You learn something everyday...

Yabut, what about that "old dogs and new tricks" saying?  You just need to pick the sayings that support your position.  ;-)

I took the boat out solo this morning.  With the engine stalling, I figured I'd rather it was just me while I test out this next hypothesis for a solution.

I called Tracker Marine (where we bought the boat) to see if there was any troubleshooting they could offer when I described the symptoms..."Well, that could be anything."

That narrows it down a bunch.  Next step: head to the internet.  It didn't take me long to find people having problems similar to mine.  As you'd expect from the internet, there were all kinds of "professional" opinions.  One discussion turned to the squeeze bulb on the fuel line.  Of course, there were the experts who said to check that the bulb was aligned correctly, with the arrow on the bulb pointing in the direction of the flow (gas tank to engine).  People were replacing those bulbs left and right.  One guy wrote: "Of course you put the bulb in with the right orientation on the arrow, but that arrow is also telling you that the bulb should be pointing up on that side."  There was widespread horror and disbelief from the internet.  ;-)

We've owned a bunch of boats.  The outboards have always had the bulbs in the fuel line.  I always put new bulbs in that line with the proper orientation.  I have never heard anything about that line needing to be above horizontal with that bulb.  Come to think of it, though, this is the first boat we have owned that has the fuel tank mounted above where the fuel line connects to the engine... and a large droop in that line between the tank and the engine.  As often as not, that fuel bulb is pointing down.

Further research led me to find out that many of those bulbs are not just a valve - there is a "ball" in there that keeps the fuel from running back into the tank.  In the down position, that ball can block the fuel line.  I like to think I am a pretty experienced boater, but I wasn't aware of this situation with the bulb.  And, a lot of people on the internet were telling the guy who wrote about it that he was full of... well, that his hypothesis was ridiculous.

My goal today was to test it out.  I know the vented fuel cap was part of the problem.  I examined the fuel line closely and cleaned the connections.  When manually pumping fuel, there was no leak at the lift pump.  I didn't want to just start replacing things; so this trip out this morning was to check the orientation of that fuel bulb under different throttle settings.

It worked.  Well, I was able to keep the bulb full and no stalling or hesitation.  We'll come up with a solution to keep that fuel line properly oriented, but there's nothing I can do about the fuel tank being higher than the engine, so there will have to be some downward running of the fuel line.

I ran the boat out our canals, into the ICW, down to the ship channel, a couple times around Dead Pecker Island, then back.  All the while using different throttle settings.  The other day, while holding that bulb horizontal, I couldn't get it to firm up (do an internet search on that, and you'll come up with all kinds of smart-ass Viagra jokes) after running at a high RPM.  Orienting it upwards took care of that and no stalling or hesitation.

Beautiful weather and water, and I wasn't looking for dolphins.

Our sweet daughter is coming to visit next week, and she'd like to see some dolphins; I don't want to have any boat issues while she's here.  Well, I'd just as soon not have any boat issues ever... but, I am realistic.

:-)

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Some photos from this morning:

Heading down the canal...

Heading towards the island at the junction of the PI Channel and the ship channel...

The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure...

Coming back to the dock, the Blonde dock hand...

Just when you thought the dredge operation was out of our hair: they finally moved their actual dredgers a couple weeks ago, but left some of their dredge pipe in our canals.  This morning, one of those pipes had come untied from the shore and was nearly blocking my exit.  If the boat was any wider, I would have been trapped by them... again.

I did call our facilities manager (head of maintenance) and let him know that this was a potential liability if someone hits that pipe while it is just under the water and blocking the canal... injury or property damage - either way it is going to be costly to our owners association... "Oh, and you won't be able to say 'We didn't know about it,' since this is the second time I've reported it."  Apparently, that was enough incentive, because late this afternoon, Joan and I went out for a short cruise to double check the new fuel line routine (all good), and...

Someone from the dredge operation was tying that loose pipe off on shore.  Really, they should just get their damn pipes out of our canal already.

The second test of the fuel line resolution went well, so I am ready to call it good.  For now.

While out, I took a photo of the water temp readout on the chartplotter...

A lot of reflection, but 83.5º currently.  Definitely warmer than typical for this early in the summer season.  That makes for a lot of "energy" when storms move over that warm water.

The weasels are calling for "near record temperatures" for the next week or so.