Voyage 2007-2008: Chapter 1

06 Aug 2007, Heading for Cape May, 38 56.920 N/ 074 54.550 W

As part of departure checklist we always look at the oil level. You guessed it; we are making oil again. The work at Herrington Harbour did not fix the 'diesel in oil' problem. Not a good thing. While underway, we noticed the beginning of a tear in the leach of the 130 % genoa. Our adventure is becoming an ordeal. We bounced down the Delaware Bay with a mostly favorable current but definitely a breeze that was not conducive to sailing. But we endured!

We arrived at the ferry terminal at the western end of the Cape May canal.at bout 1400. We are a bit nervous due to the high tide and the low bridges (54'). It should be OK but with our luck ... The calculations were correct. We left nothing on the bridge; not antennae, not windex. Life is good. We headed for South Jersey Marina where we received excellent service during our docking. But is is quite pricey. Wait for the next installment for our ordeals.

10 Aug 2007, Engine Problems in South Jersey, 38 56.920 N/ 074 54.550 W

We arrived in South Jersey Marina with little problem. It was a bit tight and it was difficult to determine where they wanted to put us, but everything worked out well. We are tucked into the well and it may be a challenge to get out. The staff tell us 'not to worry'. Good advise. Nice place but very expensive. Also, this is not sailboat country. The staff is quite friendly but there are some folks on the la-de-da yachts (one pictured in the background) that refuse to talk to us lowly cruisers. Her dog likes us though. Interesting.

All is not well here in Cape May. Problems with the engine continue. Now we find that one cylinder is not firing and we are still making oil. We called Mack Boring of Union NJ who asked Canyon Marine to help us. They don't do sailboats (actually, they do one token sailboat a year and we are the lucky ones). Stan was assigned to Jule III. He was not happy (but nice). He was not used to such small Yanmar engines, but he persevered. He removed the injectors and the injector pump and gave them to us. Our job was to take them 150 miles to Union NJ so that Mack Boring could rebuild them.

After many traffic problems, we talked to Frank of the Mack Boring Fuel Shop and he said he would work on our stuff right away. And he did! By the time we got out of the door, we found that two injectors were bad and all were improperly adjusted (they were rebuilt in Wilmington NC in April). He also found out that the injector seals were deteriorating and this was our source of the 'diesel in oil' and poor cylinder #3 performance. The next day we drove back up and Frank gave us the low down on all of our parts. Frank, Joe, and Mike were all very helpful and friendly during this ordeal. Today Stan came back and installed all of the parts, aligned everything and Jule III is again happy.