On my last few trips I've noticed that it's been hard to start my port engine.
On my boat there are no ignition keys. Instead there are spring loaded toggle switches which you press in order to start each engine. I've always managed to get the port engine started but it sometimes took 3 or 4 tries in order to do so.
I asked the mechanic to look into it and he diagnosed the problem with the switch itself. He ordered some new switches and when they came he opened up the helm station and removed the old ones. On a twin engine boat when you fix something on one engine you just automatically fix it on the other engine, even if it hasn't been a problem on that engine.
That's when he discovered that the switches he ordered were not the correct ones. So he has reordered and I am grounded until this is resolved.
I also noticed some coolant leakage around the front of the starboard engine, and so he has some new hoses ordered to address that issue.
It's always something on a boat. Not being mechanically inclined myself I try to overdo it on the preventive maintenance side of things. If something breaks when I am out on a trip in a remote area there are darn few things I can fix myself.
I am managing our City League basketball program and that keeps me anchored in town on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and so the only time I can do an overnighter is Friday and Saturday, and that's only if the weather is good enough to make a trip.
I'm hoping to get one more overnight trip in before the end of the year, but we will see.
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