In this episode of Acorn to Arabella, Steve, Robin, and AKA face the challenge of restarting their diesel engine after experiencing an issue while at Cudy Hunk Island. Follow their journey as they troubleshoot and find solutions, ultimately aiming to begin their voyage back to the coast of Maine. Hitchhiking With A Mooring – Key Points:
Steve realized there was an issue with fuel flow, causing the motor not to start.
Jesse pumped, bled, and drained the system, fixing the fuel flow issue.
The team successfully picked up their first mooring of the season.
Converting Starlink To DC Power:
The team previously attempted to convert Starlink to use DC power using an Amazon conversion kit, but faced challenges.
With guidance from Reddit threads and blog articles, the team finally succeeded in running Starlink on battery power.
Enhancing Solar Panel Power:
The existing flexible solar panels were not producing enough power for the new requirements (Starlink, fridge).
Adding two more rigid solar panels significantly improved battery charging capabilities.
The team needs to consider a long-term solution for the placement of these additional panels. For this episode of Acorn to Arabella, Steve and Jesse wanted to ensure their diesel engine was running smoothly before setting sail again. They successfully restarted the engine but faced unexpected challenges along the way. Additionally, the team managed to resolve their Starlink conversion issue and enhance their solar power generation capabilities for an improved boating experience. With these problems addressed and a plan in place for their rigid solar panels, Steve and Jesse are now well-prepared to continue their journey back to the coast of Maine. This episode highlights the importance of continuous troubleshooting and adapting strategies when faced with unexpected setbacks during a lengthy boat voyage.
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Steve, Robin, and Akiva are spending the week at a mooring in Mattapoisett while they take care of a few important to-dos before beginning their journey north up the coast of Maine.
If you tuned in to last week’s episode, you know that Arabella's engine died just outside the channel going into Cuttyhunk Island. Well, it’s time to see if any permanent damage was done, and if Arabella will be able to fire up its engine again soon.
After an oil change and some coaxing, the engine did fire up and ran for a few minutes at idle. However, the oil light came back on pretty much immediately. With plenty of oil and solid oil pressure, Steve is perplexed by what the issue could be...so he called in the experts at Nanni to come take a look.
Turns out, there was an airlock in the motor that prevented it from receiving fuel. After some exploring, the airflow is back to normal, the engine is getting fuel, and no serious damage has been done. Phew...
Another important to-do is getting Starlink up and running on DC power. While in Harwich Port, Steve and Robin ran their Starlink dish off of shore power. Now that they’re cruising again, there’s no access to shore power, and while Starlink could technically run off their inverters, it’s more efficient to run it off of DC power. Of course, there’s little to no info on how to perform this conversion. Steve's first few attempts unfortunately failed.
After getting some useless information from a Starlink tech, Robin and Steve phoned a few friends, who were able to collaborate on a fix. Starlink is officially running off of DC power and good to go, just in time for cruising season. Robin is thrilled to be able to run her business from the cockpit this summer!
Of course, since Starlink is now drawing on the boat's battery bank, the amount of power being generated on deck needs to increase. Installing a few more solar panels should do the trick. There are a few more rigid solar panels that could provide more power...but will it be enough to power Starlink? Only time will tell...
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Acorn to Arabella started as a wooden boat building project in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve began the journey as an amateur wooden boat builder crafting a 38' wooden sailboat in his backyard: designer William Atkin's Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel's gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and now sailing the boat—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that traditional wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project continues beyond the boat shop, as Steve and crew travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they've built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.
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Original Soundtrack available at benfundis.bandcamp.com
Restarting The Diesel Engine - Episode 313 - Acorn to Arabella: Journey of a Wooden Boat Locations
Cudy Hunk Island, Maine (43.6589,-69.3083)
Coast of Maine (44.55,-68.45)
Acorn To Arabella
We are building a 38’ sailboat from stump to ship, once complete she will take us around the world. We hope to inspire and educate as many people as possible along the way. Join us on our journey and let us show you that with a bit of dedication, good company and some old school smarts even the wildest of dreams can be made to come true!
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You know what they say: “BOAT” stands for “Break Out Another Thousand.”
While we were anchored in the Dry Tortugas, I got our Spectra watermaker back online. This week, back in Key West, we’re troubleshooting an issue with the feed pump pressure...
This week’s video resumes in the Dry Tortugas, where we’re stuck on finding a solution for installing our auto helm. But that can wait…first, fishing! Our bait attracted a few good-sized Nurse Sharks and Goliath Groupers, putting on quite the show fo...
In this episode, we sail Arabella over to the clear, blue waters of the Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles west of Key West. Starting from the Ten Thousand Islands, we hit Key West for provisions, hot showers, and to pick up the parts we need to get our ...
In this week’s episode, we say goodbye to Sanibel Island and the beautiful “Ding” Darling Wilderness, and we set sail for Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands, an archipelago just north of and adjacent to the Everglades.
It felt great to raise the sails...
Along our journey south, we decided to drop the anchor in North Captiva and stay a few days. We totally fell in love with this sleepy island town. From walking along the shell-covered white sand beaches to checking out the wildlife, there was so much to lo...
We took Arabella to Boca Grande for a week to get some boat work done...but we had to spend some time adventuring, too.
We paddle boarded over to Three Sisters Island, took Victoria out sailing (after repairing her transom), wandered around the "Old Flor...
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