So remember how I said it was so nice to put away the sewing machine? Yeah, I should have known better then to voice that thought. Two Fish laughed at my brazenness – we had wind storm come through that night, our aft canvas cover ripped again, and thus more sewing is needed. Ha! At least I have the capabilities to get it done!
In our efforts to be good citizens, Wren got her flu shot this week. Chris and I haven’t yet – still trying to find them at an acceptable price point. (We are self-insured at this point in time, and the health department said they didn’t have any and to try pharmacies. We are striking out.).
We took our dingy over to what I have affectionately named ‘Mosquito Beach’ at sunset. Such a pretty sunset! The sand was light and squishy between our toes, the fish were jumping. Gorgeous, except for the mosquitos. When we got back into the dingy to go back to Two Fish – taadaa! – more boat work. Our dingy motor is seized and won’t go into gear. Thank heavens for oars and the fact that we weren’t far from home.
Do you remember how we got all excited that the holding tank monitor worked? Yeah no. It doesn’t. Also, Chris elected to rebuild the head (aka toilet) and replace the sanitation hose that goes from the head to the holding tank. After a rebuild or two the head was all set. The hose took hours to replace. First, it’s a speciality order item (thank you marinecraft.com). The way the system is set up there is no access to the hose after it goes under the sole (aka floor) and behind the shower until it pops out in the generator locker at the front of the boat. Chris bought a 1 inch dowel to put inside the existing hose and the new hose to screw them together so the new hose can be pulled along behind the old hose along its track. Of course the 1 inch dowel was a mm bigger than an inch so break out the dremel to file it down to size. Hours later Chris successfully got the new hose fed through the boat to the holding tank. Yay! But then we had some weird bubbling each time we flushed the head. This lead us to think about a blocked tank vent or hose causing back pressure that is leading to air coming through the joker valve due. We broke out the pocket endoscope and scoped the new hose as far as we could see – no obstructions. We scoped it from the holding tank back toward the toilet – couldn’t get too far due to a 90 turn that the endoscope couldn’t make, but no blockages there, either. Same for the vent hose from the tank to the through-hull on the side of the boat. No blockages and air flows easily through the hose (be glad you aren’t the one having to provide the air flow for that!). Hmm. We decided that if the heads aren’t flushed completely dry then there are no bubbles returning. Perhaps they are coming from the mascerator pump itself having air entrained while running until the bowl is dry, and the air bubbles back up as soon as water is re-introduced. Hope that’s it.
I’d also like to extend a big thanks to Jenna from sailing vessel Machete for info on cruising with a cat on board. They brought their cat down the Caribbean chain and had great info on routes and how-tos with a fur baby on board. Check them out at www.youtube.com/@sailingmachete if you are so inclined!
Chris also finished the barnacle busting this week. Woohoo! Got those AirCon/Heaters looking great. Which is a good thing because it’s in the 40’s at night and that’s cold…
On the good news front, our new sails from Evolution Sails / Latell Sails ( https://www.latellsails.com/ ) are ready! Yay! We cannot wait to see them. We got a new genoa and code zero. The old sails were delaminating and leaving flakes all over the deck; hopefully these new sails will help us get where we are going in style (and safely!).
On the not-so-good news front, our mechanic has been hospitalized this week. No engine work completed this week. We are hopeful he makes a full recovery. He’s a super nice guy with a love of cats and big love for his wife. Not to mention his years of experience as a diesel mechanic! He has a ton of knowledge in his brain. Also, hello shingles! I was under the impression that I was *entirely* too young to get shingles. Ha! False. Just too young for the vaccine, apparently. Thankfully we have loads of lidocaine patches on board because shingles hurts!
