Progress Report

En Route, ICW
34 30.531 N 077 24.077 W

We have a lot of people concerned about us, so I'll post progress reports.

We ran the engine for three hours yesterday.  I tied it to the dock, put it in gear and reved up to 2000 RPM.  That created a huge white water wake behind us, and soon brought the temperature up to 200 F.   At first there was lots of steam coming from the exhaust.  That was a sign that the engine was still wet.   After an hour, the steam went away.  That was a sign that the engine was dry.  I let it idle another two hours.

I also put two ounces of WD-40 into the motor oil.  WD-40 absorbs water.  My friend Jay expressed concern about the springs in the injector pump, if they touched water.  Perhaps the WD-40 might absorb any water in that pump.

I also sampled the oil from the bottom of the sump last night. It showed no signs of water and the oil was black, not milky.   Good signs.

We will head for Carolina Beach State Park tonight.  I'll change the oil once again down there, tomorrow (Monday).  If the sump still shows good oil by Tuesday morning, I'll say that we are OK.  That should add another 8 hours of engine time to further dry the engine.

The other good news is that the most recent weather report is better.  Every day between now and Friday shows favorable winds to head for Florida.

We are on our way :-)