Well another day of pouring acid down the Aft Loo untill such time as the Fwd Loo started giving troubles which was eventually cleared. They think a lot of the scale is starting to loosen and block the pipes. So I can see Gerry going ashore for more Muriatic Acid. For those that don't know, Muriatic Acid is a type of Hydrochloric Acid used for these types of jobs even in the home.
I recently used a Fernox product (DS 11) that would disolve scale in my DHW system, and it would bubble as well, so it was working.
For something different and a bit of fresh air Gerry sorted out the Cockpit drain pipe which was found to be kinked, preventing it draining, so a new piece of pipe was installed. They must have allsorts of stuff stashed away for these jobs, so it was a good storing procedure. Perhaps he had an old BSL yellow stores book as a reminder of what he might need. He never seems short of a bit of something to fix a problem. Maybe a pack rat.
After a pause for lunch it was time to find another job and low and behold one popped its ugly head up and said "pick me" - it was time to do an oil and filter change on the main engine as the running hours were up to the magical 100 hour mark. It didn't take too long to complete this job and update the maintenance log, then it was time for Gerry to sit down and relax for a few minutes. I soon had him doing "fetch me" tasks as I needed the sewing machine set up and the fender bringing down below in order to stitch up the cover I had cut out yesterday, check the fitting of it , complete the stitching and then it was time to struggle to put the cover over the fender. This might sound like a simple job but it took us about half an hour to get the darn cover into place as it needed to be a tight fit and there was only one way to get it to stay put but we managed to maneuver it into place and we now have a fender that should no longer leave sticky residue on the side of the boat when we have to use it.
As Gerry had done the dirty jobs I thought it was time for a treat and baked up a batch of caramel filled chocolate brownies, they won't last very long as those of you that know Gerry well will appreciate - he is the original chocoholic! We did nothing for the last couple of hours until it was time for sundowner beverages which we enjoyed in the cockpit, watching our Swiss neighbor haul his anchor in by hand move to the other side of us and drop it once more - he had evidently thought he had dragged anchor and was resetting it.
A call from Dale revealed that he has spent his day knee deep in the mire as well, their main head was leaking and he has had to just about rebuild the system today and is currently waiting to see if it still leaks once the silicone has cured - good job they have 2 toilets as well!
21st June
Weather: dull and overcast, wind 15 - 20 knots E.
Bilge float switch disaster
Never a dull moment and no rest for the wicked.
Best to find these things out now, than rolling around deep sea suffering from lack of sleep.
One of the things you have to realize is this yacht is 30 years old and perhaps it has not been mothered in its earlier life by somebody like Gerry and Nicky. Not all boat owners are Engineers, but they have probably bodged it and hope it goes away.
- Bilge Float Repairs. Nicky's normal view of Gerry.
- Bilge float repairs.jpg (12.5 KiB) Viewed 36407 times
Today was designated as bilge pump float switch day. Somewhere along the trip from St John to Grenada the lower bilge float switch had managed to become dislodged and was just sitting at the bottom of the bilge not doing anything useful unless we manually turned it on. The access space to the bilge is a small hole under one of the floorboards The hole extends down for about 3 feet - well beyond my reach even if I have my shoulder at the top of the hole, Gerry can just about reach the bottom. First things first, he reached in and retrieved the rogue float switch from the dark and murky depths of the bilge, it was covered in a black yucky substance but still had the wiring attached to it which was a good thing. A few yards of kitchen roll and some elbow grease and the float switch was back to the original white, ready for reinstallation. There was a layer of black gunky water at the bottom of the bilge which needed to go before the float switch could be fixed back in place so the wet and dry vacuum was forced into action and the gunky water removed. Gerry asked if he should tip this gunky mess down the kitchen sink, I had forty fits and suggested that the toilet might be a better place as all our cooking prep and dish washing gets done in the kitchen sink - I didn't think that the hygiene practices would pass muster if he used the kitchen sink.
Anyway he tipped the whole lot of gunky water down the aft head and then pressed the flush - to a resounding, grinding to a halt sort of noise - all my fault I know! The toilet was now blocked and would need fixing first. The sky turned a darker shade of grey and the sailor speak came out in bucket loads as I'm sure you can imagine. The yucky water had to be vacuumed out of the toilet before he could get to the actual pump and macerator - It doesn't take much imagination to guess where the water got emptied out into this time around.
Perhaps when the tide was going out Gerry could have done a 12/4 special then shifted anchorage.
Once the water was out of the toilet he managed to attack the pump with a screwdriver and then dislodge the blockage which was being caused by a stray splinter of wood - we have no idea where that has come from! Luckily the toilet didn't require anything else to get it back working once more, just a few flushes and it was back in usable condition, major disaster avoided! So then it was back to the float switch in the bilge, it had been held in place with 2 screws one of which was still in place on the floor of the bilge, the other had come out. The float switch just had to be slid on to the screw on the floor then the second screw had to be placed to hold the float switch in the desired position. The first part was easy, the second part a little more difficult as it had to be screwed in place at arm's length in a tight hole with no visual aid. Somehow Gerry managed to get the screw straight back in the original hole which wouldn't do as it was now cross threaded. Out came the screw and a new one was put in with a new hole being drilled in a slightly different place. Finally the float switch was back in place, all it needed now was to work, fingers crossed, flick the switch and hey presto we have a working lower float switch once more. All we need now is to find something that will clean the gunky crap out of the bilge - please no suggestions of bilge cleaner, we haven't got any on board at the moment! So with 2 yucky jobs out of the way Gerry took himself off to dive our anchor as he thought we had drifted backwards slightly overnight, leaving me to clean out the kitchen sink with hot soapy water, the laundry soap from our washing bucket, bleach and disinfectant. I don't think we will get sick from anything touching the sink now!
Then came the crap news that we had indeed drifted backwards, not far but with the wind blowing 15 - 20 knots we didn't want to risk going further backwards. We decided to wait until after we had lunch before we made a decision on moving the boat to a different anchoring spot - neither of us wanted to do it but better safe than sorry.
So after watching the squiggle on the chart plotter for a bit longer we finally decided that it was better to try and find another spot now rather than when it got dark. On with the headsets and engine, up with the anchor and we took a constitutional around the harbor looking for a likely spot where we wouldn't be falling back into the path of another boat. I'll say yet again - this harbor has the shittiest holding that we have come across in a long while and we aren't the only ones who think so, there is a regular procession of boats upping anchor and moving to a different spot in the hope of better holding. We tried 3 different spots before the anchor finally seemed to hold but we think that we may have to do it again very shortly as the gusts of wind aren't abating and we don't want to drift if we can avoid it. This is one of those occasions when we are supplying the entertainment for those who think that their anchor is secure, we know that tomorrow it will probably be their turn to move and we can be the audience! It's coming up to sun downer time so I'm hoping that we don't have to move again, especially as Gerry has just poured me a wine.
See, should have discharged the gook looking for an anchorage.
Well think we are up to date now. On Wednesday just to keep Gerry company I am going for a load of horse manure for the garden. I just hope its from rocking horses. Packed properly and with sheeting you can stow 21 bags in the back of a Mazda 6 saloon with the back seats flat. Let us hope its not too fresh.
) it was time to do a few jobs, but not before going to a second hand parts place for boats and a hardware shop for bits and pieces, plus Nicky buying some groceries. This they hired a car for.