Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Day 28 More jobs done

The refrigerator started acting up over the past few days.  Sometimes down to 28, sometimes up to 48.  There was no continuity.  The compressor ran and stopped, ran and stopped.  Never seemed to make a full cycle on its run.  I turned it off last night for a minute or so and then back on.  Seemed fine after that, but this morning, no ice in the tray.  Just wouldn't get cold enough.  We went in search of a refrigeration specialist this morning and actually had one at the boat by 3pm.  Checked out the entire unit.  His conclusion was that we had put to much food in the cabinet with the compressor and had blocked a lot of the air flow that is necessary for proper operation of the fans.  Just was running to hot.  He recommended adding another vent to the cabinet and put baffles between the fan and the condenser.  This way, all the air will be pulled thru the condenser and keep it cool.  Add the extra vent and all should be fine.  All in all, the unit is in great condition.  At 26 years of age, that's not bad.  

Earlier in the day, we received a call from the company we have been talking to about replacing the refrigerator.  Gave him the specs and he will be getting back drawings and his ideas as to installing the new unit.  This unit is supposed to run at half the energy demands of virtually any other unit on the market.  With ours being so old, I'm sure the energy demands for it are much more than what is required by todays units.  

We took the "drill" (used to raising the main and adjusting the genoa)back the the company that sold it to us for repairs.  Apparently, a screw that holds the chuck onto the drill sheered off inside the chuck.  It is being returned to Alameda, California for repairs.  Should be back in 10 days--maybe.  

The replacement deck cap for the forward head tank(won't open) arrived.  The replacement is the same bronze that is there.  After the frig man left, I started the installation.  First loosened all the hose clamps and take out the screws.  Now the hard part--after 26 years, it was really attached to the boat and didn't want to come out.  I had to use two hammers and knock the claw of one under the edge of the other and try and pry it out.   It took some prying but it finally came out.  While the catalog said what we got was the exactly the same thing as what we had--not so!!  Not even close.  Much larger diameter and a totally different diameter of pipe.  Off to the hardware store.  Got the necessary parts and a hole drill to enlarge the opening.  As is the normal way of things, the drills battery died with about 1/8" to go in cutting the hole.  Had to recharge the battery to finish the job.  Once charged, all went fine.  Had to cut down the hose to the fitting but the job is done.  Now we can pump out the tank and I can fix the fiberglass and the pump used to empty the tank while off shore.  Doing one job leads to others.

North Sails called today.  Our sails are all done.  If the weather is rotten tomorrow, we are off to Portland again.  Only took one week!! Great service--all three sails done.

 Tracy made a great dinner of sliced turkey in an alfredo sauce served on a bed of spaghetti noodles.  Ah--the joys a new stove brings!!  Saw the Harbor Master today.  He is going to install the old stove in his camper and use it himself.  Glad he can put it to good use.  I had passed on all the hardware as well as the installation manual.  Hope he enjoys it.  Better than throwing it away.

I know it seems strange but one of the hardest things to get used to is remembering what day it is.  I've stopped wearing a wrist watch.  We take each day as it comes and continue on.  Knowing what day it is has just about lost its importance.  If it wasn't knowing what is on tv that evening, we would just not know what day it is.  Once the tv is gone,  we will have to mark our calendar if we are to remember.  Being in the working world for so long, it is hard to imagine not really caring what day it is.  Just what job we can do that day and making arrangement to get it done.  Getting parts on Sunday is the hardest part.  Just about everybody is closed and many businesses close at 3 on Saturday afternoon.  They roll up the sidewalks at 5pm.

Tomorrow, we meet with the battery supplier to see what batteries he has ordered and wether they will fit the boat.  If not, we will try again.  Our extended comfort depends many times on how our batteries work and how long they work.

Tracy spent some of the afternoon scrubbing more canvas on the boat and re-water proofing it.  Has to dry before the next rain storm.  That would be late tonight or tomorrow morning.  We're stuck in a low pressure zone.  Everything is coming at us from the East not the West as is the norm.  Makes for very unsettled weather.

I've added a video I took last week while we were at the beach.  With it being well over 90 that day, it was a great time to go there.  A lot cooler though strange to see the fog and haze caused by the difference of the temperature between the water and the air.  If it gets warmer, we expect we will get back there.  But until then, working on Zephyr comes first.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

My Dad has succesfully posted a video to the internet.. why does that make me feel so proud?

Oh well, very cool. :)

(p.s. your blog rocks)