This will actually be my first ever captains log entry, which I am now learning is something that I should have been doing since the purchase of my sailboat back in August 2023. However, there’s no time like the present to start, as they do say.
A brief history of how I got to where I am currently, but I do plan to tell the more detailed version later on. This all started when I was at the Danger Bay Longboard race, in front of mine, came to watch the race by sailboat. After which he offered me a ride back to Vancouver, via said sailboat, and I immediately fell in love with sailing. Fast forward, three crazy months of searching for a sailboat, and I found Ulysses up in Powell River, British Columbia. I then sailed down from Powell River with various friends, along the BC coast, and got to Vancouver after a long journey, and many stops along the way. Everything was good with the sailboat during these several trips I made, and recently I returned to Vancouver to work on upgrading the comforts of my home on the water.
However I am presently aboard my sailboat, Ulysses, without power. The reason I am in the state is because my motor recently stopped running, which lead me to discover that my diesel had gone bad. Without a running engine, then a couple cloudy days without the sun, and then you very quickly run out of battery power. At first I did not know what the issue was so we did a lot of troubleshooting with a helpful mechanic that also lives on the water. After fixing a leaky water pump, replacing the filters and bleeding the system for air in the fuel lines, we then took a look at the diesel, and found it to be the problem. To confirm this we bought a Jerry can full of clean diesel in connected it directly to the fuel line on the engine. This did run the engine when we tried this, however, we did not anticipate how much would come out of the return line. So unfortunately, our return container overflowed, and now I have diesel in my bilge.
)
So currently, the next step is to re-plumbed the fuel lines into a single Jerry can, and add a filter to keep the fuel clean as it cycles through the engine. That should allow me to run my engine, as long as I still have fuel in the Jerry can, and not in my bilge. This, however, could not have come at a worse time, as we just got hit with a wind storm. What are the winds hit over 36 knots! So I had my anchor dragged, I could’ve only motored for a few minutes before running out of fuel, in order to save my boat. Luckily, many of the fellow boaters around here, will save each other’s boats if they see you drag, but those are still odds I did not want to take, so I quickly Jerry rigged a small Jerry can so that I could run at least a few minutes longer without spilling all my fuel. Luckily, I did not drag and there was no need for me to run my engine.
After I get a larger Jerry can filled with clean fuel, I will then have to figure out what to do with my bad diesel, or if there is a way for me to clean it and continue to use it. Hopefully I don’t have to dispose of what is probably around three to $400 worth of diesel. Wish me luck, boat life!
Motor and sails. It has been years since I sailed. Most fun in the world being on a boat.
Fully agreed! Of course there’s ups and downs, but it’s teaching me a lot about my motor. Luckily it happened while I was at a dock, not on a voyage somewhere.