The mighty Spree got underway from Freeport Monday evening with the promise of
good weather and a 4 ½ day crossing the gulf adventure. We ran at 13 knots for
Fourchon, Louisiana and a fuel pit stop before turning south for Key West. We
knew we had an engine to break in, which requires running it for about 6 hours
wide open, a new gearbox to test, and all new shafts to make sure wouldn’t
shake.. So much for good intentions. The engine would only turn up to 1600 RPM
(60A% of rated), the gearbox slung oil all over the place, and the seas were
running 4-6’s. The engine exhaust temps were over 500 degrees, so we pulled back
to cruising speed, after frantic calls to the mechanic. After 12 hours, we had
slung 4 gallons of oil through it, which is wayyy too much, even for a Detroit.
Melanie was our savior, finding the turbo drain hose that was on hand tight, and
put a wrench to it, resulting in an oil usage for the rest of the trip of zero.
After 24 hours of running, I decided that the engine wouldn’t turn up because we
had a bad turbocharger. Something about the howling all night keeping me awake
might have given me a clue. After taking a sledgehammer to the new exhaust
piping (while hot) and re-aligning it, the turbo quit howling, and now the
engine turns nicely up to 1900 RPM. Not full RPM, but with a new turbo, it
should be fine. The gearbox sat in the warehouse for 5 years after being
re-built, so the main output shaft seals are a little dry. They were greased
when I installed the gearbox, and may or may not recover, but it’s not a big
deal to replace.
When we left Louisiana, seas were still 4-6 feet, but only for about 12 hours.
As we came east, seas steadily dropped, and 12 hours out, were glass calm. Of
course, the wind hardly ever blows in Florida, or so I’m told. We arrived at
Robbie’s Marina to find our usual spot occupied by 2 very large oilfield supply
boats formerly owned by Tidewater, now by a Nigerian company that wants to take
them to Sierra Leone. The engineer asked me for my bank account information so
he could make a large deposit in my name, and, after winning the Barclays Bank
lottery, we asked them nicely to move. Then Melanie asked. Then they moved, and
we are happily in our usual spot at Robbies.
We are getting the boat ready for our first charter, a “keys krawl” (Spiegel
Grove to Key West, and all the reefs in-between) for SingleDivers.com, a
Memorial Day trip to the Dry Tortugas, then the sinking of the Vandenberg. We
have been asked to be the press boat. We shall see.
A big big thank you to all the folks who made our lives in Texas such a
pleasure, and Mel and I would like to bid a cheery Hello to all the folks in
Florida who have made us feel welcome.
Capt Frank
M/V Spree
Robbie’s Marina
Stock Island, FL |