Friday, July 11, 2008

Day 72 Odd jobs and the hunt continues




More odd jobs today.  I tried to get our old "waste" thru deck fitting open.  The bronze fitting has been sealed closed for years.  I had tried to get it open ever since we got here with no luck and had finally replaced it.  I still need the fitting as it could be used to replace another one I have on board.  It is in a small space and the new one I bought is much bigger and wouldn't fit.  I heated it with a propane torch four times and then stuck it in cold water to try and break the seal--no luck.  I've turned it over to another sailer that has a metal shop here in Newport.  He'll get it open.

One of the other sailers in the marina gave Tracy  a pass for a free hot rock message.  We had been passing on some of the old equipment that we had been replacing to them.  They have a 48 foot steel sailboat just down the dock from us.  Nice couple.  While some of the equipment is older, I couldn't just throw away a decent piece of equipment.  If they could use it, I was happy to pass it along.  Tracy got her message this afternoon.  

The thermostat in the frig died today.  Worked almost 24 hours.  It just couldn't maintain the temperature settings and shut down the refrigeration system.  Out he came again and the old thermostat went back in.  It's cooling just fine but we expect it to start short cycling again soon.  Some frig beats no frig.  He's going to do some research while we are gone and find the right thermostat for our frig.

Last night as Tracy was cooking dinner, the propane ran out.  Zephyr has two tanks so that was fine but we used a small 5 pound tank we brought with us from our last boat.  I had brought it aboard so we would have an emergency back up.  At least now we know that it will fit the system.   Off to the store to get a new tank this afternoon while Tracy got her message.

Next, we realigned the winches (see the photo)in the cockpit.  They are a special style that not only help controlling the lines but make it possible for one person to reel in the line all by them selves.  Normally, when a line is under a heavy load, one person cranks the winch while the second person pulls on the line.  These do both.  To work properly, the line they reel in needs to come into the cockpit where it can be stowed.  Two of ours would have put the line outside the cockpit.  A simple job of taking out four screws and rotating the arm.  A quick job but another that needed to be done.

There is still water showing up under the toilet in the front head.  When I got up this morning it was nice and dry.  Two hours later--the paper towels under the head were soaked.  We checked the fittings again--dry.  We are baffled.  The flush sea water comes into the boat and travels up a hose to a pump that pushes it thru a second hose into the rim of the commode so that it can pour into the commode and flush it.  The water then travels out of the commode and up a tube pushed by a pump up a hose to the storage tank.  It's a relatively simple system with very few places that water can get out.  All the hose are dry.  Any place water could get out--connections and joints are dry.  It goes for hours with no water then boom, there is water under the commode.  There are no wax seals like a normal commode in a house--just hoses and hose clamps.   Next, I think I'll try food dye in the bowl and see if it is leaking.

The winds just kept on blowing again today--from the North again.  Topped out at 39 knots--about 44 mph.  The weather people think it may quiet down by Sunday/Monday/Tuesday so we are still shooting for one of those days.

Our rigger emailed us today that he is still in Hawaii but is willing to fly back to do our boat when we get to Port Townsend.  We told him not to worry that we are still trapped here and it will still be a few days before we can get out.  Explained about some of the new problems we had been having but that we would be happy to wait for him.  Once we get going, if the wind is still not the best, sailing will take us close to a week to beat our way back to the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  Motoring would be quicker--two day trip but with diesel being what it is today, sailing is the best way to travel. 

The final part of our short wave radio came today(an antenna tuner what ever that does) so that piece of equipment is ready for the installers when we get to Port Townsend.  Once installed, we can talk to people all over the world as well as connect to the internet and get weather faxes when ever we need them.   A great piece of equipment for any cruising sailer.

Tomorrow, more jobs and start bringing over things for the trip up from the storage shed that we think we will need.

  

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