90. Engines

I had a very frustrating day, walking miles through the industrial part of George Town in flip-flops on a very hot and humid day in Grand Cayman, going round in circles and seemingly accomplishing nothing. Feeling broke and grumpy, it seemed like I was going two steps forward and one step backward, as soon as one thing gets fixed something else crops up.

I made it to Barcadere marina, had a shower and cooled down. In the chandlery I managed to find one fuel filter for my Yanmar, and another in a place round the corner. Back on the boat though, when I drained the bowl I managed to drop the plug nut into the bilge, and just cannot reach it, so now I’m searching for a new filter bowl, which apparently are even more difficult to find. I’ll try looking for a nut replacement. Although there doesn’t seem to be any water in my fuel, I’ve still got cleaning the fuel tank and polishing the fuel down on my list. That can wait until I get somewhere where it’s cheaper to do.

While messing up all my filters I noticed that my seawater pump is leaking. It’s probably just a seal but it’s an important pump, it keeps the engine cool, so I will look into a replacement. My propane ran out, so now I need to get that filled, and it seems like I’ll need to take my bottle to the gas company back in George Town…

The outboard seemed to be suffering from not being stored properly. Clifton, the guy I bought it from, told me he hadn’t emptied the fuel tank when he stopped using it. So I went to the Suzuki dealer and arranged for them to come to the boat and clean the carburetor and fuel jet. Even though the engine was still under warranty they charged me sixty bucks, but better to fix it now before it causes another problem, and good to get a Suzuki guy to show me so I can do it next time.

After that was done, I went to Morgan’s and had a Skype interview with one of the Diver’s Supply managers (in Canada), and have been offered a job in their store – sales and equipment servicing. Next up will be immigration and getting a work permit. Luckily Diver’s Supply do it properly with their own lawyers; I’m slightly concerned about the boat being my address and possibly having to pay 12% import duty on it if it stays here beyond a certain length of time. Nevertheless, it’s great news, and a massive relief – it’ll be good to have some income, pay down credit cards and save a bit for what comes after here.