140 degree thermostat?

[dburns]

I agree with the others; lose that thermostat (but keep it on board)....but I gotta know; what were you doing in the Alligator/Pungo Canal at night?

The Alligator/Pungo canal at night. It's a long story with a very happy ending.

We motored into the 18 mile canal around 2pm on a hot late June day. Should have been on the other side between 6 or 7 headed south for Dowry Creek for the night. Plenty of time, since there was daylight until 8:30 or so. Plenty of time until the engine died around 4pm, just ahead of an oncoming tug and barge. We drifted toward the shore, out of the way, got an anchor out and following Murphy's first and second laws, we then went up on a snag thanks to the wake of the passing vessel.

Only took an hour or so to winch JaVa off the snag and get the engine started.

At that point I suspected, but didn't know the coil was the issue, believing it was a only a fuel issue. Drained water from the fuel filter and got the engine running. It's now after 5pm. Almost an hour later, the engine dies again. Using the dinghy and outboard, we very slowly made it to the only marker on the canal and tie up to it, since there's no room to anchor. We're just past half-way down the canal. Can't raise SeaTow on ch16, Verizon has no bars for the cell phone. The Hobucken CG station is raised and they call SeaTow for us and relay our situation. Now it's nearly 8 pm and we wait for SeaTow to arrive. They have to come from Little Washington in a 20-25kt SW Pamlico breeze, making for 3 ft swells, 3-4 ft apart.

Finally, around 10pm off we go with a tow.

The good news in all of this and the happy ending is that my bride wasn't on board, so I only have to revisit this adventure when I see one friend!

[dvd]

I have a T-Stat and it works great. Got the upgrade moyer T-stat and T-stat kit with bypass and I've been happy and cool motoring ever since. I am in mostly fresh water but occasionally salt when I go to SF Bay. Should we all lose our T-Stats??

dvd