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wrote:

Back from the first 10-day leg of our extended summer cruise, (boat is
in Comox, BC and we're going back up in about 3 weeks).

Almost had the shortest cruise in history!

We were just a few miles from from the marina on Day 1, when the oil
pressure alarm started to sound. I shut down the engine immediately

Excellent move. I'm always surprised at the people who think it's OK to
run the engine "just for a little while longer" when it's out of oil.

As soon as the engine was restarted, I noticed a geyser of oil spurting
out from under the more forward oil filter.

Your new engine has 2 lube oil filters? Cool!

Spun on the spare filter, put on the rubber gloves, and spent a messy
little while pumping the oil in the bilge into a big bucket with the
hand-operated, portable bilge pump.

Bravo for not simply pumping it over the side.

... We were back underway again but
with *no oil reserve* and *no spare filter*. We were able to buy some
more oil at the next fuel dock we encountered, but due to the very late
hour we couldn't find suitable filters until the following day. It was
a nervous situation: if the second filter had been installed as poorly
as the first and caused us to lose oil pressure again, we would be
candidates for getting towed in.

Not a disaster as long as you have the insurance and aren't too far from
civilization.

New "used oil" policy for me. Rather than take all the used oil to the
recycling station, I will keep the latest batch of "dirty" oil
aboard in specially marked jugs. Coupled with the 4 gallons of reserve
oil I normally carry, this will leave me better prepared in case
something like this should ever happen again. Dumping "dirty" oil into
an engine isn't the world's greatest idea, but it sure beats attempting
to run on no oil whatsoever.

Why not carry a larger reserve of oil? Wal-Mart sells Rotella-T in 5 gal
cases (two 2.5gal jugs, a handy size IMHO) for approx $35. I get it at
Agri-Supply when it's on sale, slightly less. I try to keep a stock of
10 gallons aboard, one gallon in a "ready service" jug in the engine
room and the rest stowed securely in the lazarette.

I now think it makes sense to be ready to change the or replenish the
oil *twice*, with my poorly installed oil filter teaching me a valuable
lesson. (It would also make sense to simply carry 8 gallons of fresh
oil......) I won't leave the dock again without *two* spare oil
filters, either.

To be honest, I'm not sure how many oil & fuel filters we have on board
right now, I buy them by the case & don't worry.

I have two jugs for dirty oil, both VERY well marked "USED OIL" in two
colors of permanent marker on all sides. They get taken to the recycle
center (although some advocate simply dumping it in the fuel tank) and
stowed empty.

You're right that putting in dirty oil is better than nothing... like
the time I filled up my truck radiator with ditch water... but it's not
really a good option.

Fair Skies
Doug King