Don't Forget to Check for Cooling Water!

My boat was in the maintenance slip a few days last week for some stress crack repairs which exceeded my skill levels.  The yard did a great job on the fiberglass and gelcoat work, but they did not do a very good job in transporting my boat between slips.  They have a habit of leaving my seacock open when they move it, which I consider unsafe.

I closed the seacock while I was working once night, and it seems they didn't bother to open it when they brought the boat back to my slip.  Some of my dock friends noticed no water was coming out, and yelled to the guy driving, but by that point it was really too late.  The next two times I have started the engine it has been putting some pretty nasty black stuff into the water.  Not oil sheen, more like black dust in the water.

I started the engine again before I left last night, and the flow was almost normal.  I'm hoping that what I'm seeing is impellor residue working its way out of the engine.  I have ordered a bunch of replacement engine parts to keep on hand (belts, impellors, etc.) so I will do a proactive replacement when that order arrives.  In the mean time, the impellor is still moving water effectively and without any visible change in exhaust burping.

Ugh, it really irritates me when someone doesn't take the same care of my boat that I do.  Well, at least to such a significant degree...