E46 – BATUBOGA TO CIENDAH BAY
Engine issues!
We woke to a perfect sunrise in Bataboga but when performing engine checks, I noticed for the first time severe salt encrustation on the back of the engine, a place I don’t usually look. Tracing it further, I found the bell housing on the back of the heat exchanger had split and there was salt water leaking. This would explain the salt water collecting in the bilge increasingly over the last couple of weeks which I thought had come from a leaky stern gland. This part of Indonesia is not a great place to break down in a yacht as there are no marine services for hundreds of miles!
We motored in almost no wind to Ciendah Bay, the nearest town of any notable size, that looked like could get road access to an international airport and therefore I might be able to get parts delivered if it came to it. Using the wonders of the internet, I contacted my father in northern NSW and he was on the phone to Yanmar dealers in Australia about the potential for a replacement part but the delivery time was weeks although the cost was doable. I had no choice but to make any kind of repair I could and continue.
Help from the internet
Again using the magic of the internet, a Facebook chat group was able to guide me to using a metal epoxy to plug the leak and so we went ashore looking to see if we could find any. The first motorbike shop we went to had some in stock, so I bought a couple of packs and we plugged the leak with the epoxy. It’s a sign of more serious issues though most likely inside the heat exchanger and needs a proper repair at the first opportunity. In the meantime, we were up and running again…Maybe!
