stopcock. It was closed. I must have dropped the tank and then closed it again, ready for the next fill-up. I’d better check. I opened the stopcock and the gurgling sound of 80 litres making its way to the main tank was unmistakable. Ah, so that’s where the 80 litres were! Where the fuel should be. And I hadn’t dropped the reserve into the main tank, as I had thought … so the main tank was empty, just as Jonathan and everyone else had said. Oeuf sur le visage. Bum. Moral of the story? Never listen to the owner or skipper on matters of fuel. ALWAYS dip the tank. To cap it all, I turned over the engineer’s invoice for attending on the day of the ‘incident’ and then later to fit the new electric fuel pump and nearly fainted. This incident had cost me, all-in, very nearly £1,000, which included the penalty payment to Sea Start for having allowed my membership to lapse. There’s a lesson to be learned in that right there. Over the years I have relied on Jonathan’s engineering skills and he has been kind enough never to mention the incident again. Jonathan’s knowledge of boats and engines and what they do and what they don’t do, is limitless. And his engineering prowess is not limited to things mechanical. When I discovered the windscreen on my Hallberg Rassy had been smashed by something – how? It was as if someone had fired a gun at it, with a perfectly round hole in the middle and crazed glass around but
no bullet evident– it was Jonathan who repaired it. I had knocked all the glass out and the windscreen had hinges so it could open and locking nuts to keep it closed but with no glass around, where you would drill the holes in the glass was anyone’s guess. Jonathan worked out where the holes must have gone, ordered glass, fitted it to the not quite rectangular design of the frame and put the whole thing back together in a week. A tremendous feat of engineering. Now, Jonathan and I have been wanting to write a book together for some time. Jonathan has a fund of stories about his Sea Start call-outs. Salutary lessons generally but very amusing at the same time. Of course, I am the subject of just such a salutary lesson. And now we have found a vehicle. Stress-Free Engine Maintenance isn’t about teaching you how to strip down a 4-cylinder diesel engine and then put it back together again. It is about showing why you need to look after the engine and how you need to look after the engine so that you avoid breakdowns. And if you do have a breakdown for one reason or another, showing you how to manage it and perhaps fix it yourself, regardless of how mechanically minded you may be. There are videos throughout the book, which you can view by scanning the QR code on your smart device. You can also watch these videos online at westviewsailing. co.uk then click ‘Stress Free Videos’ and follow the link to ‘Stress-Free Engine Maintenance’.
p The smashed windscreen before I pulled all the glass out of it. u The finished job. Perfection!
8
Stress-free engine maintenance
SF Engine Mainentance ch 1–4.indd 8
15/03/2022 13:09
