Day 281 Jobs and errands

Here was the job of the day.  We picked up the disk we had special ordered yesterday from the local metal fabricators and started getting it reassembled this afternoon.  You can see on the left side of the post where the steering arm has rubbed all the paint off the flat surface it is supposed to glide over.   Once apart, it was easy to diagnose the problem.  The arm had slipped down again and was hitting the bolt heads and rubbing on the steel plate that holds the rudder post straight.     (Remember, you can click on the photos to see them in bigger detail)
The disk--5 inches wide with a 2 1/2 inch hole.  It fits perfectly inside the four bolt heads that hold the assembly together.  You can see the heads of the bolts to the left and right of the post that had been causing the problem.  All the paint on the right one has been warn off.

I applied Lithium based grease on it to make the steering arm glide easier.  Lithium grease is water proof and is made for the boat environment.
Coming together.  I installed the nuts and and shims and  added lock washers to make sure it didn't come lose again.  I added a second set of nuts just to make sure it wasn't going anywhere.
Job done!  Well sort of.  When Tracy went on deck and turned the steering wheel, it just slightly bumped the head of the bolts as it turned back and forth.  Not enough to stop the arm from turning but enough that I will probably order a small sheet of Delrin(really slick plastic)ans make a secondary disk to go on top of the first one.  It won't do any harm and will make the arm glide even better as it goes back and forth.  When it dropped down, I could only steer to 23 degrees either way.  With it in its proper position, I can take her to 40 degrees each way.  For now, we are safe to at least leave the dock.
The other project of this afternoon was to take apart the new inlet for 110 power Tracy had installed a few days ago.  We bought some petroleum jelly to coat the wires that go into the inlet to make sure no rust or corrosion finds its way into the new fitting.  I've used a thin layer of the stuff on the posts of my car batteries for years and have never had any problem with the terminals getting covered with that light green corrosion you see so often.  Once a thin coat was put on, I wrapped the wires in a product called "Rescue Tape".  This stuff is a special rubbery tape that bonds to itself and provides a solid "case" for the wires after it fuses itself together.  It take just a few minutes to react and just a few hours to become a solid piece of material.  No water or condensation is getting to these wires for a long time.  I made sure to sand the wires a bit just to make sure they were nice and shiny for a good contact.

I have an appointment at the local Mazda dealer to have our car serviced early tomorrow(Thursday) morning.  There are a few noises coming from under the hood that we don't like.  We can't afford to have it break down and while there is nothing obviously wrong with it, it is better to have her looked at before what ever is wrong goes really wrong.  We had cancelled our AAA membership last year when we took off for Port Townsend as we figured we would be back in Newport by late August so there was no longer a reason to keep it.  Little did we know that we would still be here many months later and still driving a car instead of sailing a boat South to Mexico.  If we were still in Colorado, I would look into the problem myself.  I've got lots of tools for that back home.  Wayne(Tracys father) taught me well on working on cars.  I got lots of first hand tutelage from him in the years we were together.

The dehumidifier is going strong as we head off for bed.  It took out well over half a gallon of water last night as it ran.  For some reason, it dumped it all into the bucket that is in the machine instead of out the hose.  I had to call Customer Service this morning to find out why.   They had me pull out the bucket and put a piece of tape on a switch to hold it down.  With that done, the water should go out the hose.  There's nothing in the owners manual about the switch, just where to screw in the hose.  Go figure.

Well, it's off to bed.  I have to be up early to get the car to the service center.  It's going to be a long day.  I'll take my IPod and a book to read.  That should keep me busy at least for a while.  Knowing me, I'll fall asleep right in the waiting room.  I can fall asleep anywhere and any time.  It drives Tracy crazy some times.  It one of the reasons we stopped going to parties.  I kept falling asleep at them.  Heck, I fell asleep at one of my managers meeting back when I was in the furniture business and I was the boss!!!  Now that's embarrassing!