slobbering

It seems my engine is slobbering, that is to say spitting oil and fuel out the exhaust. Evidently it's what Detroit Diesels do. The cure, I'm told, is to put the bow up against some bulkhead, tie the boat up so it won't swing, put her in gear and run the piss out it for 6 hrs while you catch a few double features. In the meantime we're sitting here waiting to get our autopilot hooked up. We actually found a competent electronics guy and we are loath to leave till he gets this figured out. Still have not decided whether to go through the ICW to New Orleans or go around the outside to the west coast of Florida. The ICW is an ugly narrow ditch full of large barges and tug boats- and the outside is a minefield of oil rigs, pipes, unmarked shoals, and wrecks with some wild seas. Our friend Bill the tugboat captain thinks he's headed up to NO with a 70 ft wide barge soon so we may just slip in behind him and let him run interference. All the barge traffic runs from the Mississippi River to Houston- so once we're on the other side it should quiet down.