and the winds in the Waukegan area were in the 25-30 range so we did not go sailing.

To Chicago and Back

On Friday, my brother and I sailed from Waukegan to Chicago. We had to motor for about 2/3rds of the way since the wind was right on the “nose”. We were able to sail the last 3rd of the trip on our way to Belmont Harbor.
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(Motoring into the wind and waves)

Even motoring it took about 8 hours to go 27.5 miles because the wind and waves were against us.

(Hello Chicago)

I had called to make a slip reservation on the Monday before we left, but when we arrived (about 7:15 pm) there was a motor boat in the slip that was assigned to us (D08) so I pulled into the next empty slip. I went to the Harbor Master to let them know about the issue and after a half hour of checking this and checking that and confirming D08 was my slip, but no one was onboard the boat in D08 to move it, they assigned me to slip E29. When we got to E29….yep there was another boat in that slip. They were onboard and said that E29 was theirs and they have been there all season. So we pulled into the next empty slip (E26). Another trip to the Harbor Master found the office closed (by now it was after 8:00pm), but I found one of the staff who brought me into the office. The girl who reassigned me to slip E29 must be dyslexic, because she wrote E29, but meant E26.

On Saturday, my wife, brother, and a friend and I sailed the Chicago lake front and got to see the Chicago to Mackinac racers start the race. It was pretty cool seeing a forest of sails as hundreds of sailboats where across the horizon. Shortly after putting the sails up and turning the motor off we had to turn the motor back on to maneuver out of the way of the racers. They all turned west right out of the “gate” to head up the west coast right passed Belmont Harbor.

(Chicago to Mackinac Racers)


(more Chicago to Mackinac Racers)

Sailing the Chicago lake front inside the breakwater is always enjoyable and picturesque, if not crowed with a lot of wave action and little wind. Once we got south of the breakwater the wind picked up nicely and were able to sail ~ 4 knots.




I had planned to sail as far south as the new 31st street harbor, but as we got close and I had gone below to get a drink, I smelled fuel. Checking the engine compartment I saw a fuel line slowly dripping fuel. It was a simple and fast fix to tighten the fitting, but when I came back on deck and looked overboard I could see the bottom of the lake. We had gone a bit further south than planned and were in very shallow and rocky water (Morgan Shoal). We immediately came about to head back the way we came in and did touch bottom briefly during the turn.

(We sailed a little too far south)

After that little excitement we sailed back inside the breakwater area where the wind died down again. We enjoyed the view some more and then tacked to head outside the breakwater to find some wind. Once outside the breakwater the wind picked back up and we sailed back to Belmont Harbor.


It was a very nice day.

One Sunday my brother and I sailed back to Waukegan with much more favorable winds that the trip down. We were on a beam reach for the first 1/3rd of the trip and a broad reach the rest of the trip (except for the last 2 miles when the wind was at our backs and we sailed wing and wing). The return trip only took about 6 hours.

Along the way we did a couple small projects including installing the new lifeline covers I bought on eBay. They are designed to go over a “pool noodle” and provide much needed comfort when leaning against the lifelines.

(Goodbye Chicago)


(Sailing comfortably on a broad reach)


(Bro relaxing on the foredeck)


(Sailing wing and wing)