May 6th: It's Always Something

The sanitary system on a boat is quite simple. The head (toilet) pumps into a holding tank under the deck. When it's full, there is a pump out machine at the marina to empty it right at our slip. That's great when everything works well. The last few times I was pumping out, something was getting stuck in the tank and making the pump out very slow. Not good! Never fun to work on the sanitary system but I decided I better fix it before it became plugged completely. As you can see from the picture it is a tight fit for me. Linda can sit up straight down there but not me! Linda did take a picture to "Give me credit". She has a vested interest in keeping me motivated! After reaching the holding tank, I noticed a very small leak by the macerator pump which combines the waste from the two heads into one larger tank. Better fix that also while I'm in here, it will only get worse.





Fortunately, our multi-tool lets me saw at a 90 degree angle because I had very little clearance at the top of the tank. I cut a square hole in the top of the tank and I could just barely get my head high enough to see what was going on. I was surprised to see about 2 inches of sediment which apparently built up over the last ten years. It took a while and a lot of water but fortunately I was able to blast everything loose and get the tank cleaned out. It would have been a major job to remove the tank.







Next I removed the macerator pump and inspected it. I discovered a leaking gasket. Thanks to Linda keeping our supplies current we had a spare. I replaced the gasket, put the pump back in and closed up the hole. Hopefully we're good for another ten years.









We had a fairly calm day so I decided to paddle out to a wild bird refuge Key. It's only about 2 miles and when the water is clear I see a lot of sponges, soft corals and fish. And of course birds on the key.








In addition I saw a huge iguana sitting in a tree. It was 3.5 - 4 feet in length. I hear they eat bird eggs so I guess a wildlife bird refuge is a great place to be.














I was reminded that the Keys are made up of ancient coral reefs. There is literally no dirt. Mangroves can grow without dirt and attach themselves to the coral. Eventually the dead leaves and branches provide decaying material for other stuff to grow. It was low tide so the picture shows the dead coral which surrounds most Keys. It's amazing anything grows on them.











An update on the red-bellied woodpeckers. I believe this is a picture of a chick that was in the nest and its mother. These are very noisy woodpeckers but fun to see.











We are starting to get the boat ready to be put on the hard. The canvas on the bimini top and window covers need to be waterproofed and UV protected every so often. I decided I might as well get that done.










We're starting to make a list of things we need to do before we leave the boat. Fortunately, the list is not too long. The weather looks very calm from Monday thru Friday next week. I'm tempted to take the boat out for a final cruise if it is truly calm. It's really fun to be on the open ocean snorkeling and/or fishing in calm waters. We haven't been able to get out much this year so I think I'll take advantage of good weather if it comes. Linda is fine driving the boat with her right hand!