Life is full of surprises and not all of them are good. Last Friday the reliable loyal engine that has served us so well since the rebuild and certification refused to start. Despite several hours of troubleshooting the time had come to get home safely and arrange a tow. 

Once at our berth here in  Rockland further study revealed that the exhaust pipe had failed in some way to be determined. The engine had hydrolocked, a condition that usually means internal damage, a bent connecting rod or worse. In anticipation of the time to complete the work we have cancelled four cruises and contacted all the guests whose plans have been interrupted.

To summarize the time since then the engine is now at the repair shop with no certain date for having the systems back up and running. Hopes are to be back on the bay by the middle of September.

We still found time to make ice cream at the dock with the last group on board.  The picture above shows the crew that made and ate the ice cream, Troop 97 from New York on their fourth trip aboard the American Eagle.

A photo essay taken by Sarah Collins

We got the exhaust system out the afternoon the trip was over. It took another couple days to evaluate the damage and arrange the next steps. Here the engine is about ready to be hoisted out of the vessel

 Three chain falls, four people, one engine , no scratched varnish

                         

I n 1986 Dan Pease had planned the cabin top framing for eventually 

taking out the engine. Just the right size if you are careful and we were.

Christa signals the boom truck operator as "Allison" sees the light of day

 for the first time since 1986. Made by Detroit Diesel Allison.

A rising star



By the end of the day the engine room was ready for paint and 

the drip pan was polished.

And I finally got a diesel engine in my truck. It was delivered to 

 the repair shop in twenty minutes, very carefully.

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