2021: More boat repairs

 26 January 2021

No boat travel.

When I sewed up the ripped dart seam on the dinghy cover, I thought I was done and put my sewing machine away. However, when Clark went to throw the cover back over the dinghy and found a hole starting to form where it rests over the throttle. Given the abrasion from the wind, the material had frayed and a hole had appeared. Fortunately, I have matching fabric and quickly put a small, reinforced patch over the area to protect from future wear.

Just before lunch, a man showed up and knocked on the boat. Clark and he talked for a while and then they both disappeared. I had no idea who he was or where they went. By 1:30 I gave up on them ever returning and made lunch putting Clark's in the fridge to eat whenever he finally returned. He did eventually show up around 2:00 and told me that he had met a man named Merv that he knew about through his time working on the boat here named "Amigo". Apparently, they both talked detailed boat-repair talk for the entire time. 

I tackled laundry again today. I thought I would use the dryer with minimal heat to dry just the towels, but even that was too much for the derelict equipment. I ended up taking the still wet laundry out at the end of the cycle and throwing it into the one working dryer. That's it. I will stop throwing my money away now and just use the one workable machine unless I hear the other has been repaired.

While I was busy with the laundry, Clark decided to take the used oil from his engine oil change to recycle at the Marathon City Marina. He put the two gallon containers in his backpack and carried the third gallon in a bag as he biked down Route 1. His load was a whole lot lighter when he returned having disposed of the oil and the containers.

I decided to join the relatively small turnout for docktails. I stay away from crowds. As I sat talking to friends, I saw Clark come out onto the cockpit of our boat with his guitar. I waved him over to come join the group which resulted in a little sing-along. 

After docktails we grabbed a quick dinner because at 8:10 we were scheduled to join the first session of the AGLCA Looper-Palooza gathering. I started at 7:30 getting setup. Little did I know I should have started the day before when they had a dry-run, test session. It took until the meeting starting time to get the computer configured and gain access to the Zoom meeting information. We were supposed to get email invites from Zoom that never happened - perhaps because of my tardiness in downloading the Zoom client. This session was a simple introduction of attendees.

27 January 2021

No boat travel.

We started the day before 6:00 as we logged into our devices to play the Florida Publix vaccine lottery. This is a not-so-fun game of logging in and staying logged in until the available appointments drop down to "Fully booked". Unlike some other counties that had as many as 9000+ appointment slots, Monroe County, i.e. the Florida Keys, had 230 available appointments. As per usual, after 45 minutes of staring at the screen that refreshes every minute, Monroe County showed "Fully Booked". At that point we went back to bed. 

We get to look forward to this twice-weekly ritual until a miracle occurs and we get appointments. Since the slots are only available in Key West or Islamorada, if we do get appointments, we then have to figure out transportation. They certainly do not make it easy to stay healthy!

Today turned out to be the hottest day in the Keys this season. We have been regularly hitting record lows. Today we hit a record high. Although it was a beautiful day to be in the pool, Clark was in the "head" the entire day working repairs. The fix that he put in place by applying large amounts of sealant did not do the trick. We still had water collecting under the sink. 

Even though he hoped to avoid doing an installation now, Clark had ordered a replacement part to have on hand for next time. This part is a hard-to-find connection specific to our particular sink. He had to do a replacement of the same part on the guest head sink a couple of years ago, so he knew what to order.

It took two of us to get the old hose off and disconnect the old assembly from underneath the sink. The head is not built to accommodate two people. For one activity I had to lean over the top of him standing up. For the second I had to kneel and stretch over his head to reach. Every bit of the space was taken up with people and tools.

Tools in the shower stall

Sink under repair

While Clark pulled on the hose, I worked with a tool to break the seal of the hose to the connection. When it gave way and came off, Clark exclaimed, "Wow! I could not have done that without your help!" Examing the hose connection, he figured out why it still leaked. The failure was more extensive than he thought, and an area he had not "gooped up" had a crack in the pipe.  

Part removed from sink drain

When Clark took the connection apart, he found that the rubber seal had a split in the rubber. He decided to take a trip to Home Depot to buy some parts and a more properly-sized wrench for the job.

 

New drain assembly from Home Depot

Unfortunately, although the diameter appeared to be correct in the store, when Clark got back to the boat he found it to be slightly too large. Given that was the only option at Home Depot, he decided he had to go back and work with the old parts. Upon examination, he found that the split in the seal was located such that it would most likely not leak if he covered it with enough "goop".

I got a bit of a respite while he was gone and while he decided how to address fixing the leak, but after he did that, I got pulled back in to offer more assistance.  This time to help putting the sink back together with the new pipe and the old drain. Fortunately, the reassembly went a lot smoother and faster than the disassembly.

After completing the sink repair, Clark moved on to the guest head to work on the leaking toilet.  The annoying thing about this repair was that we had to turn off all water on the boat while he worked on the toilet. I quickly discovered how often I use the water once I could not get any. Fortunately, I had collected some in a small bucket while I drained the galley sink, so I had a little to work with.

He figured out the source of the leak. Water sprays up from the foot treadle when depressed. He did not have parts on hand to make any replacements, and he hoped that his repair would hold. He ordered new parts for future use should they be needed. While he had things taken apart, he found a clamp around the base that could be tightened. Our guest head has been suffering from smelling a bit like the holding tank. Apparently the not-tight-enough connection was enough to let odor escape because we have not noticed the smell since he tightened it. Thank goodness for that!

We hoped that with all of the work that Clark did today on heads that we would be back to two working sinks and two working toilets. What a shame to take the best and warmest day of the season and be "trapped" in the head all day long.  By the end of the day, Clark was completely wrung out.

Note: We discovered after flushing the toilet a few times that water still sprays out. When the new parts appear, he will be back in there again to redo the repair work. The sink repair seems to be doing the job, so we are 3/4 of the way to full operation in the heads. 

Funny footnote, With all the head repairs going on, I got confused. I could use the sink in one and the toilet in the other. I needed a toilet and I just stood out in the hallway with a forlorn look on my face. "Clark," I said, "I'm so confused. Which one can I use to pee?"

28 January 2021

No boat travel.

Well, we thought we signed up for an AGLCA "Lunch and Learn" today, but we never got the email. Once again I contacted the group and got the Zoom sign in information. Clark watched. I listened from across the room. Where I am sure it was good for newbies, we found little to add to our boating knowledge. 

The Lunch and Learn session was from 12:00 to 1:00. Just before it started, Mike from marina staff, said he would be back after he ate for our holding tank pumpout. I delayed lunch because I was sure that as soon as I put food on the table, he would return. While we waited for Mike to arrive, I printed out some items from my computer. When Clark heard the printer going, he said he needed tax forms printed out, so we worked on that next. 

Finally, going on for 2 o'clock, I decided we needed to take the chance and eat. (We managed to eat before he came back.) Meanwhile, as I sat eating my very late lunch, I got a text from my boat buddy asking if I wanted to go to the store. We negotiated leaving in 30 minutes, so I could get my act together to go out with her. We took a short trip to Publix.

Clark has been waiting for a good day to fix a fuel leak on the port engine where he installed the fuel gauges. He chose today. We needed to have a low enough fuel level that he could move all fuel to the starboard tank and not worry that it would overflow. Because of our overnight to Newfound Harbor, we had low enough fuel levels to now do this job. 

It takes a while to move all the fuel from one side to the other. Once done, the boat sloped sharply to starboard. Clark added water to the port water tank to help level us out some, but it was still a downhill run to the stove and and uphill climb to the head. What a weird sensation!  

I can always tell if the boat is listing one way or the other. If the boat leans to port, the doors hit you on the way in and if it leans to starboard they swing outwards. Today, they were swinging outwards. Given the slope, I told Clark not to be surprised if I rolled into him in bed during the night.

29 January 2021

No boat travel.

Once again, since today was a Friday, we played the vaccination lottery this morning at 6:00 a.m. and lost! What a miserable way to start the day for people who like to sleep until 9:00! As soon as we saw that "Fully Booked" message for Monroe County, we went back to bed.

I did not intend to spend the entire day on the computer today, but that is what happened. February is birthday month in our family. My older son, his wife, and three of our five grandchildren have birthdays in February. That combined with Valentine's Day made for a lot of cards and gifts being sent out.

While I worked on the cards and gifts, Clark got busy in the engine room fixing his fuel leak. With the fuel moved and the water added for leveling, he did the repair with a sealant loaned to him by our neighbors. 

Used to repair fuel leak at connection 

After the repair, he moved the fuel back to the port tank, and I could use the galley without feeling like I was hiking on a hill.

30 January 2021

Maintenance Run on boat.

Depart: Faro Blanco 3:10

Arrive: Faro Blanco 5:10

Distance: ~ 6 nm

Being Saturday, I went with Sandy to the farmer's market. Since neither of us were anxious to return back to our boats, we stopped at Winn Dixie. Then Sandy bought us each an Iced Tea from Dunkin. After that, we went shopping at a couple of gift shops. I bought a couple of coasters for the boat, and Sandy bought herself an on-sale pair of shoes. We had a nice outing.

As we traveled back to the boats, I saw that I had missed a text from my son saying that my granddaughters in Idaho wanted to video chat. Once I got my groceries stowed, I got on my computer to spend a loving rest of the morning with family. 

After lunch, Clark said he wanted to take the boat out for a maintenance run. Given we were a few days overdue, I was not surprised. I noticed that he waited until we were on our way out of the marina to say that he wanted to go get fuel. To make a trip out of it, we went to Marathon Marina where we picked up almost 400 gallons of diesel fuel. 

Because of the wind factor, Clark pulled up to the dock with the easier access. Unfortunately, the pump on that dock is a slow one. We arrived at 3:40 and took half an hour to fill up. The dock hand said he did not care how long we took as he had nothing better to do. At $2.80 per gallon plus tax, our wallets were considerably lighter when he left the dock. 

While I waited for the fueling to be complete, I had fun watching the anemometer spin in circles showing the changing wind directions. 

I knew we had changing wind directions but this was ridiculous as it sometimes did a 360 on the dial. It was not until we were on our way back to the marina that I remembered that the mast was down causing the wind gauge to go crazy. Regardless, it served to keep me amused for half an hour. Apparently, it does not take much to entertain me.

To get to Marathon Marina, we need to go under the 7-mile bridge. We can either drop our mast and antennas and go under the closer section, or travel to Moser Channel and go under where the bridge is high enough to not need lowering equipment. Clark opted for lowering the mast and antennas. 

Lowering the mast  requires both of us working together. We checked the depth, looked ahead for traps in the water, and then scurried back to the mast with the boat in autopilot to lower the mast to the deck. Afterwards, I ran up to take the helm while Clark maneuvered his way along the skinny edges of the flybridge to reach the antennas on either side. 

I hold my breath every time he does that as it is so dangerous out there. I worry that any sudden movement of the boat will send him plunging into the water from a very scary height. I hope no boat goes by and makes a wake! 

With a fast current and lots of cement pilings around, we passed under the bridge with Clark piloting. Usually, he climbs back out after we go under a bridge to put the antennas back up, but since we only planned to go a short distance, he left everything down ready for the return trip.

After fueling, we headed back to the marina and, as planned, once again scooted under the bridge. While fueling I talked to the dock hand who told me how he took off his tuna tower under the 7-mile bridge by getting hit by an unexpected wave. His story did not "warm my heart". It only added to my stress level. 

The hard part of going under the bridge in an undesignated spot is deciding which section to go through. Clark selected a spot and made his way. As we went under the bridge, we decided that the height issue was the least of our worries. The fierce current made steering challenging. Thank God Clark was piloting. I expect I would have wrapped the boat around one of the cement pilings had I had the controls. 

First it looked like we would plow into the bridge support with the bow. Clark managed to get the boat to turn (it is stubborn) at the last possible moment. As soon as he got the bow to turn away from the support, we had to worry about the stern getting slammed. Quickly he turned the wheel the other way to get the stern pointing away from a crash. 

Once free of the bridge, I told Clark that I had no need to go for a run to get my heart racing. A trip out of the boat with him is a cardio experience all on its own! 

We decided to go to docktails tonight. Too bad I don't drink. I could have used a stiff one after our joy ride!

31 January 2021

No boat travel.

Another lazy day on the boat with no real plans to do anything. Clark said he needed to catch up on emails and other computer "stuff". I spent the day reading, organizing my junk drawer, solving Sudoku puzzles, and playing solitaire on my tablet. 

Note: Since we filled up the fuel tanks yesterday, Clark inspected his fuel leak repair today. It appears to be holding as he found no drips.

We did not take any sunset pictures recently because from where we sit they almost all look the same. Not so for our friends at Marathon Marina. Charlie McVey on "The Lower Place" posted this one. What a gorgeous view they have from their slip!

Sunset picture
taken by Charlie McVey - "The Lower Place"