May 11th: Taking things one day at a a time

I have had many compliments on Linda's and my blog. Thanks to the many responses, I am motivated to keep it going. It's rewarding to know that many people are enjoying memories from our travels. I'll be doing a few catch up blogs. I am reminded that life does go on. When visiting Linda's kidney donor brother Tom, in Arizona years ago, I ran across this Native American Prayer that I always liked, and even more so now. I'm sharing it through the blog along with a picture of Linda horseback riding out West.

Linda horseback riding out West

Native American Prayer

I give you this one thought to keep –

I am with you still- I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush,

I am the swift, uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone –

I am with you still – in each new dawn.

These have been trying times but boats continue to have issues regardless. I will say the issues have been a good way to occupy myself as I try to adjust. I don't mind working on stuff when I know what's wrong and I know how to fix it. The first project was a good example. After the bilge flooded, I needed to replace the starter and the failed float switch which contributed to the boat getting flooded. Linda and I decided we might as well replace the 10 year old bilge pump while we were at it. Also, the wire and circuit breaker going to the windlass (pulls the anchor up) had been under water. When I checked the windlass it wasn't working so I figured I'd need to replace the circuit breaker.

 I had previously made arrangements for our favorite mechanic, Billie, to replace an oil pressure switch on the side of the engine. I was having trouble getting it out and was afraid I would break it off. He said he could come in a couple weeks and we weren't going anywhere so that was fine. Since he was coming anyway, might as well have him replace the bilge pump and float switch and put the new starter on. Linda had passed away a couple days before he was supposed to come and he asked if I wanted to wait. I said I could use the activity.

I decided to replace the windlass circuit breaker. I took it out and looked at it. It said "waterproof." Sure hope the windlass isn't bad. Checked the wire to the windlass, which runs under the floor and through two bulkheads, and found it was bad. You might think, "It's just a wire." True but trying to get it out or replace it was very difficult and required a "little person" to get into really small places. (Someone like Linda's size. Miss her even more.) I eventually gave up trying to get the old wire out and strung a new wire. Had to drill a few new holes but eventually succeeded. Connected the new wire and the windlass worked.

Billie in the bilge replacing the pump

Nice new pump and float switch

It is difficult to get to the bilge pump and float switch because they are at the very bottom of the bilge and almost under the engine. I was very grateful Billie was doing the work and I was the assistant. He did a great job.

Corroded heat exchanger

Billie removed the old oil pressure switch, after struggling with it for a while, and put in the new one.




Next I had him check the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger circulates salt water through a closed cylinder that cools the water/anti freeze that runs around the engine to cool it. If the internal pipes get corroded and break through, salt water ends up running through the engine. Very, very bad! Pays to stay on top of that.

Painted heat exchanger

It looked a little corroded around the edge but when he opened it up he said it was fine, just clean up the outside and paint it. Great, I can do that.










Next Billie put the new starter on and we started the engine. Ran fine. Didn't run it long because our exhaust was running right into the neighbors sailboat.  It was good to know everything was back together. Now I needed some good weather to take it out for a test run.


Mike on Flying Fish, (the boat name is a clue) likes to fish. He wants to learn how to fish for Tarpon. He fished the east coast extensively for bill fish, (Blue Marlin, Sail fish) but fishing for Tarpon is  different. I'd never done it and neither had he. You don't keep the fish, you just catch them for the fun of it. He put together a charter trip. Up to four people, same price. I wasn't going to go but then I literally could hear Linda saying, "You should go". So I said okay. The next day he said the weather looked good so we were all set. Mike said "We'll meet at my car at 5:30 am!" 5:30 am, are you kidding? I thought, "Linda led me astray"!



I haven't been sleeping great but 5:30 am? Okay, set the alarm for 5 am. Woke up and checked the weather. Didn't look very good to me. The charter captain has a very nice 32 foot boat with twin 300 hp engines, but still, I know iffy weather when I see it. I got ready to go and at 5:15 am Mike came by and said the trip was off due to a front coming in unexpectedly. The charter captain gained lots of credibility from me. Two days later the trip was on again. I know people fish for Tarpon in the early morning or late evening just before sunset. I suggested we try the late afternoon schedule. No such luck, 5:30 am again.

Flint, Bill and Mike on the way
out in the dark

Flint with his Tarpon

We arrived at the boat and headed out to the bridge to fish. (Same place I go to fish in the dinghy. But to catch Tarpon you need live Mullet, about 8-10 inches long. You need a live bait well and even then it is difficult to keep them alive.) Jeff the charter captain is very personable and made the trip a lot of fun. Four of us went. Bill on Snowbird, Mike on Flying Fish, Flint on Amazing Grace and me on Yesterday's Dream. We fished two people at a time and once we hooked up we traded places. Flint hooked a large tarpon and had it on the line a while but he lost it before he could bring it to the boat. Still, it was fun to see it jumping out of the water. Mike caught another one but also lost it before it got to the boat. and then Flint caught a very nice grouper. Too bad it was April 30th and grouper season didn't open until May 1st! We had to insist that he could not keep it! The trip was fun and I was glad I went.

Two days later when I woke up I found the 12 volt system wasn't working. When on shore power the 12 volt system does very little but does run the water pump and bilge pumps. Better check that out right after breakfast. Fortunately, the 12 volt system can be run off of the start battery thru the battery switch. Switched everything over to the start battery and everything worked fine.

There are four 6 volt batteries that power the 12 volt house bank system. The batteries are getting old so I suspected they were worn out. Checked the batteries and they were okay. But when I checked the voltage at the battery switch, it read 7 volts instead of 12. Hmmm. Looks like there is a short somewhere.

Electrical panel closet Bill
crawled into to help me.

Lots of wires to check!

Remember when I said I don't mind issues when I know what the problem is? Well this wasn't the situation. There are 32 different wires attached to the four batteries, some of which run into a small closet where the electrical panel is. I went and asked my friend Bill, who is more knowledgeable about electrical issues than I am, for help. He brought over some nice electrical meters and we started testing. Bill squeezed into the electrical panel closet while I checked each line at the batteries.





After 3 hours I said, "I'm done for today. It's 5:00 o'clock, time for docktails. We'll try again tomorrow." That night I decided to take off each wire at the batteries one at a time and check the voltage until I found the wire that was shorting out. I took off and cleaned all 30 + wires and found nothing. The main cable to the battery is about 3/4 of an inch thick and I couldn't imagine it being bad. But I checked it and sure enough, that was the problem. Turns out, I learned that those heavy duty cables carry a lot of current and wear out after 10 years.

Went to NAPA, they made a new cable for me and everything on the house bank was fine.

Went to test the windlass (the heavy duty winch that pulls up and drops the anchor) because we wanted to go fishing and would need to anchor. Pulling up a 65 lb anchor and 50 - 60 feet of chain is not easy by hand. It didn't work. I thought, "You've got to be kidding me. Needing something to keep busy is one thing but this is getting ridiculous!" The windlass is connected to the start battery. Started thinking. The start battery was 4 years old, pretty old for a marine battery. Decided since the boat was running on the start battery for several days it put a heavy load on it, so if it was getting weak it would show up now. Sure enough I tested it and it was "Bad". Good to know and easy to fix. Much better than the windlass biting the dust. Bought and installed a new start battery and the windlass worked great! Surely we are good to go now. Just waiting for good weather so we can take Yesterday's Dream out fishing, which would also be a fun test run.