When we arrived here back in late July, we never had a chance to pump out the sewage tanks for the head as we blew the transmission just after we got into the marina. Now that we are back in the water they needed to be pumped out and flushed with clean water and flushed out a second time. You do it twice to make sure you got everything out and have a "clean" tank. Failure to do it this way can result in pipes left full of yuck and that is not a good thing. It's against the law to pump out your tanks into the water unless you are three miles off shore.
We worked as a team to get away from the dock and back to it. Tracy guided me and I steered the boat. Next time, we will reverse the procedures as she needs to learn how Zephyr operates just like I do. When on the boat, you wear lots of different hats.
After the tanks were empty, we motored back to our dock space, pulled a 180 degree turn and plunked her right back in her space, just as nice as you please. Since it has been three months since I had "driven" Zephyr, I have to admit, I was a bit nervous but pulled it off without a hitch. We didn't kill anyone!!
The day started off with Brion, Gordon and Nathan(riggers three) showing up to try and figure out why it is still darn near impossible for us to raise the mainsail unless you have two people at a minimum. Brion took out the main halyard(line that pulls the main sail to the top of the mast) and re threaded it down the inside of the mast hoping that it was just tangled with all the lines inside the mast. There are 5 different lines fed inside the mast. Once that was done, it did seem to go up easier. We are trying to get out for a day sail this afternoon. We still have lots to batten down before we take off. Living on shore for three months, you tend not to stow properly all the gear in your boat since it's not moving and nothing is rocking that would dislodge it.
After that was done, I fixed a few things outside while Tracy worked inside. I checked the cotter pins on the fittings for the rigging and drilled new holes in some track on deck that a "car"(has a big wheel on it to leads the lines) that the jib sheets(lines that control the jib)run through but the pin that stops it from sliding on the track wouldn't fit the existing holes in the track(how's that for confusing). Not sure if it was simply rust or the wrong size track but the problem was fixed and now the pin on the fitting will fit the holes in the track and stop sliding when I don't want it to. It may not seem important, but when you need a fitting in a particular place and it won't stop there for some reason, you need to make sure it will so that you can get the best out of your sails.
I scrubbed the deck as the local birds are eating the berries off the bushes and leaving very colorful poo on everything around the marina. It was much worse when Zephyr was back in Birch Bay. Bill(previous owner) used to wash the decks just about every day to keep them clean. We can go two days with out doing it. The poo(lovely shade of dark red) can stain your fiberglass.
We decided to drive to Sequim for the afternoon to run errands and get more supplies. Having a car here will make these errands MUCH easier. We can bring back much more in one trip. Tracy's phone battery was dying and needed replacing. The kids needed more food and so did we so off to Petco and Costco for "stuff".
We stopped by West Marine on the way back for a special order piece of hardware and still need to order some more fitting. A block for the tackle that helps pull a person out of the water on the crane we have no longer works. One of the wheels in it has locked up and refused to rotate. One last fitting for the roller furling Genoa line so we can pull it in from the cockpit.
I picked up some special lithium grease for the radar unit and with luck will be dismantling it this morning and re lubing the cogs inside it. It makes some strange noise as the dome goes around and Ratheon recommends re greasing it. Of course, being on the water requires a special grease so we had to go in search of it. Finally found it in a local auto store in Sequim. NAPA didn't have any unless you wanted a tube big enough to do every boat in this town.
Andy(jack of all trades) at Sea Marine brought us a special gift this afternoon of a bottle of champagne and a bottle of Merlot to celebrate us leaving the dock. We were amazed how many people noticed that we had actually left the dock this morning. Not only the folks at Sea Marine but Jenny who is working on her boat in the same yard we had been. She hopes to have her boat back in the water in the next month or so.
Well, it's time for a shower and get ready for another full day getting Zephyr ready for at least a nice afternoon sail. We've been invited to a pumpkin carving party late this afternoon at Brion Tosses loft. We don't want to miss it.
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