CAMEROTA

More incredible rocks on the coast

 After a very pleasant journey from Acciaroli we arrived at another small but delightful marina. The town was next to the harbor and provided all the services and gear we needed. So far each of the towns we’ve visited along this part of Italy have been amazing. The people, the food and landscape is something we did not expect and each stop seems better than the last. 

The weather continues to be brilliant – mornings cool, midday sunny and evenings warm till bedtime. 

We’ve loved walking the streets and checking out the coffee bars. The espressos are to die for. We just don’t have the same taste at home!

One of the locals

Old and new yachts being restored

 

Every now and then we have a little problem with some part of the boat. Just enough to stress us out and wonder why on earth we’re doing this. Anyway here’s the latest mechanical saga:

THE BILGE

So we are motoring along when the bilge pump starts to operate.  You know this because there is a stream of water about 2 metres long coming out from the side of the boat.

This has happened only once before and I was able to trace it to the fact that I did not close the hot water service drain cock fully.

I know that the odd air switch, a jabsco air switch device that has a small glass bottle the size of a shot glass and with glass as thin as a test tube connected by a tube to a switch(I have since found out that it is a diaphragm switch) and it will turn on, but it doesn't want to turn off.  This is not great drama because in 2 years, it has only operated twice. I have learned that if I remove the tube from the glass phial and suck on it, the pump will turn off. So this is what I did after the bilge had drained enough.

Fifteen minutes later, the bilge pump starts up again.  MMM this is odd.  The water tastes salty and so I reckon it must be a poor fit for the brand new bearing and stuffing box that I had installed at Solenzara.  I'll have to write to Nicolas Spies and have a chat.  After about 5 times of pump operating and my going down to uncover the bilge, suck on the pipe to turn off the pump and then put the pipe cautiously back on the rather thin phial neck, I start to ponder why this is happening.  I play around with the 6 or more plastic pipes that sit in and around the bilge and, bingo, there is a 6mm clear pipe that heads off towards the engine that has a small flow of water coming from it.  There's the culprit; maybe a tap left partially open (there are 6 drainage points on the engine, but we didn't drain last year (maybe Nicolas opened one)).  We motored on and arrived in Pozzuoli.  Later that night, we opened up the engine compartment only to find that the little pipe went straight past the engine and into an area that contains the electrics and cabling and which is in the central bedroom.  After opening this area up, a job I have done > 50 times, we discover that the little pipe is connected to a grey object that has two large pipes connected to it.  This is the anti siphon valve for the motor cooling system.  It is designed to allow air into the system when the motor turns off and so stop it from siphoning sea water all of the time.  Apparently the valve was stuck and this allowed cooling seawater to escape through the little pipe into the bilge. After a search of the internet, we decided that we would have to buy a new anti-siphoning valve. 

After a night of cogitation, I decided to blow air and water up the pipe (with my mouth) to see if it would dislodge the crap and allow the valve to work.  Sure did! No more leaking anti siphoning valve and no more bilge pumping; or so we thought.

Off we went to Salerno and just to be sure, I checked the bilge and the anti-siphoning pipe as we travelled.  There was no leaking but the bilge was a little fuller than I had left it after spending 1/2 an hour sucking up water with a sponge.

At Salerno, I decided to spend another hour removing every drop of water just to see if I could find another leak. The water I sucked up was fresh and so we weren't sinking.  Much watching and waiting eventually brought to light that there was a small leak that was coming from the hot water service pressure relief valve.  This can get a bit of crap in it and allow water past. A few lifts of the valve relief arm refilled the bilge but didn't stop the  small leak.  After much experimenting, I tried tapping the valve shaft to drive it firmer onto the valve seat and the leak stopped.

Problems solved!  We left the bilge open for the day to dry it out.  When we came back, it was dry but the small compartment to the side had water in it even though I had dried it out in the morning. Once more I sponged the excess water out; it was fresh.  Close inspection revealed that it was oozing out of a joint, which had nothing to do with any of the previous matters.  I checked other compartments and found a little more fresh water.  Maybe we had a leaking water tank. I opened up compartments but the tanks looked fine.  All I could put it down to was exuberance in my pressure washing the exterior, which forced water into places it shouldn't be or maybe it is when I fill the water tanks.  We filter all drinking water with ultra fine filters as well as chlorinate all drinking water.  The first filter is in the sail locker and, occasionally, when I remove the hose, I spill water.  This collects in the hull and slowly oozes down to the bilge.

That's as far as I have got so far. Boating is a complicated craft. You really do have to keep your wits about you. All of these issues could have just as easily happened on a brand new boat. Problems like this arise all of the time and challenge the sleuth in me to work through the clues logically in order to come to a satisfactory resolution.