The one with the engine trouble
Since our last post in the Bahamas, we safely and quietly made it back to the states and have been making our way up the East Coast. We made a beautiful 250nm from the Bahamas to St. Augustine then an uneventful 195nm offshore to Charleston. We’ve enjoyed visiting some of our favorite places from our previous stops while also planning to get further north and out of hurricane territory.
Then it happened. Since we had our Beta 25 installed in the fall of 2022, we’ve been very fortunate and were confident that it would reliably run every time we turned the key. But with almost 850 hours of run time, we were due some sort of failure?
We were starting our 26 hour offshore passage from Charleston, SC to Southport, NC, just inside the Cape Fear River. The trip was predicted to be mostly a motor-sail with low winds and decreasing waves shifting from in front of us to behind us. After circling for about 30 minutes waiting to get fuel, we quickly made our way, with the tide, toward the jetties and offshore. As predicted, we had low wind and waves both hitting the boat ~35° off our bow so we had to turn a bit off course to get a more comfortable and productive point of sail. Since we were also under full sails we also had the engine at mid RPMs just to give us more power through the bigger waves. It was around this point that Justin stated that he noticed that our engine temperature was above what it normally runs. Because it was still in the “normal” temperatures for a running engine, we continued on. We then had a change in the engine sound and a spike in temperature causing us to quickly shut down the engine. We had a failure of the raw water pump impeller causing Justin to go on a search for the missing rubber pieces and make a replacement to get us back under way. Hoping this had fixed our overheating issue, we kept pushing on, monitoring the temperature gauge. The engine was still running warmer than normal so Justin then replaced the fuel filter to see if that was causing a heavier engine load. It was a bit dirty and we hoped that was the problem. But the engine kept running warm.
With the wind expected to die and fighting a 1kt oncoming current, we were planning on relying on the engine to keep making good and steady headway overnight. With this in mind, I started looking for exit strategies just in case the temperature continues to rise and the engine becomes inoperable. At this point, we were closer to the Winyah Bay Channel leading to Georgetown, SC than to Charleston. There was also another inlet available at Myrtle Beach if needed. I then started looking into marinas, currents and timing to make it to either alternate inlets for a safe anchorage or marina if needed.
We slowly continued to make way and toward a potential bail-out point. We had full sails with less than 10kts of wind behind us. We also had our engine running at low RPMs to help continue forward progress and to monitor its temperature. We were able to maintain decent speed and functional engine temperatures for about 2 hours, causing us to decide to continue on to our original destination of Southport. We honestly second guessed continuing on and not bailing until we were in sight of the Cape Fear Channel and safely in our marina slip. Our confidence in our engine had been shattered and we now have to start diagnosing the problem so that we can continue north and out of hurricane territory.
Once safely in our slip and well fed and rested, Justin began to dismantle the engine. He checked for the typical culprits including the thermostat, fluids, hoses, clamps, and pumps. We also had a diver come out and check our propeller and propeller shaft for debris and functionality. After conversations with Beta customer support, Justin did finally find some blocked tubes in the heat exchanger and the heat exchanger cap seal divider had been significantly worn down. We’re hoping that this will be the fix that we are looking for but we’re currently still waiting for parts. Once everything arrives and is installed, we’ll do another sea trial and hopefully be back underway.
Even though we’re having engine troubles, we are so very happy that we went with a Beta. Their customer support is amazing and they answered all of Justin’s many questions with knowledge and patience. When we can’t find the right part in the local stores, Beta has had amazing shipping times. We would often get parts in a couple of days, without even having to pay extra. Justin has also become quite confident in his mechanic skills and since he’s now thoroughly inspected and worked on almost every part of the engine. We have also been very happy with Deep Point Marina for allowing us to extend our stay. This has given us more time to diagnose our issue without the anxiety of having to leave. We’re also in a very touristy location and finding another marina close by would be difficult and anchoring isn’t really a thing in this area either due to it being a major shipping channel and crazy tidal currents. The town of Southport has also been fun to explore. There are definitely worse places to be stranded…
“But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
– Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
