Cleopatra Marina, Aktio, Greece
Graptolite's Sailing Log
Martyn Pickup & Heike Richter
Sat 30 Jul 2022 16:33
The diesel fuel tank is full of sticky bacteria and related crud. There is no inspection hatch that can be used to clean it out. As Bavaria put the tank in place before the topsides, there is no way to get the tank out without cutting it up. There are options of having a new tank custom made in steel or plastic. I'm going for a temporary solution of using a 70 litre tank until some better idea comes along.
and worse..
The mechanics started up the engine and the oil sump started leaking like a sieve due to corrosion. It needs the engine lifting out of the boat. A new oil sump cannot be sourced from Volvo Penta anywhere in Europe and I even tried Canada and Australia as well. Options now are to try to fix the old oil sump (risky) or get a whole new engine (expensive). Either way there is a lot of expensive cranes to rent and lot of expensive manpower.
The engine is 20 years old and has not been idle so I favour getting a new engine rather than making a number of temporary repairs. Waiting to hear if we can get one.