Gratification

It's always a joy to reap the rewards of a job well done.

Two years ago I installed a fuel polishing/filtration system aboard Ariel with the hope that our fuel problems would be a thing of the past - or at least not an interruption to cruising. And now, days of worry-free hours logged on the engine hour meter, I can happily (and confidently) say, problem solved.

After a lively six-hour sail from Holland to South Haven with a 25+ knot wind on the nose and rambunctious seas, "Old Blue" - as we now affectionately refer to our Perkins 4-108 diesel - ran without so much as a hiccup and brought us safely into harbor at South Haven. In the morning, prior to departing South Haven, we did our usual systems check and discovered that the primary fuel filter had accumulated a significant amount of crud - a layer of sludge lining the bottom of the bowl. In less than fifteen minutes I had the filter changed and the engine purring, and the best part was...no bleeding necessary. Flip the valves on the fuel system, change the element, turn on the Walbro fuel pump to prime the system, and crank the engine. It's that easy. That's the way cruising ought to be: uncomplicated.