I broke the boat today. We snuck up to check on it, clean it and take a quick ride on the prettiest day of the year so far (80 degrees, no wind, clean air). We rode around about an hour and started to head back. I pushed up to full speed, heard a noise and lost some power in 1 engine. We pulled back the throttle and slowed way down to figure it out. The gauges read normal and the “smart monitor” said all systems ok. The engines sounded louder and the starboard engine had less power than the port engine at the same RPM.
This took us a little while to sort out, and we’re thinking we might just have to “limp” home slowly. While working the problem, the indicators that the bilge pumps were on alerted us to something potentially dire. The hatch to the engine room is electric, and when we pushed the switch, nothing happened, so we couldn’t get into the engine room.
We didn’t panic and worked the problems. James observed a difference in engine exhaust water on one side. After checking the fuse, I searched and learned there is a safety switch on the hatch when the transom door is closed (which it is when under way). Opened the transom door, then opened the hatch to find the exhaust water (the engines are cooled by raw water) hose had come loose and the engine was basically pumping water into the engine room.
Shut the engines, grabbed a flathead and put the hose back on and tightened the clamps all in about 3 minutes and we were under way again. The amount of water wasn’t more than the pumps could keep up with, and once we stopped the engines it was quickly cleared.
This was our 2nd voyage on our own. I’m proud of us for not panicking and fixing a simple problem relatively quickly, learning more about our boat in the process. Oh, and we also learned how to get into the engine room if the hatch actuator motor actually doesn’t work.