May 17th: X#XX###XXX!!!!!

The weather looked absolutely perfect for fishing Tuesday morning Bill, Flint and I couldn't wait to get on the water. I was able to enjoy the moment. Planned to leave at 8:00 AM. Flint's job was to pick up the live shrimp. It is difficult to catch fish without starting with live bait. Once they start biting we can use squid. Flint came back and said,"No live shrimp", COVID#19. Well not great but we can just use frozen squid, and, Bill had brought two blocks of chum to entice the fish to the boat.

Okay, we're ready. Started the engine Ran for about a minute and I saw the voltage meter going crazy, Then we all smelled an electrical fire! Turned the engine off and the batteries at the battery switch. Once again like last time, I wanted to scream, "you've got to be kidding"! Checked the engine and saw that the 12 volt cable to the starter had actually melted the bolt it was attached to. Clearly no fishing today. This was a brand new $450.00 starter from American Diesel, not a knock off.

The big cable (bottom right, red) and the bolt it
was attached to before it melted.

Fortunately, I knew mechanic Billie was going to be on Reflection today. I called him told him what happened. He said he'd come over after he finished with Reflection. I greatly appreciated his being able to come over right away so I could know what was going on.

He came over, looked at the melted bolt and said he had no idea, the new starter must be defective. Called American Diesel and Brian said he had never seen anything like that. Suggested calling Prestolite who manufactured the solenoid. Of course Prestolite tech support was busy. I suggested while we were waiting might as well take the starter off. Billie took it off and found water in the starter! How could that be? The water obviously shorted everything out, but how did it get in there? We determined that when the bilge flooded and the old starter was under water, the water leaked into the housing between the engine and the transmission. The fly wheel spins in that housing so the water sitting about half way up got thrown into the starter and solenoid.

Billie explained there was also a dampening plate in there that has a bunch of springs that take some of the shock off of the transmission when shifting. Because they were sitting in water he said the dampening plate and springs had to be rusty and would not last long. To replace the dampening plate requires taking the transmission off to remove the housing. He said he quit doing that kind of job because it was taking too big a toll on his body. After looking at it a little longer, and feeling sorry for me, he decided this was a relatively small transmission that weighed "only" about 150 lbs. He said if we could work together he would do the job. Whew!

Ordered another new starter and the dampening plate from American Diesel. Told Brian what happened and he said the water should have run out of the drain hole at the bottom of the housing, Unfortunately, when they installed the engine in 1978 in Taiwan, no one took out the drain hole plug.

I was too irritated to take pictures!

Kayaking at the point

So alright, I could sit around and be irritated or go do something. Decided since it was so nice out I might as well go kayaking. It was a good plan as it was a nice kayak ride.





When I got back I saw Mychael and Yvette setting up little tables on the dock. I had forgotten that they had invited everyone for a Cinco De Mayo Dinner. They had been cooking all night and most of the day. The food was incredible. Not a healthy item on the menu.

Jay (Tattoo) and Mychael

We all needed a break and it was a very enjoyable evening. Jay is our resident tattoo boater. Quite the ink! He and his partner Emily spend a lot of time repairing the reefs. Jay told me that the little island I liked to kayak around was a great place to snorkel. I was very surprised but said I'd check it out.

Steve with Harley

 And of course Paulie and Harley were invited. I'm holding Harley, who doesn't bite.

Paulie, with his own plate

 Paulie was enjoying his own plate of food. They talk in English and Spanish! They are very fun parrots.

Great snorkeling island very close to Banana Bay

It would be several days to get the new parts. The weather was a little cloudy but calm. so I took the dinghy out to the little island to check out the snorkeling. It was incredible. The currents moving around the island have carved about 3 foot deep shelves and there was all kind of sea life underneath. Anemones, Tulip snails, Christmas tree whorls, hermit crabs, lots of invertebrates, and of course fish. I swam around it 4 times and saw something different every time. Thank you Jay. I've been kayaking around this island for 10 years and had no idea.

The transmission is to the right behind the cable. The housing
for the dampening plate is the rounded piece in front
of the cable.

The new starter and dampening plate arrived. Billie came out to do the installation. Getting to the dampening plate was very difficult and labor intensive. The transmission had to be detached and slid back about 6 inches. Billie loosened the bolts and I slid blocks under it two at a time so he could let it down an inch or so at a time. Not easy, (the transmission weighs 150 lbs), leaning into a hole through the bulkhead. He did the heavy lifting and I helped when needed. The removal went quite well. Billie was very pleased, which means so was I. It was very difficult to get good pictures in the cramped space but I did the best I could for those of you that are interested in the mechanical side of this saga.

Inside view of the fly wheel & dampening
 plate housing.

Outside view of the flywheel
& dampening plate housing.

After sliding the transmission back and out of the way Billie took the housing off. It was pretty grungy. My job was to clean it up!  Should have taken a before picture but oh well. The rusty dampening plate is in the upper corner.

Flywheel, look closely to see the
gear teeth on the back..

This is the fly wheel, visible after the housing and the dampening plate were removed. Fortunately the fly wheel gears all looked fine.The transmission is laying in the bilge under the black hose.

Rusty dampening plate

Nice shiny new dampening plate

The dampening plate on the left was quite rusty, the springs, the most important part, were really rusty. The springs absorb the shock when the engine goes into gear. Good thing we replaced it.

Exhaust hose

Billie had taken two big exhaust hoses off in order to get to the bolts holding the transmission on. Turned out to be a good thing. Some of the hose clamps were pretty rusty. There are double clamps for added protection but they needed to be replaced. Then he found one of the exhaust hoses was developing cracks and it wouldn't have lasted long. We replaced both hoses. Good for another ten years!




We got everything back together without incident. Billie put the new starter on and we started the engine. Ran fine, put it in forward and reverse several times and everything was good. Despite the physical challenges, I actually enjoy projects like this and working with Billie because I always learn something. Apart from the initial frustrations and cost, I am very happy to have all the work completed. New windlass electrical cable, new starter, new start battery, checked and painted the heat exchanger and replaced the zinc inside, new main electrical 12 volt cables, new oil pressure switch, new dampening plate, and new exhaust hoses with new stainless steel hose clamps. No wonder it took three visits with Billie and several work days to finish everything.

After a few years on the boat Linda's motto became, we can decide when to replace parts and do repairs, or the boat will decide, never at a convenient time. I know she's pleased!

Speaking of Linda, she loved to sit in her reclining chair in the doorway with her feet propped on the door sill, reading her Kindle. She would sit there for hours with her legs in the nice warm sun. It became a thing in the marina. As people walked by, they would look for her legs sticking out, and if they were, they'd stop by to talk. I went through many of our pictures and I guess I don't have one of her sitting in front of the door way. I did, however, find this one that I like of two of our best friend couple boating buddies.

Linda & Steve, Randy & Cindy, Nancy & George

Now to the point of the reclining chair story. Three days ago I was sitting here at the computer and looked at the door because I heard a slight noise. There was a cute little bird sitting in the doorway. It just sat there looking at me for a while. Then it flew in and landed on the arm of the recliner Linda loved. Again it just stood there looking at me. I didn't move to take a picture because I didn't want to scare it away. I'd never seen a bird like that here before, let alone on/in the boat. After looking right at me for quite a while it turned around and flew away. 

I was reminded of the Native American Prayer I posted in an earlier blog. (Included below in case you missed it.) I'm not going to over-analyze the bird visit, just enjoy it. I found a picture of the bird in my bird book so I attached a picture. It was the female American Redstart. 

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.