Day 502 & 503 Some play and another mechanic.

I started the day installing some new software on George and Celeste's (off Nereid)computer so they will have a full fledged navigation program.  Celeste had gone to Fry's and gotten a USB GPS to plug into their computer so now they will be all set up for where ever they go down the coast.  Now they will know exactly where they are at all times--at least until their computer crashes(God forbid).  It's a whole lot safer way to travel.  

We had a mechanic stop by on Monday morning to look at the Aqua Drive.  This is a piece of equipment that allows our engine/transmission to be out of alignment with the propeller shaft.  Normally, on boats, the engine/transmission and the propeller shaft must be in total alignment--a straight line.  With an Aqua Drive, they can be out of alignment.  It acts like a universal joint--matter of fact, that is exactly what it is, so that they can run and still be out of alignment.  It's been spewing grease during the trip down the coast.  I felt it better to have a professional mechanic come and take a look at it.  As both the marina and Blue Pelican Marine had recommended the same man, I'd called him on Saturday and he agreed to be here on Monday to at least look at it.   And that is exactly what he did.  He looked at it.  Took out a screw or two and said he thought it should be dismantled and inspected just to make sure that the loss of grease hadn't affected it.  He'd be back on Wednesday morning for that task.  That will delay us a day or two as we had planned on being out of here on Tuesday.  Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Tracy had taken off with Matt to West Marine and Costco for another surgical strike.  Restock the larder again for the next portion of the trip.  We also needed to pick up some more paper charts for farther South.

Once the mechanic left, I took off for a walk over to West Marine.  It's always good to see what another store carries that others don't. Tracy had long since moved on the Costco.  I picked up an battery operated oil pump that will allow me to drain the engines oil much faster.  I'd been using a tank that looks much like a garden sprayer only it sucks instead of spraying.  It takes a while to suck out 2 gallons of oil even if the oil is hot.

I had another chiropractor appointment at 1600 so I was still stuck at the boat for a while.  Once she was done snapping and cracking me back into place, we took off for Matt and Kayobi's apartment for a great spaghetti dinner.  It's been great being with the two of them.

Yesterday, we took the bus over to Jack London Square in Oakland as they were having a boat show.  We got there early and spent some time in Barnes & Noble.  Always on the lookout for more books.  When we came out, we didn't see very many tents for the vendors so we asked around and found out that this was just a show of boats--no toys to look at.  There were lots of boats, but we already have one of those and don't need another so we took off for the trip back to  Zephyr.

In the afternoon, we took off for the King Tutankhamun exhibit at the museum.  We'd missed it when it was in Victoria and we really wanted to see it.  George and Celeste had figured out the bus and BART schedules so off we went.  Matt and Kayobi came a bit later after she got off work.  We all had a great dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant that Matt and Kayobi recommended and then took in the show.  I'd seen a larger exhibit many years ago when I was traveling with my parents in Paris and got lucky to see the sarcophagus.  They didn't bring it to this show.  Apparently, the Egyptian Museum doesn't let it out of Cairo any more.  That was a big disappointment, but it was still a great show.

Back on the busses and trains and home for another night.

Now, we wait for the mechanic and his diagnosis.  Let's hope it's a good one.