On Thursday and Friday we had visits from the mechanic. The injector pump will definitely need to be replaced. On Friday, Rich and mechanic extracted some of the oil so it can be tested to see if it is combined with fresh or salt water. This is part of the do dilligence.
After much discussion between Rich and the mechanic as well as with Mark, who rebuilt the engine before we left Seattle in 2001 and with Chuck, on SV Dreamcatcher, we are coming to the conclusion that we need to replace the engine. If we were to try and repair it, it will probably cost almost as much as the engine is out of production and parts will be hard to come by and at the end of the day we would still have an older, tired engine. This is a tough decision but we think it is the correct one for us especially since we plan to travel to Central and South America in 2013.
The next steps are finding out where we can get a replacement engine and how to get it here to La Cruz. Our current engine is a Yanmar 76 turbo which we will be replacing with a Yanmar 75 turbo (one less horse). The good news is we believe it has the same form factor so installing should be easier. Of course removing the existing engine will mean taking some of the interior of the boat apart such as removing the salon table and the companionway stainless steel grabrails as well as the bimini and dodger outside. We will use the boom to help lift out the old and bring in the new.
But I am getting ahead of myself. We need to get one here first.
In the meantime we always have plenty to do, friends to socialize with and La Cruz is a great place to be.
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