SAILOR’S WORST NIGHTMARE - we have to CUT OPEN OUR TANK 🤬 - (Episode 341)
30 November 2025 · 24 min · 235K views · Indonesia
Sailor crouches in cabin, focused on engine repair
What this video covers
Diesel bug contamination in a remote anchorage off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, forces Colin and the crew of the Lagoon 450 *Parlay Revival* to decommission the port engine mid-passage, roughly 750 miles from Malaysia.0:05 The RACOR water-separator filter clogs repeatedly with thick black sludge; chunks block the fuel pickup before the fuel even reaches the filter housing.3:50 Inspection reveals the tank — approximately 740 mm wide and longer than an arm's reach — was built into the hull and cannot be removed, leaving no way to clean it without cutting an access panel, a job deferred to Malaysia.9:01 With the starboard saildrive clutch also slipping and engaging only after repeated throttle bursts in reverse, the boat operates on effectively half power.7:50 The crew takes on 700 litres of fresh diesel from a local contact named Dino, docking with reverse-only on the starboard engine.16:38 An error during the pump-out — the engine's return line feeding back into the contaminated tank — wastes 18 litres of clean fuel.19:45 Colin attributes the contamination to running tanks at quarter-to-half capacity for 1,500 miles since Lombok Marina, allowing condensation to form a water layer that feeds microbial growth.12:43 The practical lesson: keep tanks full to prevent condensation, and install a fuel polishing system before remote passages.
Boats in this video
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