Top of the Alligator River, bottom of the barrel with the engine!

The "new" system didn't work.  We left the anchorage three different times (returning to re-tweak the gas escape system).  We finally got things back the way they were yesterday with the coolant overflowing into the new tank, after having to replace the raw water impeller.  That had been the first thing Dan checked - - - days ago, but sometime this morning it gave out.  We thought all was well and headed into the 27 mile canal between the Pungo River and the Alligator River.

Everything was hunky dory for the first three hours and we enjoyed the scenery, including a deer coming down to the water's edge

...and then the temp suddenly spiked.  We did the drain routine and started up again (we drifted with the jib rolled out and no wind while the engine was shut down).  We didn't get more than 15 minutes when the engine shut down of it's own accord, no temp issues showing and no overflowing coolant.  I "sailed" again while Dan rigged the dinghy to be a push boat.

It's hard to see, but he rigged a very long tiller extension using the boat hook so we could control it from the stern.

It pushed us along nicely at 4 knots or so and we anxiously waited to get out of the canal and get a chance to sail up the very wide Alligator River.  No such luck.  The forecast had been for 5-10 from the SW,  it was all over the place and mostly non-existent.  We finally got enough breeze to fill the sails when we were about 5 miles from the swing bridge at the top of the river, but rolled it in to "dinghy" through.  When we called the bridge tender to ask for an opening, we explained our situation and he opened early and waited patiently for us to come through.  He hailed us as we passed through "That's ingenuity!"  We decided to anchor just past the bridge on the west side of the river as the wind was forecast to be 5-10 from the west.  Well it ain't!  It's blowing hard from the SE and the fetch all the way up the river is giving us quite a bumpy time!

Dan has rigged the outboard engine right on the transom.  A bit more ingenuity.  It wasn't finished until almost dusk, so I'll try to get a good picture of it tomorrow.  ~~_/)~~M&D 

We left River Dunes behind, but not the engine troubles

Dan was up early and captured River Dunes at sunrise, the Club House  and Brunelle in her slip - ready to go.

Hopes were high as we set out at 6:30 this morning that we (or Dan) had solved the engine problem.  All the work he had done was to keep the engine from overheating- - - new antifreeze, clean heat exchanger, raw water system checked, thermostat removed, expansion tank expanded and moved on deck.  After a frustrating day having to run the engine at low RPMs and cutting the engine every half hour or so to let the coolant flow back into the heat exchanger, Dan has concluded the problem isn't overheating, but gases escaping from the cylinder causing the coolant to bubble out and into the expansion tank, most likely caused by a bad head gasket.

Here is Dan's expansion system sitting on the bridge deck.  The top picture shows the hose system that allows the gases and liquid to bubble up into the tank. The bottom picture shows the tape showing the level when the engine is off and the liquid has drained back into the system.  We added a top piece of tape later to indicate when we should shut down and let the coolant drop back down.
Luckily the wind helped us a good bit of the time and we only anchored once to perform the "reset".  The rest of the time we were sailing.  Sometimes really moving along, but often just drifting as the wind was light to non exixtent and all over the place all day!

All our new friends from River Dunes passed us and offered advice and offers of help.  We ended up anchoring with most of them in the creek at the head of the Pungo River just before the entrance to the Alligator Pungo Canal.  The day was cool with occasional sun and the last hour of our sail it started to rain, but by the time we were anchored and beginning to make supper, the sun came our for a spectacular sunset.

The creek where we anchored made us homesick for the Chesapeake, the setting was very like so many of the wonderful anchorages we enjoy.  

Dan's contact at Westerbeke had a suggestion to streamline his expansion tank system, so he tweaked it after we anchored and we hope it works well tomorrow....

~~_/)~~(not quite as much water moving under the keel as we'd like) M&D

"The Storm" has kept us in River Dunes for DAYS!

I hate to write without a picture or two to share, but alas we haven't taken any!  I spoke too soon about no trouble with the engine.  We had our first incident of overheating as we rushed to make the 7:30 opening of the Onslow Beach Swing Bridge as we left Mile Hammock Bay.  We rolled out the jib and eventually added the main as we made our way through the marshes, past Bogue Inlet and through Bogue Sound to the Beaufort/Moorhead City area.  We doused the jib as we headed up the Newport River and into Adams Creek on our way to the nasty Neuse River as the wind was behind us and fitful.  The trip up the river and creek was very slow as we had 2 knots of current against us and we were loath to use the engine much above idle speed.  By the time we made it to the Neuse River the wind had picked up an shifted and was on the nose at 15-20!  We tacked back and forth a few times and finally made it into the Broad Creek inlet at 6 pm.  We decided to anchor out for the night and head into Grace Harbor at River Dunes Monday morning.   It was a lovely spot to anchor, out of the wind and an easy shot in the AM.

We entered Grace Harbor around 9 am and fueled up, pumped out and took the same slip we had on the way down in October.  Since then we have been glued to the tube watching all the bad weather circle around and never really touch us!  We also worked on scrubbing down the boat (me) and taking the engine apart (Dan).  He had several discussions with Catalina, Westerbeke, brother Jay and CCYC friend Pete.  Everyone talked him out of thinking it was a bad head gasket or cracked head, so he concentrated on changing out the antifreeze in the cooling system and cleaning out the heat exchanger.  Par for the course they were done in reverse order so he had to drain the new antifreeze out so he could remove the heat exchanger and we had an exciting chemistry experiment on the dock with muriatic acid bubbling like a volcano as it "cleaned the tubes". Tomorrow will tell if all his work will pay off.  We do have an extra gallon of antifreeze to keep things going if need be.

We have enjoyed meeting the other stranded cruisers while we wait for a good weather window...including two boats that spent part of this winter at Snook Bight!  We had dinner up at the main house here tonight and sat at the Snook Bight table.  Lots of fun all around.

There is a marina car available and we've used it every day so far.  You are limited to going into Oriental, but we have found everything we needed on our trips in...sometimes with other cruisers, which gives you a chance to find out their life's story in 20 minutes or so!  

I promise to get some pictures for next time.  ~~~_/)~~~M&D