Day 228 Out with the old, in with the new.

The old one.
All gone.  That's the steel storage tank on the wall.
In with the new!!

For the want of a $4.00 seal, a lot more was spent on  a new head.  The old head(toilet to you landlubbers) leaked around the top of the pump handle on the side.  It needed a new seal installed.  OK, there is more--after I took it apart to replace the seal, I put her back together again while we hunted for the replacement but she leaked even worse from other joints I'd opened up to get at the seal.   With no manufacturer's name anywhere on it and several companies claiming  it was not theirs, and telling me to go to West Marine for replacement parts(they didn't have any information) we ended up buying a new one.  

I started ripping out the old one on Saturday.  I made sure to turn off the through hull for water  before I started.  One of the last things I needed is water pouring into the boat.  We kept a bucket handy just in case "things" started flowing in that we really didn't want coming in.  I unbolted and cut hoses and unscrewed and out she came.  Off she went and over to the trash bin.  You can see the steel tank that is normally behind the wall in the picture.  The top inlet pipe has no ridges on it.  This means the hose just slides right on with no ridges to make sure nothing seeps out.  I covered the metal pipe with silicone chalk and slid the hose in Saturday afternoon so it could "cure" before I installed the rest on Sunday.  

Sunday, in with the new.  Of course there was the the mandatory trip back to West Marine for parts I had forgotten.  Holes drilled and  bolts installed.  New hoses cut and fitted--with lots of hose clamps-and in she went.  All done by early afternoon.   We sprayed lots of Lysol and Comet around to make sure all the nasties are gone and we're back to a nice smelling "head".

The afternoon was spent upside down back in the bilge again submerged in water the feel of chicken soup only it didn't smell as good.  When I changed out the oil in the diesel injector pump last week, some of the excess oil made it's way down there and made a mess all over again.  I've cleaned it at least 6 times since we got here.  Water and other fluids just love to find their way down there--none of it good.  I'd pulled the bilge pump out to be able to get down to the bottom.  We checked the pump in a bowl of water to make sure it was pumping as it appeared to pump quite slowly the last time we used it.  The pump appeared to work fine when we started it up after removing it but when it was in the water it didn't pump any out the hose outlet.  I ordered a replacement this morning.  It should be here by tomorrow.

I'd planned on talking about how cold it was and will be over the next week but after seeing what our friends in Colorado are going through, I have nothing to complain about.  They're well below 0 degrees and we are only down in the teens.  They don't expect us to even hit freezing for the next week.  It will be the longest/coldest spell in the past 20 years.  The "Hudson Effect" is in full force.  We got here at the end of July and August was the wettest they have ever had.  We bring an upset Mother Nature with us where ever we go.  After we left Newport, the winds returned to normal from the 30/40 knots it was blowing while we were there.  Bet you wish you had our power over Mother Nature?  We're just glad to be in a marina where we have all the electricity we need to keep the heaters going 24/7.  It manages to keep Zephyr in the mid-60 degree range.  With a sweater or small blanket at night as we watch tv, it's just fine.  Of course it doesn't help that the winds have been blowing any where from 20 to 30 knots. 

We get to drive to Bremerton on Wednesday to have the Mazda inspected for our Colorado registration.  We made an appointment at 11:00 on Wednesday when the gentleman at Washington's DMV returned the call I place last Thursday.  It's about a two hour drive there and back but sometime you have to do what you have to do to get things taken care of.

Today--clean up the mess I made in Zephyr with all the tools I've left out doing my little handy work.   Oh, and stay warm.