Friday 3 September - Fuel

So we were now both able to get on deck and examine everything. We had both viewpoints about the cleanliness of the boat, both “filthy” and “nothing like as bad as I had expected”, both having a strong element of truth. On desk, it is dirty, especially at the edges of where the cover reaches. Below deck, actually not too bad. The cover, and the fact that there is almost nowhere for the air to get in clearly being very helpful. There will still be several days of cleaning to get everything back up to standard.

One of my biggest fears (amongst many), was that we would have bacterial growth in the fuel. This is quite common on boats, especially when they have sat unused for a time, and equally when the fuel from mainland Europe is in the tanks. It has a much higher percentage of bio content than we get in the UK. The danger is that the “diesel bug” blocks all the fuel lines and injectors, and suddenly your engine does not work. To combat this, I had arranged for the yard to remove and filter all of our fuel, before putting it back in the tanks. This was the first job to be done, while we were still in the launch dock.

By the time we arrived at the marina this morning, having checked out of the apartment and pushed our bikes, laden with bags of clothing etc., the guys were ready to go. We spent a little while discussing which method of accessing the fuel was going to be the best, using Google Translate (it’s wonderful). Once connected, nothing happened. We searched for problems and alternatives at the boat end, only to ultimately discover that the problem was with the extraction pump. Once fixed, the slow process of pumping out 370 litres of fuel began. It must have taken 2-3 hours. During which time we had to just sit around and wait, chatting as best we could with the guy from the marina. He asked how much fuel was in the tanks, and then how much the engine actually used. Basically we have enough to motor at an economical speed for 80 hours. 


At the end of the process, there was not much muck collected in the filters, but I will not be worrying about the fuel for the next little while. It was all pumped back in rather more quickly, downhill in this direction. Then we were ready to move.

We were going over all of the procedural checklists, to make sure that we had not forgotten anything, and generally checking whatever else we could think of. The batteries were checked and topped up with distilled water, and the charged, the fridge was working, everything seemed to be going well. The troublesome things like the bow thruster worked first time, but the engine, the thing that has never given us a problem chose now to play up. It started, but we noticed straight away that no water was coming out of the back. Marine engines cool themselves by taking in sea water, passing it through a heat exchanger and the returning the water to the sea. If this is not happening, then the engine will quickly overheat. We switched off and the marina guys started to troubleshoot the problem. Eventually we discovered that there were particles blocking several of the pathways for the seawater. Although specified for the engine, no seawater filter has ever been fitted, and the result was everything clogged up and set hard after the long period of no usage. We cleared these, and everything then worked. We made the short, 200 metre voyage to our birth, and arrived at about 6:30.


Food and a bottle of wine followed, and we realised just how much we have missed being able to sit on deck on a warm evening, being gently rocked by the passing boats.

Much to do tomorrow but distinct progress today.

Steve & Tricia

Bosa, Sardinia

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