Back in the boatyard for the first time since 2008, lots of things have gone not according to what we had anticipated ... some more smoothly, some not so much...
So the first project David tackles is determining what size stuffing we need to fill our stuffing box ... the stuffing box keeps the shaft from dripping too much water while allowing enough for the shaft to turn freely. Notice it's located behind the transmission, not exactly allowing easy access to see what he's doing....
Did I mention that to access the stuffing box BEHIND the transmission, David has to lay like a contortionist in the middle of my KITCHEN (otherwise known as a galley) floor? Yes, the companionway stairs cover this bit of our trusty diesel - so heaven forbid I forget and try to walk down the stairs while they're laying somewhere else for David to work on the dang stuffing box! We've known cruisers with broken ankles from forgetting and making this fall.... Luckily at least tonight, my ankles are still intact and so are David's.
Did I mention that boatyard life means you can't use the facilities in the boat? This means that the bathrooms, showers, kitchen, tv lounge and washing machines are over there in that blue-green building? It's a wonderful asset for a boatyard, most don't have any live-aboard facilities and we're thankful for it ... but ...
Here's the view down from the boat to terra firma to walk to the facilities .... During the day it's not too bad, but imagine at pitch dark 3 am pee time .....
Oh, yes, and here's the way back up... just imagine carrying a case of beer or anything important, never mind climbing it at 3:02 am in the pitch black.... :) BTW, we've devised a hoist system with a halyard to haul up the heavy important things like beer, no worries!
But by 11 AM it was pouring rain ... a bit of a damper on getting sanding on the bottom started, but it did allow David to get a ride back to our marina, 45 minutes away to pick up our truck, 5 gallons of bottom paint and misc Christmas presents delivered there in the meantime...
And in the pouring rain, since there was no room for more than one going back to the marina, I called ICOM and got instructions for sending our Icom M802 SSB off to the repair facility in Belleview Washington -- hopefully it can be repaired, this is an expensive piece of equipment that allows us to communicate and get e-mail while away from internet and "really cruising"... but the rain allowed us to send it off, so we'll see....
In the meantime, in all the packages David picked up at the marina, was the supposed depth transducer to replace the one that failed leaving us depth sounderless crossing the Bahamas Banks last winter, shallow water where a working depth sounder is useful... but the company sent us the speed transducer instead. Our speed transducer works, but the depth one doesn't, so I call tech support yet again ....
They tell us to let us know the right replacement part (keep in mind, ours are obsolete and no longer manufacturered...) we need to take a photo of our old one. So our priorities switch to digging all the stuff out from under the pullman berth -- our bedroom, because the depth transducer is at the very bottom against the hull. NOT what we had in mind this afternoon, but to be a cruiser, you must be flexible. David tackles the project - here he's in the hole under the pullman berth....
This photo was able to identify the exact replacement that the company is now sending us ... we should receive it Thursday. In the meantime, now we have a 2 inch hole in the bottom of the boat -- I sure hope the new one fits! 2 inch holes in the bottom of the boat always strike fear into the most fearless of cruisers!
Every now and then (like today) we have to remind ourselves WHY we put ourselves through this hell, first we're miserable and second we're spending MONEY to be miserable... what's wrong with this picture.... but then we remember all the good times .... like anchored out behind a reef in Belize snorkeling and spearfishing every day for fresh fish every night.... aaaahhhhh.... yes, I remember ..... :) And Scarlett says "tomorrow IS another day!"
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