After a busy weekend of everything BUT sailing, we decided to take a quick trip Sunday afternoon. THis would be our first experience sailing with our teenage daughter.
I sounded my tank at the pier. 7" of
fuel on the stick. Off we go. The plan was to just motor around a bit.
About 15 minutes up the river the engine quit abruptly.
What could it be? Check the RACOR- no
fuel comes out. Clogged
line? Follow the
lines- there's the problem-
The tank has a six inch sump BELOW the
fuel pickup and directly under the fill cap where I sounded the tank.
How did I not see this before?
We sailed back to the marina, dropped the hook, got a ride in to get
fuel and spent the next hour or so bleeding the
lines.
One more painful lesson. Wife and daughter mostly enjoyed just hanging out while muttered to the Yanmar.
I tried to explain that every time we (I) make a mistake in the safety of the river it makes us more ready for that vacation around the Chesapeake.