Where There's Smoke....

We had made a hard run on Wednesday Jan 12th from Morehead to Joyner Marina - 10 hours solid.  During the day we had to make two "high speed" runs to make bridge openings that were only open on the half hour or hour.  That meant taking Reviresco up to 80% load for about an hour or so.  She's a little thirsty at that speed, but given the choice of using the fuel to go a little faster or sitting around waiting - I'm going to put the throttles forward every time!

The day ended uneventfully and we retired early for a quick departure to North Myrtle Beach the following day.  After about four hours of run time sue asked "do you see smoke from the dash?"  - INDEED I DID!  I immediately sent Sue for the fire extinguisher as I did a systems check to see if anything looked out of sorts - seemed fine.  I ducked under the dash of the flybridge where the smoke was coming from to take a look - all good.

Sue took the helm so I could investigate further.  The lower salon was full of light blue smoke - no particular location seemed to be the source so I checked the kitchen, electrical system, engine room, lighting - everything was fine - but there was still smoke!

I went outside and examined the smoke off our exhaust - it was minimal and the wind was taking it away.  So where was it coming from - I was racking my brain!  Then a few thoughts came together, exhaust smoke and heat - I recalled that the second bathroom was warm at the end of the day and the exhaust line ran behind the sink under the counter - when I opened the door - BINGO SMOKE!

We blew an exhaust hose, not a seriously dangerous problem from a fire perspective, but clearly a problem that required immediate attention.  I shut down the Port motor and started idling along for a mile until we came across Ocean Isle Marina a short time later.  We pulled in and took stock of our situation.

The Black Spot is a Quarter size hole

We have been held up here for two days and it will be a couple more until we can get the parts we need to fix the problem.  In the mean time Joe, our new found mechanic and contortionist, and I have been crawling in some rather small spaces working at removing and replacing the blown hose.  We are currently one hose elbow away from success - an elbow Joe is going to have to custom make in fibreglass.

The good news is the other side has already been replaced so when this is done we will be good to go on both sides without further worry.

All in all I think it has gone well - Sue handled the boat while I was trouble shooting and I figured it out in about 3 minutes and had us landed safely in less than half an hour on one motor.  Crisis averted and more valuable lessons learned.

We will let you know when we are back under way.

Cheers!!!