Arrived in Galveston about 5:30 pm after a leisurely 4 hour cruise from Clear Lake. The engine break-in consists of varying the RPM every half hour or so. Glorius weather with a high temperature of about 72F, and the skies cleared to be nearly cloudlees by arrival. HOWEVER, there was a sometimes bothersome 19 knot North wind, which was never from quite dead astern. We got a nice push to add to our speed, but the waves shoved us around some. We rode our scooters about a mile to have dinner at Fisherman's Wharf downtown. Great seafood and a colorful sunset view from our waterfront table (see picture). Boat ran very well, but I found myself nervously checking the gauges far more often than necessary...
The shakedown cruise ended with a relaxing cruise back to our home on Clear Lake. I should qualify that to be uneventful trip with respect to the engines. Since the installation of the new autopilot in January, the steering has become increasingly less responsive. Specifically, the wheel should make about 9 full revolutions from lock to lock. Before the cruise to Galveston, we filled the reservoir in the hydraulicc steering with fluid. The hope/thought was that there had been air in the system after the installation of the pump for the aautopilot. No luck since the problem persisted, and we found a small pool of fluid beneath the hydraulic cylinder that actuall pushes/pulls the rudders. Fortunately, the cylinder could be rebuilt with hew seals. The bottom line is that this has solved the problem.
The photo shows the cylinder (brass colored) with new hoses (black).
The photo shows the cylinder (brass colored) with new hoses (black).
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