A Summary of the Engine Woes ~

     November 2024 ~ Over the past three years we have had a number of incidents where the fuse behind the engine, (which we never knew was there until 5 years ago!), would blow. Since then, Pete has been able to check it periodically and replaced it as necessary. Over the past two years it’s probably been replaced about six times. After spending the summer in Daytona, the time had come for us to head to our winter “home” in Ft Pierce. What was supposed to be a gentle relaxing 4-day trip was not. Unfortunately, we had to replace the switch four times in the first two days. Once in Titusville, we decided to skip Eau Gallie and head directly to Fort Pierce. We knew it was going to be a long day, but if we stopped the engine, she probably wouldn’t start again and we had no more spare switches. We did fine until we got to the Wabasso area. Once under the bridge, the engine just quit; no coughing, no sputtering, just there one minute gone the next. We arranged for Towboat US to tow us the remaining 21 miles to Fort Pierce.
     Over the next couple of days, Pedro and his crew went through the engine. They found the short which caused the circuit breaker to blow, that mysterious red circuit breaker behind the engine. It was easily fixed, but it did not solve the issue. The engine still would not start. After full evaluation, it turns out that the cylinders are shot. Due to the wrong air filter, (the dirty environment rather than the marine environment,) we had all sorts of aluminum flakes scattered throughout the engine. They scraped and destroyed the cylinders, removing the possibility for compression.
     Over the next few months, Pete did a lot of research. He explored rebuilding this engine, purchasing a rebuilt engine and purchasing a new one. He discussed with Pedro “rebuilt” versus “new” and we feel comfortable that it is best to go the rebuilt way.
     Unfortunately, most of the rebuilders in Florida only want to deal with the huge engines because that’s where the money and the tips are. As a result, they were giving us ridiculously high prices. Pedro has two people that usually rebuild engines, but both are currently out on medical. The earliest they could get to it would be July. That’s not good for us. So, after more internet searches and more research, as well as talking to a lot of people, (especially our knowledgeable friends on the dock) Pete bought a 20 hp outboard engine with all that was needed to mount it to the sugar spoon. Of course, that had it numerous challenges: Varied multiple installation configurations. Problems with the remote gear shifter (poor info from manufacture of the engine, inaccurate info from the Mercury service people, Multiple trips to purchase adapters for the shifter, which all were wrong!) as well as the fuel tanks adapters. Pete finally secured a broom stick attached to the shifter on the engine as well as an extender for the throttle. Don’t knock it! It works!

New batteries
 in Fernandina Beach

    That’s how we made the trip home - underpowered, slow, with very limited and non-predictable back-up capabilities. Docking was always interesting, but Pete always made those stressful times look easy. We had a cockpit full of jerry cans and traveled at 5 miles per hour or less. We were challenged by strong currents, sometimes strong “noserlies” (winds on our nose) and maneuverability in the inlets. Frequently we made 1.5 to 2 miles an hour against the currents. This made for very long days. Through much of the trip there are no marinas, which would make the trip shorter. So… Pete did two, solo, outside jumps: one from Daytona, having to backtrack to Ponce Inlet and up to Fernandina for a 22-hour run. Once there,  he again had to call a mechanic only to find out that the batteries needed replacement. (That involved a car rental and two trips to Jacksonville to purchase the last 2 specialized batteries required and return the old ones. Once installed he was able to make the jump to Charleston, which was 32 hours. It was long, but it went well. Conditions were perfect for doing the jump. Our one son leaves for work around 3:30 am while the other son leaves around 5:30. They kept Pete company while they headed to their jobs. Tillie and I stayed with friends in Myrtle Beach and joined him once he made it to Georgetown.

    Lots of planning was required for our northbound cruise. We needed to plan for currents, wind, distance and locations of available marinas.  We proceeded to do our slow jog up the ICW. Our notes were constantly revised and modified. What normally would be an 8-hour day now turned into a 10- or 11-hour day. What would’ve been 11-hour day turned into a 15-hour day, so it was a long tiring trip. Along the way we had many strange looks and questions regarding the outboard on a boat this size as well as a cockpit full of gas cans. 

Castle Harbor Marina 
Ominous Clouds ~ just Mother nature's
warning or hints of problems to come?
~ 

     We finally pulled into Castle Harbor, which is our summer home on Tuesday, 5/22/25! The completion of a unique, memorable and hopefully, never repeated, cruise!

     During June, Pete called various mechanics. The first one he spoke to was our favorite. He is known for doing the best diesel work on Eastern shore. He said currently, he was busy, but call back in three weeks so he’ll get us on his list. Three weeks later, Pete called, he texted, he called again, texted again, sent an email, called again, texted again and, after two weeks, still nothing.

     Time to move on the second person on the list. “Oh yeah, sure. I’ll have the mechanic get back to you,” which he did in 20 minutes. “Yeah, yeah, we can do that. We can put a new engine in about a week, etc. etc.” He quoted us estimated prices. Pete then asked if he would send an email with the quotes. A week went by no email. Pete called and left a message. Not return. Repeated four more times. The fifth time, receptionist was extremely rude and saying she’ll give him the message, then promptly hung up. We crossed him off our list.
     Then there was a mechanic’s van up in the parking lot. Pete found and spoke with him. He’s a new guy who started the business about a year ago and a graduate of the Naval Academy. He sounded fantastic. “Yeah, yeah. Sure.” he said. “Here’s my number. Call and leave all the information and I’ll get back to you.” Pete called that afternoon and there was a bot. “Name, contact number, location, nature of the issue, make & model, history, etc., etc.” Pete left the info on Friday and, after a week, we never heard back from him either. A week later, we finally decided the boat must move to get a repair.
     It is now the 3rd week in July when Pete called Deltaville Yachting Center in Virginia. We know four people who swear by their work. Laura picked up on the first ring and said let me get my service manager to call you back. He called back within 20 minutes! He said he could not do it for three weeks, but we’ll put you on the list. By 5 o’clock that night, we had a contract to sign and returned it. Laura acknowledged first thing the next morning! “You are set to go be here 18th of August.” HURRAY! We hope.
     Last February, Pete found a place in VA that sells rebuilt engines. We could pick it up with the trailer for installation and return old present engine. Unfortunately, when the time came to finalize the purchase, the engine was still listed on the website. However, there was an apparent issue with the website. The engine was sold. It happened again as we tried in July! Grrrrrr!!!
     Pete searched and found Countrywide Sales in Ohio, which is the Kabota engine national service center. They do not rebuild to sell engines, but they will rebuild our engine. Pete had planned to put it on the trailer and drive it out to Ohio and retrieve it when complete, but they arrange for shipping, which is reasonable and quick, and usually takes about 36 hours (Much easier on Pete!) We also asked if there was any way to expedite it. He said he didn’t know, but he would try. They are used to dealing with the big engines off of big machinery. They might be able to get the smaller engine done sooner than the scheduled 3 weeks. We sure hope so!

     Friday, 10/15/25 ~ It took 2-12+ hour days to get to Deltaville. It is usually only 9-10 hours from Kent Island to Solomons, MD and from Solomons to Deltaville, VA,  We wanted to introduce ourselves and assure them that the boat would be ready to go on Monday. Instead, we did it by phone, They gave us directions how to get through the marinas and into the DYC haul out area as we were to arrive after hours and it was the weekend. We needed a couple of days to prep the boat, pack for the stay with the kids and make sure the mechanics have full access for working. 

    

Leaving Castle Harbor at sunrise

 

Interesting clouds with storms surrounding us
Storms cleared with a beautiful sunset over Solomons

 
Smith Light and a private home's light show in Deltaville

• Week 1- Pete wanted to see how things looked non the bottom once she was pulled. We were out of the water by 10 am. The bottom looks great for not being painted in 3 years. By Friday morning, the engine was stripped, prepped, strapped down to the pallet, and ready to be shipped. 4 workdays!!!

 

• Week 2 & 3 - Due to miscommunications, it wasn’t picked up for another 3 days. Our engine was received at the service center on Friday of week 2. Since it was Labor Day weekend, it wouldn’t be unpacked until the following Thursday. Apparently, they don’t work on Fridays.

• Week 4 - Analyzing damage, estimating repairs, and beginning work

• Week 5 & 6 - Work completed and returned to Deltaville on Wednesday, 10/1/25 (but not without another hiccup). We drove 5 hours down to get the spare heat riser out from under everything piled on top of the forward bunk. It was better to drive the total 10 hours to retrieve our spare than pay $500 for a new one! Just before leaving to return back to NJ, we received a strange call. Our engine was delivered, but there is no “Bruzik” or “PEKABU” at the marina. When Pete told her that PEKABU is just outside of the office, they both realized that the engine was delivered to Deltaville Marine, not Deltaville Yachting Center. (Only 2 miles away!) Our service manager was able to pick it up. It took about a week for the engine to be reassembled all the extra parts that they had that they were instructed to take off prior to shipping. Reinstallation was delayed by a day. Our engine returned, painted gold during the rebuild, not Kabota blue, which was the usual. Gold paint needed to be bought.  Pete left a message that it was ok to have a two-tone engine rather than delay things, but the message was never received. The rest of the work went well.

     Wednesday, 10/8/25 ~ PEKABU is finally back in the water!

     We were able to stay with Greg and Jenn for what we thought was to be maybe 3 1/2 weeks. Nope! It was full 6 1/2 weeks. We love our children dearly and they are wonderful, but we all were ready to get back to our normal routines. We were so looking forward to get under way.

     Thursday, 10/9/25 ~ We said our thanks and goodbyes to Jenn and Greg before heading out early on Thursday. 

Shiny, looking like new
and installed on board!

     Sea trials were scheduled for 2 pm. We made it in time, but the trial was abbreviated. There is a Nor’easter developing off Georgia & South Carolina. There are 2 major lows converging before the weekend. King Tides will combine with heavy rains and winds driven high tides are making dangerous conditions. Today’s sea trial was brief due to the building conditions. They went well, but the engine temperature was only slightly higher than normal. It is probably due to the reassembly, a bubble in the line or set point adjusted.

     Once the trials were over, I had to begin cleaning because everything was covered in engine grit and grease plus assorted fingerprints on stuff. Space was cleared for dinner, then we needed to clear the bed for sleeping. The mechanic came aboard a couple of times before the weekend, which means shuttling stuff out if the aft cabin and back, plus spot cleaning.

     Pete has a conference on Tuesday for which he must be stationary. So . . . Wednesday will be the start of our 2025-2026 Cruise!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~  K & P