The next morning, I was able to get in touch with the previous owner, Brian, and after some discussion of the issues we had seen and further examination of the systems, we determined we had two primary issues:
– Steering issues were cause by our testing of the autopilot. We adjusted one of the switches at the binacle that control the hydraulic steering flow for manual versus automatic steering. The switch was somewhat worn and allowed it to be in a neutral position that caused steering to go out of norm. We topped off the reservoir and pumped up the pressure again and everything worked fine again.
– Engine quitting was confirmed to be caused by dirty fuel. After spending quite a few hours working through the engine set up, I was able to determine the proper method and sequence to change the fuel filters and properly bleed the system and we got it started again.
We stayed at the Charleston Harbor Marina during these two days and took advantage of their hot tub. Since the showers were out of order, this worked out pretty well. We were also able to take advantage of nearby dining opportunities during our stay and the crew located a Trader Joes to add a bit more to our provisions. (Thank you Sam for the chocolate!!)