The morning our diesel engine experienced a runaway started like any other. We were headed out of Monterey Harbor on our 1979 Cheoy Lee 41, Avocet, bound for Morro Bay. We fired up the steadfast if sometimes quirky Perkins 4.108 without issue, untied from the dock and made our way out to the ocean.
Just beyond the Monterey Harbor breakwater the engine revved loud and quick, a hiccup we thought was our prop getting caught on kelp—not uncommon for the area. But moments later, when we were about to raise our main, the diesel revved higher than before and kept increasing, blowing billows of white and gray smoke off our stern. I grabbed the helm and Chris dashed below, both of us simultaneously realizing the direness of the situation.
I was eternally grateful for the small seas and gentle breeze, letting Chris throw open the floorboards to reveal our angry engine, assess the issue, and quickly find a resolution. In the span of 60 seconds Chris tried to stop the engine first by manually actuating the stop solenoid on the high-pressure fuel pump, commonly called the injection pump,
