We left Harbortown Tuesday morning, bound for Vero Beach. Tuesday was a delightful day, temps near 80, and despite a building wind, we had a very pleasant cruise to Vero Beach. We arrived Tuesday afternoon, and picked our way through the mooring field to our assigned mooring ball. About 3 ft from the pennant, the engine quit, leaving us adrift with little or no conttrol as we slowly drifted toward a pair of neighboring sailboats. Some quick action deploying our large ball fenders kept us from making any contact with the sailboat, and a line made fast to his midship cleat secured us just as our anchor grabbed. Some very quick action kept us from doing any damage, the only thing bruised was our confidence. The engine restarted in a short time and we were able to regain control and secure to the mooring pennant.
A call to the local Cummins service facility the next morning was made to have some professional confirmation of what I suspected, and the diagnosis was that we suffered from some fuel filter clogging, especially the secondary filter on the engine. A revised filter maintenance regimen was deemed to be necessary, and in addition, the mechanic recommended I re-adjust the valves and service the injectors, since we’re near the 2000 hour mark, and that service is part of the 2000 hour spec. Parts were ordered, and a trip into town to procure some wrenches not in inventory, plus some short term provisions. I’ll change out the injectors with Cummins remanufactured parts, and do the valve adjustment. The end result should be a smoother running engine, better efficiency, and elimination of the minor sooting I was beginning to see on the transom.
Vero Beach is a cruiser-friendly location, to the extent that it’s referred to as “Velcro Beach”… many cruisers stop in and just stick around. The dogs have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, since there’s a no-leash dog park adjacent to the marina. They have had a wonderful time making new friends, and sniffing so many new doggie butts. They had a great time, and it was fun to see how all the dogs, large and small all get along so well when they have free reign to simply be dogs.
We met up with Allen & Mary aboard Nomad, we spent some time with them in Sunset Lake during our New York trip in August. They’re staying in Vero for the winter, so we joined them for a visit over cocktails. Allen offered to drive me to pick up parts if needed.
Friday morning we’ll make the 20 mile run to Stuart, where we’ll join 20-some other Selene owners for the 1st east coast Selene Owner’s rendezvous! We’ll meet some new owners, and catch up with some old friends we’ve already met. It should be a fun weekend. Sunday we’ll return to Vero, where our parts will be waiting, so Monday will be a maintenance day! From there, we’ll head south toward Fort Pierce, and on to Ft. Lauderdale.
