Heard via email that at least one reader was interested in how the
Yanmar with the hunting problem worked on our passage from Honolulu to
San Fran. The executive summary is that the problem is still there
and I don't know what it is.

The complete saga follows:

The passage was plagued by calms and so we put a lot of hours on the
engines (by far the most ever for a single passage). We generally run
the engines singly and vary the rpms between 24-26 hundred. In
theory, the prop can only absorb ~6hp at those turns and the engine is
near max torque and min specific fuel consumption. And it's enough
power to keep the boat moving ~5 knots in a true calm and up to
~7knots motor sailing. The motors are rated 12 horse continuous so
that also seems like a conservative load. Because we've got the two
of them we seldom run one for more half a day and get to top off the
oil and inspect the Racor on the cold motor before we start it up.
Yet, by the end of the passage both motors were smoking at 24 and I'd
reduced turns to around 22. Except for the slight suggestion of
unburnt fuel in the exhaust of the port motor towards the end of the
passage it ran fine as always.

The starboard engine is another story. I think the underlying problem
maintaining rpms when cold is still there but the motor has developed
a couple of new problems. First, it has now got an air leak in the
fuel system somewhere. I had to bleed the system at the injectors a
couple of times when the motor had sat for a few days (we did get some
sailing in). This is new, or at least new to the extent that
perceptible air is released when the injector is cracked. The motor
has also apparently developed leeks in the fuel system (well more
likely algae). We carry about half our fuel in cans and half in the
tanks. The tanks for both engines have pretty much always been fueled
from the same source at the same time. I always use biocide. But the
fuel in the port engine looks perfect and the Racor bowl is clean and
the starboard engine had a massive algae bloom. The bowl was filled
with dead bugs and I changed out the filter twice (R26S). It's a big
filter for such a small engine but it did get full of bugs. I don't
have a vacuum gage on it. So, the stb engine still needs to be
warmed up before it will hold it's rpms but it's also got these new
problems... And, it too is smoking at 24 and so I reduced it's turns
to 22 as well...

Anybody know a good Diesel mechanic in the Bay Area? Also, I
apparently need a tank polishing service...

-- Tom.

PS. I recently noticed that sailmail has some ability to send stuff
to a blog site. If there would be any interest I'd be willing to check
it out and maybe post some of our passage notes as blogs. Yes, no,
maybe?

-- T.