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Thursday, October 20, 2011

10/20/2011 - Another shitty day in paradise

And, I mean that quite literally...

You know that big ol' derelict bird poop covered ketch tied up next to us? Well, it should have been a clue. There I was, sitting in the cockpit yesterday afternoon, minding my own business, when all of a sudden it sounded like someone was throwing gravel on top of the shade cover. And then something wet hit my shoulder and my swim trunks. Eeeeeewwww! I just got pooped on! The shade cover took the majority of it but I got hit some too. I quickly cleaned it up before it set.

The problem is that this big old abandoned boat sits here all the time with no one aboard to discourage the birds from roosting in the spreaders.


It's not always a problem for us. Only if the wind is blowing and blowing from the right direction as it was yesterday. Our shade cover helped a lot but we needed more. I pulled out another tarp that came with the boat along with the side cover that Lulu made for shade for the summer.


May look funky but at least now we can sit in the cockpit without worrying about being shat upon.

In other news:

1.) Lulu finally got to clean up the dinghy. When we were using the dink a lot and landing on sandy beaches, it was impossible not to drag sand in on your feet and on the anchor. The sand just sat in the bottom of the boat, resisting all attempts to remove it. Drove Lulu freakin' CRAZY! Today, we pulled the dink up on the dock and Lulu removed the seats, anchor, mooring lines, etc. We flipped it over and she de-barnacled and scrubbed the bottom. Then, back upright so she could clean the interior good and proper. I wish I'd gotten a "before" photo so you could see the difference. Believe me, there's a HUGE difference.


2.) If thy filter offends thee, pluck it out. And so I did. Anybody want a great deal on a used Racor fuel filter?


3.) I'm kind of embarrassed about this one. It's sort of Diesel Mechanics 101. As long as I was in the engine room today, I figured it would be a good time to check/change the pencil zinc in the heat exchanger. Sure enough, it was gone. On a whim I decided to take the end off the heat exchanger to see what kind of gunk was inside. Well, clearly this is something I need to do EVERY time I change zincs, or raw water pump impellers for that matter.


The thing at the top of the picture is a new pencil zinc. The brass piece on the left is one that the zinc has rotted off of. All the rest of the stuff is crap that was just sitting in the inlet end of the heat exchanger. Old pieces of zincs, broken off pieces of the impeller, and one zinc that looks like it rotted off its holder before it even had a chance to rot away gracefully. Left alone this stuff could plug off the heat exchanger and cause the engine to overheat. Fortunately, we never reached that point but I stand warned.

And that's how it is here today in La Paz.


7 comments:

s/y Namaste said...

Steve, if I can suggest, stick with this old Racor. You never know when you might need it but there is a better thing you can do with it.
I have reused my old Racor after installing dual primaries. It is sitting on the port side of the lazarette, coupled with a small electric fuel pump. Every drop of fuel that goes into Namaste's tank is squeezed thru the 2 micron filter. Have I mentioned that I haven't had to even flick to the second primary since the setup? Here's a link to some pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/106068960682133159194/October212011#
Enjoy life guys, even if it's "shitty" sometimes ;-)
Cheers,
Wojtek

Steve and Lulu said...

Wojtek,
Not a bad idea. Maybe I'l hang on to it.
-Steve

Anonymous said...

Steve,

Noticed you and Lulu have a portaboat. Do you like it? Dani and I are considering one for our tender.

~Tate

Steve and Lulu said...

Tate & Dani,

We love our PortaBote. No way could we have this large a tender on our 28' boat unless it folded up or deflated and I'm not a huge fan of inflatables. During the time that our outboard was out of service, I had to row the dink over some fairly long distances. She rows great, almost as good (maybe just as good) as an actual rowing tender at considerably less weight. The thing is tough as nails too. On the very remote chance that we ever wear this one out, I'm pretty sure our next tender will be another PortaBote.

BTW, our outboard is a 3.5 hp and drives the dink just fine.

-Steve

The Ceol Mors said...

I was going to ask about your Portabote as well. I went to the Annapolis show just to put my hands on one. I think we are going Portabote as well. It means we can skip davits (yay!)and if we hate it we can always buy an inflatable as they sell them everywhere. Glad to hear you like yours!

Steve and Lulu said...

Ceol Mors, Tate and Dani...
We really appreciate the pointy bow when we pull up to a dinghy dock that's crowded with inflatables. The PortaBote just wedges its way right on in. Try that with a bluff-bowed inflatable.

-Steve

Anonymous said...

Awesome feedback. Thanks Steve. We'll probably get one too.