Day 24, March 30 - Engine Oil Pressure Scare

[Sorry Folks, if you do not want to be bored by the latest equipment flap that lead nowhere please skip the following section.]

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I started the engine this morning to charge the batteries and after a few minutes the low oil pressure fault alarm came on. The book suggested only checking the oil level and checking that the oil filter isn't blocked. I checked the oil level and the oil was almost as clean as when I had changed it in Cape Town only 40 engine hours ago, but the level seemed slightly elevated. I then went to my Volvo spares box to get a new oil filter and found that I had used the last one in Cape Town. I didn't think at the time of checking my stock because I figured that the oil and filter change would do until I got to Fremantle. In any event, changing the oil filter was a long shot in my opinion, and I'm wondering if the elevated oil level means that the oil pump is not getting oil to the filter. But what do I know? I have asked Mark for advice on this.

Characteristically, I went to the worst case scenario and thought about having no engine for the rest of the passage. The first step is to reduce power consumption. To that end I have put the laptop in "eco" mode and now it goes to sleep after 5 minutes of inactivity, even if the screen is up. No more movies on the laptop, of course. I can switch off the gas detector when not using the stove because I have noticed that the solenoid generates a lot of heat. The only other things that I can think of are the navigation light at night, the electric bilge pump that gets heavy use when moving through a heavy sea (As a last resort I can use the manual bilge pump from the cockpit.), the chart plotter, occasional use of the autopilot, and the HF radio for Sailmail and SAMMNet. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing this should all be supportable, but at times like now, where we have been overcast for 4 or 5 days an the wind has been light for the last 2 days, things will be difficult. I suppose that the next step would be to turn off the chart plotter (but leave the AIS on).

I have no concerns about getting the boat safely to Fremantle with minimal battery power. I think that the main issues is communications. Were I to arrive in Fremantle without the engine I would notify Australia Customs that I need a tow to their dock.

At 0600 I rolled in the headsail with great reluctance. The wind had become too light and the sail was flogging too much. Shame. Had the engine been OK we could have continued hiking along at 4.5 kts while generating electric power.

What is going on here? After shutting down the chart plotter and manually pumping out the bilge to save power I decided to give the engine another try. I turned cycled the main engine switch then opened the exhaust valve (Never forget that!), activated the EVC panel, and started the engine ready to shut it down as soon as the oil pressure alarm came on. There was no alarm and soon we were making 4.3 kts and the alternator was pouring 73 amps into the batteries. The problem must have been in the EVC panel, which surprised me because before the first problem run I had started everything from scratch, starting with turning on the main switch.

My main regret was troubling Mark but with my power supply in jeopardy, not to mention the Sailmail questionable Sailmail service, I felt that I had to act quickly. On the other hand, the incident made me think about measures to take if power was restricted, and a lasting legacies are that I am now running the laptop on "eco" mode, will switch off the gas detector after dinner, and will probably switch off the chart plotter each night. (It is safe because when the detector is off, power to the solenoid is cut off and it slams shut.)

I tuned in to the SAMMNet session using headphones because I just didn't want to shut the engine down. Sam was early, and I just managed to hear him hail me. I put my situation message out blind, being pretty sure that he could copy me. I spoke loudly, slowly, and repeated everything. I finished by stating that all was well with the boat I told him that I would be at 1110 session as usual, without the engine running.

The headphones take care of the engine noise to my ears, but I am not sure of the amount of electrical nose put out by the engine, whose alternator is only 1 meter from the HF transceiver.

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I decided to treat myself with a real breakfast of 2 fried eggs, a piece of cheese, and toast. The eggs still had beautiful yolks - better than newly-purchased eggs from many supermarkets. It is another example of Cape Town presenting the freshest fresh foods that I have ever experienced. I've got one egg left and half a grapefruit. The half of grapefruit that I had last night tasted great.

Not long after that I decide to top up the fuel tanks. They took 25 liters to cover 17 hours of running, making the consumption at 1.5 ltr/hr. Most of that 40 hours was run at 1500 rpm. I now have 37 liters remaining in the external containers. I will hold the last 10 liters in reserve for the entry into the FSC marina because I would hate to make my calculations too fine, run out of fuel as I am making my entry, and wind up on the breakwater.

Wow, what a lunchtime session with Sam. For the first time in 2 days I managed to hear a weather report from him. It took a lot of patience on his part, having to repeat some of the information several times. At the end I thanked him, telling him that I had been desperate for a forecast and his information on the coming strong winds was invaluable. He copied that and we would attempt contact tomorrow. I found that I could hear him better through the headphones, something I discovered by accident when I had to deal with the engine noise this morning.

For the rest of today I can expect SW-W 5-25 kts, which I am dealing with now. After a lull of several hours the wind has begun to build up from the SW and we are sailing again. For tomorrow I can expect W, then WNW, then SW winds at midnight after a cold front has passed over me, with all winds in the range 15-25. For Monday it gets more interesting, with winds from WSW at 25-35, until the evening when they back to S 20-30. Thank goodness I was able to get this information because now I can do some planning. It promises to be a rough ride on Monday, but I should be able to make good progress.

The noon numbers were:

POS 39S42, 58E52
NND 94
DMG 1979
DTG 2810

At sunset the wind was light and we were dawdling along at 2.5 kts.

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