8/12/2010 - It happens every time

You work and work, fuss and fume, and finally fix something. Just when you're feeling pretty good about yourself, something comes along and smacks you down.

Like, for instance, as I wrote in yesterday's blog, I finally tracked down the electrical gremlin that was causing my engine's oil pressure alarm to act the fool. I fixed the fault, tested it, and everything was good. I felt so good about it that I blogged. Of course, longtime readers know by now that I'll blog about pretty much anything. Or nothing for that matter. But still....

So, here I am struttin' around with my multimeter and my sidecutters feeling like Reddy Kilowatt. Today's job was to run a heavier power wire to the new VHF radio/AIS that I installed some time ago. The reason for the power upgrade was that the radio kept giving me a "Lo Battery" alarm. And, by the way, I do know how to spell "Ready" and "Low", but the way I spelled them above is how they were actually spelled in situ. Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah, the "Lo Battery" alarm. Well, since the radio is running off the house bank which is on the charger, how could there be low voltage? When I checked the terminals with the radio off, I had a good steady 13.4 (or so) volts. But as soon as I turned the radio on, the voltage dropped to between 7 and 10 volts. Sounds like a classic case of voltage drop to me. Seemed weird though, since the power wires that came with the radio were maybe 18 ga. and the line that fed them from the circuit breaker was 14 ga. But, there was no denying that the voltage was dropping. So, after procrastinating awhile I finally did the job. After all, how big a job would this be for Reddy Kilowatt?

So I ran a 12 ga. wire from the distribution panel to the radio. Did a very clean job of it (if I do say so myself), even installing a small terminal block instead of just tying the wires together. Sat back and admired my work and turned the radio on. Almost immediately it showed a "Lo Battery" alarm and began turning on and off as it does when it's in alarm. WTF??? I checked the voltage at the terminal and, sure enough, it was 7.7 volts. I repeat, WTF???

With very little else that I could do, I decided to try connecting to a different breaker. Fortunately I had one marked "Spare". I connected to it and voila, the radio worked and I measured 13.4 volts at the terminals with the radio on. So I relabeled the wires and called it good. I guess the next test will be to hook the wire that used to serve the VHF radio to something else and see if we still have the drop. If so, I guess it could be in the breaker. Is that possible? I have spare breakers but they are a royal PITA to change. Maybe not for Reddy Kilowatt, but certainly for me.

You're probably thinking, "Well, that's weird but it's hardly enough to make a big deal about." And you'd be right, if that's all there was. But, in what can only be described as 'cussedness', the Big Kahuna decided to thumb his nose at me just a wee bit more.

I got a chance to move the boat to a better berth this afternoon. So, although nervous since Lulu wasn't here to help me, I fired up the engine to make the move.

What's supposed to happen:
-Turn the key on
-The Low Oil Pressure alarm sounds
-Press the button to silence the alarm
-The alarm silences
-Press the "Preheat" button
-Turn the key to the "Start" position
-Engine starts
-Oil pressure builds up
-Oil pressure alarm silences

You already know what's coming, don't you?

Here's what really happened:
-Turn the key on
-The Low Oil Pressure alarm sounds
-Press the button to silence the alarm
-The alarm DOESN'T silence
-Press the "Preheat" button
-Turn the key to the "Start" position
-Engine starts
-Oil pressure builds up
-Oil pressure alarm silences
-And then, the alarm COMES BACK ON
-Alarm CONTINUES TO SOUND for the full 5 minutes or so that I was in transit
-But miraculously silences a little before I'm ready to dock

Mind you, the oil pressure gauge showed ample pressure throughout.

Okay, so tomorrow my list includes actually installing a new oil pressure switch. If that solves the problem, I'll report it but in a small modest voice.

In other boat news:

We're paid up here through August 28th. But of course we won't be back until a day or two after that. Then we need to watch for our weather window again. Hopefully they'll be more plentiful than they've been in August (although that wouldn't be too tough), but you never know. So I thought about paying for 2 weeks (at the daily rate) but 14 days is the break even point. That is, it costs as much for 14 days at the daily rate as it does for a month at the monthly rate. So I paid for a month. Now we're good until almost the end of September. I really hope we're not here that long but anything after the 11th is essentially free so we don't lose any money unless we leave before the 11th. And, if that's the case, it'd be money we'd happily forfeit.

While paying my moorage I asked if there might be another slip we could use, especially since we'll be away from the boat for the next couple of weeks. Didn't like the loss of privacy that side-tying causes; didn't like being moored between HUGE steel fishing boats; and the water and the dock were both really cruddy. We have a big black smudge on the starboard side I guess from the fender transferring dock crud from the dock to the boat as it rolled around. And the swell was terrible as boats came in and went out. Fortunately the staff took pity on me and gave me a regular slip but advised that I needed to move the boat right away because a bunch of sports fishermen were coming in for the Oregon Tuna Classic this weekend and would tie up wherever they found a spot. So, even though Lulu wasn't here to help, I went ahead and sucked it up and moved the boat solo. I did get help from a person on the dock at each end of the trip but all in all, I think I did pretty well (careful, Yoder!). I really hate docking and undocking but I have to get over it. Today helped a little.

Oh, yeah, and just so you won't think we're just a couple of big pansies when we complain about the weather, even the commercial fishermen are griping. They go out because they have to to make a living but they're saying that they're getting their butts handed to them every time they go. So far they all have mentioned what a weird summer this has been for ocean conditions. I just finished listening to the Coast Guard's bar report for the Coos Bay Bar and right now, the conditions are so bad that the bar is closed to all recreational craft under FIFTY FEET! So there.

Okay, enough.

8/11/2010: I found the culprit!

I started out the day kind of floundering around. The misbehaving oil pressure alarm which has been joined by a misbehaving glow plug relay had me a little stymied. I disconnected a few connections and cleaned them but of course, that didn't really fix the problem, nor did I expect it to. I was just stalling.

Finally, I studied the drawings and pulled out my multimeter and got busy doing actual logical troubleshooting. It's really nice to have accurate drawings.

I eventually got to the point where a wire that shouldn't be energized was, but not with the full 13 volts but rather with about 10 volts. "Hmmmmmm," says I, "Most curious." I kept tracking and sure enough, I found the culprit.

The engine components are connected to the control panel via two wiring harnesses. To make it easier to install and/or remove the engine, the wiring harnesses are broken in the middle and then connected back together with a multi-pin plug like they use on trailers. One of the plugs has 4 pins and the other has eight.

The battery power was on the terminal with the red wire. Right across from this terminal was one with a black wire which was energized only when the ignition switch was in the ON position. Or, at least, that's how it was supposed to be. When I pulled the connector apart, this is what I found:

Well, actually that's how it looked after I dug a little chunk of what looked like molten copper from between the two sockets. I figure that what happened was that some seawater got between the two halves of the connector and caused a short between the red (hot) socket and the black (switched) socket. The intermittent current flow undoubtedly caused some arcing which results in high temperatures which probably melted some of the copper in the socket and made a more or less permanent, high resistance connection between the two sockets.

My fix is not as elegant as the 8-pin connector, but I was able to use stuff I had on hand and it's a lot less likely to have the same problem again.

I'm so glad to have actually found something specific to fix. Otherwise, if all I did was clean things up and the problem went away, I'd always be on edge waiting for it to come back.

8/10/2010: Back onboard

Lulu stayed behind at (daughter) Cody's to help get the place ready for the wedding on the 28th. But I needed to get back to Siempre Sabado to make some repairs so she's ready to go as soon as we get acceptable weather after Cody's wedding.

So I set out bright and early in the pickup that my folks are still letting me borrow. I stopped off at Norvac in Salem to see if I could get a DC-to-AC inverter. I wanted one of about 1000W that I could hard-wire in on the boat. All we need it for is recharging the computers, the cell phones and occasionally running the vacuum cleaner. Well, Jim at Norvac didn't have one but he directed me to "Batteries Northwest" with a "tell them I sent you". I drove over to the store and was sent into the back room where the inverters were kept. They had smaller ones from 100W up to 800W. Then they jumped up to 2000W. Well, since even 1000W is a bit of overkill for me, I decided to go for the $79.95 800W model over the $279.00 2000W unit. Then I dropped the "Jim from Norvac said to tell you he sent me" line. Well, I'll be damned if it wasn't good for another 10% off. And, when it was finally rung up, the 10% turned in to $9.95 so I got the 800W inverter for an even $70.00. Not too shabby.

Then I had to divert to Newport as my friend Jay from s/v Wind Raven had their friend James pick me up a really big dry bag with shoulder straps and a padded waist belt from Costco in Eugene and they were holding it for me. After getting the bag and visiting for a few minutes, I headed back to the truck via the transient dock. I was pretty sure I spied a Westsail 32 over there. Sure enough there was a very pretty W32 named "El Gitano" (The Gypsy) from Sedro-Wooley, WA. The companionway was open so I knocked on the hull and was invited aboard. I explained that my name was Steve and that I had a Westsail 28 that was currently sitting in Charleston, OR and was interested in how the weather was coming down the coast. The owner, Doug, told me a little about his trip (it was rolly) and then asked my last name. I said, "Yoder". His eyes lit up and he said, "And Lulu, right?" I told him he was right. He said he's been following the blog and even said he was "stoked" to have run into me. I felt like a minor celebrity. You just never know who's out there reading this stuff. Anyway, I'll probably see Doug and Jody again soon as they plan to leave Newport tomorrow morning bound for Coos Bay, or, probably more accurately, Charleston.

I finally got back to the boat about 4:00 PM. It was in pretty good shape except that the dirty harbor water is leaving a scum line on the new bottom paint. That and the cabin just felt sort of damp. When there's no one living on the boat, it just seems to "dampen up" a little. Maybe because there's no one turning heaters on and opening the companionway and so on.

There was also this weird ticking noise. At first I thought it was outside but whenever I stuck my head out, the noise went away. I tracked it to the engine room but was a bit bumfuzzled since nearly all the breakers were open (OFF). But I kept following the sound and finally found that it was coming from the glow plug relay on the engine. The only way I could find to stop it was to disconnect the plug on one of the engine wiring harnesses. Then I tried hooking the alarm wires back up but, as the alarm started to sound right away, I disconnected the other engine wiring harness and everything was quiet. Guess I know what I have to tackle first tomorrow. I believe that at this point, the most likely culprit is the engine control panel. It's a common denominator and also took a couple of not-quite-direct hits during the trip down. Guess I'll pull it out and then take the heat gun to it to see if I can dry out any moisture that might be acting as a switch. I'll also install the new oil pressure switch as long as I'm in the engine room.

My other jobs this week are:

-Refasten the forward base on the bow pulpit and then readjust the lifeline tension. Something lifted the bow pulpit (could have happened when docking as I have a tendency to kiss pilings with the pulpit), pulling the forward screw about an inch out of the bowsprit platform. Doesn't look like I can through-bolt it so I'll have to use a fatter and/or longer screw instead.

-Install the engine compartment access door hold-downs that I'm designing as I go along. If they work I'll post some photos in case some other Westsailors might want easier cockpit access to their engine rooms.

- Install the inverter.

-Run heavier power cables to the new VHF radio so it'll quit giving me "Lo Battery" alarms.

Well, that's about it for now. Sure feels good to be back on the boat. It'd be better if Lulu was here but she's not. It'll be nice when we're back on our regular schedule, such as it is.

8/9/2010 - Yodersaground: The reunion winds down

Things are beginning to wind down here in The Dalles, Oregon. Saturday was the big day for the "cousins' reunion" and Mark & Tracy's house was overflowing. Yesterday, many of the celebrants headed home so Sunday was a quieter day. Lulu accompanied cousins Roger, Willy, and Mike, along with several of their kids (although I'm not exactly sure which ones went) on a tour of the Maryhill Vineyard and Winery. I went with Tracy, her kids and Willy's son, Jake, to Hood River to watch the kite boarders and wind surfers. We also stopped at Mike's Ice Cream for some treats. Hood River has really adapted to the influx of people that the windsports bring. The place had the air of summer about it and made me think of it as "Santa Cruz on the Columbia", but without the roller coaster.

Mark and Tracy have been the best hosts you can imagine. To have this many people staying at their house for so long and yet never blowing their cool is amazing. They own and operate The Baldwin Saloon so you know the food was always amazing: fajitas, fish tacos, steaks, prawns, oysters, blackberry pancakes for breakfast, etc, etc. Last night was declared "cook's night off" so aunts Nancy and Alice treated us to Chinese take-out. One thing there has been no shortage of is food.

Lulu and I will be heading out about 11:00 or so. Time to get back to the job at hand: Cody & Scott's wedding.

8/7/2010 - Yodersaground: What goes good with pulled pork?

Once again flattery got the better of me. We visited (cousin) Mark & Traci several years ago and brought along some pulled pork and some habanero pepper jelly that I had made. Our favorite version of a pulled pork sandwich is a toasted, buttered hamburger bun slathered in habanero jelly and then piled high with pulled pork. Turns out it's Traci's favorite version as well. So, the other day when she mentioned it, we immediately ran to the store for the makings: a dozen habanero peppers, three red bell peppers, some sugar, white distilled vinegar and pectin. Then we returned to Mark & Traci's and made up and canned about 7 half-pints of habanero jelly.

In other reunion news:
Yesterday Traci, Lulu, Willy (my cousin), Caitlin (Willy's daughter), Jake (Willie's son), Roger (my cousin, Willie's brother) and Joseph (Mark & Traci's oldest son) went on a rafting trip on the Deschutes River. It was a guided trip so all we had to do was follow directions and hold on. We drifted downstream for about 2 hours. There were occasional rapids of various intensities although none above class 3. Good thing it was nice and hot because we got very wet. And not just from the river splashing on us. Turns out that a tradition among the rafters is to attack each other with water guns. And these aren't the little pistols that we used to fill from the garden hose. No, these were basically bilge pumps made from lengths of PVC pipe and, wielded properly, they shoot a big stream a long ways. Of course, we had been forwarned and were properly armed, but we nevertheless got extremely wet. But we gave as good as we got.

We stopped for lunch after a couple hours and then proceeded on. The second half of the trip was also about 2 hours but on this leg we got to do a class 4 rapid. And, we had three options on how to run it. We opted for the version that included a drop off of a 7' waterfall followed by some frantic paddling. We did good and didn't lose anyone. At almost the end of the trip the guide told us all to be sure and get secured because we didn't want to lose anyone at this point. Yeah, he HAD to say it. Sure enough, we hit one last rapid and wham!, both Lulu and I were ejected from the raft. no harm as we came back up right alongside and got hoisted back aboard, but still...

Well, today is the big day since everyone who hasn't already arrived will. So, as the crowd swells, I'll sign off.

Adios fromThe Dalles.

8/4/2010 - Yodersaground: Pullin' pork

So, after a casual (or was it?) remark in an e-mail from my cousin-in-law, Traci, yesterday, I was off to the store to buy pork shoulders. I came home with 3 of them with an average wight of about 7.75 lbs. Knowing that "low and slow" cooking takes a long time, I immediately got busy. Well, "busy" as it relates to BBQ is sort of a loose term. What I mean to say is I fired up a half a chimney of charcoal to light my wood fire and preheat the smoker.

Once the coals were going good I put them in the firebox of the smoker and topped them with a couple sticks of well-cured alder cut right here on the property several years ago. The shoulders went directly into the smoking chamber on top of a sheet of heavy duty foil. No rubs or mops. I tried using a rub once but in my experience the flavor only penetrates the first 1/4" or so (if that) and much of that ends up in the wastebin since it's mostly fat. I've never used a rub since the first time and have never missed it. The smoky pork, salted to taste, is plenty flavorful on it's own. I also used to use a "mop" to keep things moist. But that requires the lid of the smoker to be opened, losing heat. Instead, after the first 4 or 5 hours of smoking, when the meat has probably absorbed about as much smoke flavor as it's going to, I loosely cover the meat with foil. It's loose so some smoke can still get in, but it seems to help keep things moist and to protect the pork from occasional blasts of higher heat, especially the shoulder closest to the firebox. Also, at this time I swap the end shoulders so that the one that has been furthest from the firebox is now closest and vice-versa.

The cooking proceeds with me just adding another stick or two to the fire every hour or so and watching the thermometer and adjusting the damper so the temperature in the smoker stays at around 250°F. At that temperature, the pork cooks for about an hour and a half per pound. Mine took a little over 11 hours last night. This means it was done at midnight. At that time, we were not in the mood to spend another hour pulling (shredding) the pork and then having to deal with all the clean up. So, I wrapped them in foil and stuck them in an ice chest. It's now almost 9 hours later and the inside of the ice chest is still very warm (and smoky-smelling). The added benefit of doing this is that it allows the pork to maintain an intenal temperature of around 185°F for a long time. This is the temperature that the connective tissue breaks down at, making the meat just that much more tender. At least, that's what I was told. Whatever the truth, it sure does come out good.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I really like BBQing. This kind of BBQing, not just throwing a burger on the grill, although that has it's charms as well. The smells, the fire-tending, all of it just screams "SUMMER" to me. Some people love their Traeger pellet smokers. They love to load up the pellets, plug the unit in, set the thermostat and timer and walk away. I prefer the more hands-on approach that my Brinkman barrel allows me. And at less than 1/6 the cost of the smallest Traeger and the ability to burn wood that I've cut myself, to me it's more what BBQing is all about.

And it looks like I'll get my fill this month. Cody & Scott were planning on serving chicken at their reception. But last night as we discussed the logistics: getting that much chicken, having enough grill space to cook all that chicken at the same time (because it's best right off the grill and it takes so long to cook), toting all those BBQs down to the park, being absolutely sure the chicken is done, etc., the logic of doing pulled pork instead sounded promising. I can cook and shred the meat ahead of time and then just heat it in the oven at home and transport the hot meat to the park in foil in an ice chest. No grills have to be moved to and from the park and no grill clean-up has to be done on the big day. And it's cheaper (I got my shoulders yesterday for $1.28/lb.). And it's way cooler. So, if you happen to be one of the people coming to the reception, listen to some Delta blues on the drive to Silverton and then get your tastebuds tingling for some good smoky pig meat.

8/3/2010 Yodersaground

So here we are high and dry at Cody's house (our old place). We'll be here through August except that next week I'll go back to the boat for a few days to fix some stuff. Among the stuff to fix is that pesky low oil alarm. I bought a replacement switch and, looking at it, I suspect that the electrical connections that I thought were shorting weren't even on the switch. Not sure what they were on but I guess I'll find out next week.

Been checking the coastal weather since we've been up here and so far it looks like we aren't missing any great travel windows. The combined seas are still in the vicinity of, if not exceeding 10' with a very short period. This equals steep waves which, as we now know, are quite uncomfortable.

While we've been up here at Cody's we've been doing various chores. Scott & Cody had cleared an area up in the woods where they want to have their wedding ceremony. They levelled the ground and planted grass seed. Lulu has taken over the management of the plot so she's now in charge of the watering schedule. She's also working on Cody's wedding dress along with Janet, Scott's mom. My job is to make table centerpieces as well as a bunch of benches to seat the wedding guests.

Scott brought home 4 chickens the other day so he and Cody have been spending a lot of time getting the old chicken house back to its original purpose as well as making a little outside area for the chickens. Last night they learned how to clip their wings. We always enjoyed having chickens and suspect that they will too.

Tomorrow we're heading up the The Dalles for our 3rd cousins' reunion. Haven't seen some of these folks for many years so it should be fun. I've ben hearing noises about barbecuing when we're there and, after I recived an e-mail from my cousin Mark's wife, Traci, mentioning how much they enjoyed the pulled pork I brought them a few years ago, I immediately jumped in the truck and went to the store to get some pork shoulders (Boston butts). So, I now have about 25 pounds of pork on the BBQ pit and am looking at about 8 or 9 hours of smoking time. No biggie since my job throughout the process is mainly to add another couple sticks of alder to the pit every hour or so. And yes, I am a whore for flattery.

As far as blog updates go while we're aground, I doubt they'll be daily. Maybe every three days or so. And I know they won't have photos unless I happen to be somwehere that I can get a high speed connection. Because waiting for a photo, much less multiple photos, to up load on a dial-up connection is pure torture.

Meanwhile, we're soaking up the nice warm weather while we can. It's weird, our retirement plan was to always be where it's warm and this is actually the first time we've been warm since we retired over a year ago.