Day 447 & 448 On the run.

Sunday was a constant state of motion.  We loaded up the car with laundry and took off for the laundromat.  We'd considered using the one at Point Hudson but they only have four washers and that wouldn't begin to cover our needs so we used the one in town--more expensive but more machines.  In the end, we did nine loads of wash( lots of new clothes-I've lost 45 pounds) and 4 of driers.  It's been a while since we took everything off the boat and had it cleaned so it was time.  While the clothes were drying, we went across the street for a quick burger at Sea J's restaurant.  OH, by the way,  if you ever get to Ketchikan, make sure you eat at Burger Queen along the main road by the harbor.  Best hamburgers we've ever had.  Back to the laundry to fluff and fold and back to Zephyr for the afternoon projects.  

Tracy started on the rudder taking the paint off.  We've built up quite a few layers of paint over the years and when we hauled out at Point Hudson there were blisters of water between the layers that eventually dried out and popped off.  This time, we decided to just start stripping off all the paint.  We bought some liquid stripper after getting advice that using a sander would be a much tougher and messier job.  Hard to believe it could be messier than semi melted glop that Tracy was slowly scraping off.

I headed for the bilge to get all the anchor mud and water out that had made it's way there during the anchor locker cleaning.  Plus, the emergency switch that turns on the bilge pump had stopped working the last time I tried it.  In I went, bucket and bailing cup in hand and out the water came.  I poured it into a bigger bucket and bailed and bailed and bailed.  Each time, upside down with a small head light to shine light down there.  I finally ended up using a sponge to get the last out.  Then out with the platform that holds all the pumps and hoses and off to the wash station for the yard to give it a good cleaning.  It's not to hygienic down there.

I sat on the back deck and installed the new switch.  This time, I used heat shrink fittings on the electric wires to make sure they stay rust free.  Back in it went and the hose were all connected and then the electrical was reattached just as it had come off.  I tried the main switch pump--started just fine.  Then, to activate the "emergency"switch, you have to lift a float lever that turns on the pump.  Up with the float and guess what--it didn't work.  Rats!!  So I decided to start at the circuit panel and work my way to the switch.  I checked for 12 volts of power and came out with 1.5 volts at the circuit breaker.  Bad switch?  I took the wires off and moved them to the next breaker as it is one of the few that are not being used.  Hooked it up and it worked just fine when I lifted the float.  So back to the original breaker.  It appeared fine, so I checked the screws that hold the wires on and found one to be loose.  It was tight enough to allow some voltage through but not tight enough to allow all 12 volts through.  I tightened it and reattached the switch wires and the switch worked just fine.  So the original switch is probably just fine and will be bagged for a spare should I ever need one.  Since they have a warranty of five years, not much chance of that.  

Tracy was meanwhile still painting on the stripper and scraping away down below.  It was a lot slower than  either of us had thought it would be.  We decided to rent a sander on Monday.

Dinner and off to the showers at Point Hudson and off to bed.

Monday morning, off to the tool rental place for the sander.  I started making phone calls and getting things on order.  We'd made a list of tasks and things that we need and now we were getting things on order and projects started.  Tracy suited up in a protection suit again and started with the sander while I started making phone calls.  

I ordered a full set of hoses for the engine.  We had two fail while we were out(luckily I could fix them).  I'm going to get a full set since I figure most are original to the date of manufacture.  I then hooked up the tv antenna that had given us no reception since we bought it back in February.  I'd gotten a replacement amplifier shipped in when we were in Naniamo but we have not been anywhere near where we might get reception.  I hooked it up and let it do a "channel search" and now it works fine.  We pulled in several channels.  Problem solved.

I found a circuit bus bar in the forward head that goes to the running lights a while ago while we were out that was quite rusted at the screws.  I went in search of a new bar and got the old wired clipped off(rusted onto the bar)and new heat shrink fittings attached and all mounted.  A potential problem solved before it became one.

I took off the nut to the steering post that keeps coming loose and headed for the one and only hardware store in town to get a locking nut.  They set me up and back to Zephyr.  It didn't fit the bolt.  Back to the hardware store with the bolt and nut this time.  They couldn't find anything that fit the bolt.  Not standard nor metric.  We tried lots of threads and styles with no success so I'll be off to Fastenal today to see what they have.

As Tracy was sanding away at the hull, she was approached by a man from Bottoms Up Marine Services.  They talked about the job and how his company could do it better and much faster.  We discussed it and then we went over and discussed it with them.  They will sand it all down, wash the hull to get everything off and then put on two coats of paint for a decent fee.  Tracy was worn out.  They will be here on Wednesday to do the job.  Since Zephyr sits so low in the water--half the waterline tape is now in the water(she weighed in at 53,000 pounds at haul out) we will be having the paint now cover the water line tape area.  We had to routinely clean the hull at the water line as things kept growing there above the bottom paint.

We are going to have an electrician look at Zephyr while we are here.  The "reverse polarity" light came on late Saturday night during the wind storm.  There was a small "bang" off the boat and the power failed for a second or two.  Since then, the "reverse polarity" light came on(bad) but only on the starboard side when the switch is turned on.  The same thing happens when we use the Honda but has never done it with shore power.  So, either something has happened on board or the yards circuits have gotten a problem during that bang we heard Saturday night.  I guess we will see.

The projects continue.  At least we are out 11 days earlier than had been planned.

More to come.