FL: Sanford - Waiting for rain to clear

Monday 4/9/2018
No boat travel.

With rain forecast for the next two days, I decided to grab the laundry and get that done before the rains came. Afterwards, given we have decent WiFi here, I decided to catch up on blog updates. While I composed my blog updates, Clark slaved away in the engine room doing repair work.

Several weeks ago Clark noticed an oil leak from the seal for the injector pump timer. Ever since, he has been mopping up the drips waiting for an opportunity to do a repair.

Part to be replaced is under the cover at the end of the engine

When the oil leak appeared, Clark had to do some research to find out if this was something he could repair himself. Once he got the thumbs on that, he had to track down the part. This turned out to be rather difficult. Over a period of several days, working with a knowledgeable Yanmar person and our trusted Yanmar dealer, he finally got the part number and eventually had the part delivered to Marineland while we visited New Jersey.

The repair itself required two full days of time - first to do the repair and then a twenty-four hour wait to test the repair. With our layover in Sanford, he found the two-days time he needed. While I spent the afternoon blogging, he spent the afternoon in the engine room. I heard  a lot of banging. I stayed away figuring that if he needed me, I would quickly find out.

Considering it took so long to acquire it, the replacement part was pretty unimpressive (to me).

Repair items required to fix the leaky seal

I later found out what all the banging was about. Clark had to hammer out the old part. Based on the noise I heard coming from the engine room, this task was non-trivial. Once he got the old part out, it required the use of the vice we have to get the new part in place. Assembly required use of silicon seal which had to dry for 24 hours before the engine could be started.

Clark worked on the repair until 3:00 when he finally declared himself done until tomorrow when he can start the engine and see if the repair did its job.

We spent the evening watching television shows (mostly over the internet) until time to call it a night.


Tuesday 4/10/2018
No boat travel.

When the weather forecasters said rain, they meant rain! It started yesterday and continued into today with several places on the St. Johns River reporting flooding. I said to Clark, "It's a good thing we're not on the St. Johns!" He replied, "You are on the St. Johns River!" What I should have said was "anchored on the St. Johns".

We had lightening and thunder with the rain today, so I was definitely happy to be on a dock - safe and dry. Given I had no other plans and nowhere to go in the rain, I pulled out my acrylic paints that I have had on board since October. I have had no good occasion to use them as I require a block of several hours to sit down and create a painting. 

I always worry that as soon as I sit down and get started, Clark will come around asking me to help him with some boat-related job. Today, before I even got out my supplies, I asked if he would be looking for me during the course of the afternoon. With a negative response, I decided now was my opportunity to indulge myself.

I found a sunset picture from the hundreds that Clark has taken and used that as my model. Here is the finished artwork.

Acrylic Painting by Evelyn

While I enjoyed my time with my paints, Clark did some trip planning for our voyage north on the St. Johns River. After the rain subsided, he pulled out the hose to fill the water tanks for our trip and washed off some of the grime not washed away by the downpours. He even used 3M compounding / wax to clean up the real stubborn areas.

When he completed all those miscellaneous jobs, it was late enough in the afternoon that he could finally test his repair from yesterday. He started the engine and let it run for a while declaring success when he saw no leaks where he had made the repair. Unfortunately, he saw a leak now from elsewhere on the engine. It never ends!

We had a bit of a break from the rain, but more is expected overnight. Fortunately, the weather reports indicate that by the time we leave here in the morning, the rain will be over until Sunday.

When I asked Clark if he had any pictures to add to today's blog, he said, as he handed me his cellphone with a smile, "Yes. Today's sunset picture."

Sunset Picture???

When I asked, he said, "Well, I was looking west when I took it!"