Lisa and I attended the Northern Lights Hands-On Diesel Engine Class in Ballard last month. The class is taught by Robert Senter, aka “Lugger Bob,” a renowned expert on the engines and generators in Nordhavn yachts, and for that matter practically every other system as well.
Over two days, Bob led the class through a variety of on-hands engine maintenance tasks and troubleshooting tips. The class size was small, with just eight of us around a conference table or a Diesel engine on the shop floor. The students included five Nordhavn owners, one other trawler owner, and two engineers from the Seattle Fire Department.
Bob welcomed questions, and I was like a kid in a candy store, asking many. Bob answered them all with patience and exceptional knowledge. He was somehow able to tailor his instruction for each participant. You could watch him mentally shift gears as switched his advice from our Lugger 1066T to the large Northern Lights generators aboard one of Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Boats. How he keeps all this straight, I have no idea.
Lisa could have decided to leave the engine maintenance stuff to me and not attend this session, but she wants to be true partners in the operation of the boat, and that includes the engine work. One thing I know: her small frame will come in handy in some of the tight spaces of the engine room! Here she is changing out a fuel filter on an engine very similar to Indiscretion’s main engine:
Like the one-day Captain’s Class we attended last fall, I thoroughly enjoyed learning from Bob and meeting my fellow captains and engineers. Bob is incredibly generous with his expertise, offering frequent advice and answers on an exclusive Nordhavn Owners Group website, and giving out his cell phone and email address to the class participants. During class breaks, he would often be on the phone with a captain, likely in some exotic locale, walking through troubleshooting tips and possible solutions to whatever issue or breakdown had occurred.
The two days flew by, and I had a bounce in my step as we headed home, full of enthusiasm that I could carry out all the necessary maintenance this little ship requires. And I proved it to myself the very next week completing a marathon list of spring maintenance tasks for both our main engine and generator. All told, I spent 14 hours within the confines of Indiscretion’s engine room, which by the hour grew smaller and smaller, but by day’s end, I was still smiling. On that busy day, I changed the oil and oil filters on both engines, cleaned the heat exchanger, checked the impeller, and changed the coolant of the generator, and replaced a total of six primary and secondary fuel filters on both engines. I did email Bob a few questions about a couple of things, and true to form, he got right back to me. It’s such a good feeling to have that kind of support in my new status as a trawler captain.
I heartily recommend this Hands-on Diesel Class for any Nordhavn captain. The value we received (and continue to receive!) is simply priceless to us in terms of self-sufficiency and overall confidence afloat.
Cruising Notes
Instead of commuting by car ferry and freeway from Vashon Island, we decided to take Indiscretion to Shilshole Marina for the engine class in Ballard. We caught up with our cruising friend Kevin Jeffries and got a tour of lovely Red Rover, and broke out our Ninebot scooters to zip around the Burke Gilman Trail on our way to dinner at the Sloop Tavern (the last time we were there was twenty years ago; it hasn’t changed at all!).
From Shilshole, we headed to Blake Island to spend Memorial Day weekend. We walked the 3.5 mile trail that circles the island and took in this lovely view of Indiscretion at anchor with the Southworth ferry terminal and Vashon Island in the background:
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