After some late night and early morning detailed weather reviews, we cast off the lines and headed out toward the Strait of Juan De Fuca and Neah Bay.
The weather was beautiful and calm and it looked like we would beat the northerly winds by heading west out the Strait.
Well, the gods, or maybe the furies, are not smiling on us today. Or maybe they are by having us face this engine issue before we are out at sea.
Only a mile outside of the marina the engine showed very significant RPM decreases. This only had to happen a couple of times for us to make the decision to turn around and head back and figure out what the heck is going on.
So we are back in our slip. Larry and Steve spent the day going through all the easy to fix and diagnose items like fuel filter clogs, taking the fuel flow monitors out of the circuit, etc. We thought we might have fixed it and took the boat back out to trial it, but the spontaneous RPM variations continued.
We will be making a trip to the yard for diesel work rather than down the coast over the next few days.
More to come as we figure out what the situation is.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Robert Burns
MV Miss Miranda 
So sorry to hear, but glad it showed up now rather than out on the coast! Stay safe and good luck.
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Bummer! But better safe than sorry!
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I am withholding my comment, but I give you leave to imagine it!
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Oh, Gwen and Larry—So sorry that the engine is not cooperating. Maybe this will bring a chuckle. Aunt Jan
There was a great difference in boats, of course. For a long time I was on a boat that was so slow we used to forget what year it was we left port in.
Mark Twain
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