So after less than a month, the boat was out of the water again. A series of tests were run but we couldn’t identify the root cause of the problem with the sail drive. Everyone admitted the oil looked strange, but pressure tests suggested that water was not the source of the problem.
Our choices were to continue with further testing ripping away part of the fiberglass enclosure for the sail drives. If we did this, it would be highly unlikely that we would be able to launch again and our trip would be scrapped for the year. Option 2 was to purge the oil of the unit, run another batch of oil through the system and purge it and then fill it again with fresh oil. David would then need to check the oil as we headed south and if signs of problems persisted we would need to seek additional assistance at that point in time.
We have chosen option 2 – head south. So after spending a good portion of the day hanging in the cradle of the boat lift, Tropical Breeze once again found water under her hulls. We will remain docked here through Saturday, to allow for the coming storm to pass through and then take off on Sunday and head south – again!
The Admiral
10/24/08
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