Fuel Leak Fixed

I installed the new fuel line yesterday and fixed the fuel leak. Then I ran the engine for the first time in a week and recharged the battery. I'd been using the solar panel to keep it charged, but it's nice to have the option of using the engine.

List watch:

I was busy yesterday taking care if a bunch of obvious tasks, so I haven't had time to work on the list very much. I've got several more things I need to take care of this morning, but hope to start working on it again this afternoon.

Solar panel watch:

I temporarily hooked it up to keep the batteries charged while I waited on the new fuel line, but need to install it permanently before I try to go anywhere. Right now it's just sitting loose in the cockpit.

It's roughly 22" x 48", so it takes up a fair amount of space on a small boat. That makes it too big to mount on the stern pulpit, and since I don't have a dodger, that's not an option either -- I doubt that would have worked out that well anyway.

That leaves the deck, and the only viable space is on top of the main coach roof about 3' forward of the companionway and 4' aft of the mast. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll need to move the deck organizer, however, I might be able to get away with a semi permanent installation without moving it. That's the top priority for this morning.

Zoe watch:

Although she's been going on the deck regularly for a few days now, she still refuses to go on her own. I have to put on her leash, walk her up to the foredeck, and coax her to go. I need to use the leash, because as she gets excited, she wants to jump off the boat.

I can't use her life jacket right now, because she knows that means going in the water and she refuses to go on deck. I'm sure she'll eventually get it, but I'll hang out here as long as it takes.

Sorta reminds me of Marine training -- you keep practicing something until it becomes second nature. That way, you can do it without thinking, even if someone's shooting at you. In our case, I'm more concerned with bad weather and heavy seas than anything else.

Time for Another List

I took the dinghy in yesterday and picked up the new fuel hose. I'll install it and a new water tank vent this morning, then sat down and make out a list of what else needs to be done before I can head south.

I made a list a few months ago with all the tasks I needed to finish before I could go in the water. That list had over 50 items. I ended up trimming it down to around 40 that were absolutely necessary and completed all of them by the end of June. The delay allowed me to complete most of the remaining 10 before she went in a couple weeks later.

I don't think the new list will be anywhere near that long, but it is a boat, so who knows. There's always something to do.

Dinghy watch:

As I mentioned, I took the dinghy in yesterday to pick up the new fuel hose. It wasn't very far and shouldn't have taken long, but I had a lot of trouble with my outboard. It was low on fuel, so I used the small gas can I keep in the cockpit to fill it up. Unfortunately, I didn't check the gas first and ended up adding a little water along with the gas. I need a way to deal with that since these cans must stay outside, so there'll always be some water.

I ended up draining the carburetor a few times and got her started, but she still didn't run well. In fact she died three times on the trip over, but I think the last time was because I finally ran out of gas. By then, I was only about a hundred yards from the dock, so I pulled up the motor and rowed in. I'd prefer to row anyway, but soft bottom inflatables don't row well.

I brought the empty tank with me and filled it up on the fuel dock. Once I filled the outboard back up with new gas, she worked great. I guess the only real damage is the couple of blisters I got pulling the starter cord about a thousand times.

Zoe watch:

Due to the heat and outboard problems, I left Zoe on the boat yesterday. She hasn't been off the boat since we left City Island last week. I may take her ashore soon, but needed her to stay on board long enough to get comfortable going on deck. She's doing really well, so I don't think a walk on land will set her back. We could both use a nice walk.

Zoe tries to Swim Away

Zoe and I took a swim yesterday. I'd rigged a rope ladder off the stern, but hadn't tried it out yet -- what could go wrong, right? After our first swim a couple years ago (I think wrote about it earlier) I made sure she had her life jacket on, then lowered her into the water.

As soon as I let go, she took off like a rocket. With the life jacket holding her up, she was able to use her paws for propulsion only, and boy was she fast. By the time I got in, she had about a 10 yard lead. I was able catch her pretty quickly, but she wanted to keep going. It was all I could to get her back to the boat. I basically had to carry her and tread water back, otherwise she'd take off again.

Now, I'm a good swimmer, and even trained as a life guard when I was in high school, but no one ever trained me how to save a dog, especially a strong one who doesn't want to be saved. Anyway, I got her back to the boat after a few minutes and figured we'd had enough excitement for the day.

But now I was faced with the problem of how to get back on the boat. If I let her go to climb on board, she'd swim away, but with the deck almost three feet above us, I couldn't just lift her on deck either. So, I held her in one arm and hung into the rope ladder with the other and tried to figure out how I could be so stupid.

There were lots of boats anchored around us, so I knew I could always call for help, or even swim over, but I didn't want ask unless absolutely necessary. I tried to climb up with one arm, but since the ladder was over the stern, my feet would go up under the boat and make it more difficult. However, I was able to climb up high enough to grab the stern pulpit with my left hand, but couldn't quite hoist Zoe on deck with my right. Had she been a sack of potatoes, I guess I could have slung her up there, but I'm not doing that with Zoe.

So, we sank back down to gather strength for the next try. Since she had on a life jacket, the one thing I did right (July 16th isn't a good day for me), the only real problem was her swimming away.

I finally decided that I could get on board even without the ladder if necessary, so I untied the last couple of loops in the ladder and used the end of the line to tether her (oh, and from now on, she never goes in without a life jacket AND a tether).

The next higher loop was at water level, but by using both arms and pulling myself up by the toe rail, I was able to get my foot in it and climbed right on board. She was still trying to swim away when I hoisted her up and onto the deck.

I'm not sure if she was scared or just really wanted to get to shore -- she's still resisting going on board -- but she didn't want to stay with the boat no matter what. We'll try another swim soon, but needless to say, it won't be today, I'm still recovering.

Zoe Becomes a Real Boat Dog

She held out for three days (really proud of her for that) but finally gave in this morning a christened the foredeck.

I could tell she was really uncomfortable, so I took her forward several times yesterday and again this morning. I tried to make it seem like a regular walk, starting in the cabin and getting her excited with "let's go outside." Then putting on her leach and taking her forward. I always use "hurry up" to associate that phrase with the action so when the time came, she'd know what I meant.

But it still took a while. She's been living on the boat now for over a year and considers the whole thing her home, so convincing her the foredeck is "outside" wasn't easy. She's much happier now, but we'll need to complete the reeducation process later today -- she's only halfway there at this point.

Fuel Leak watch:

I removed the leaking fuel line and found a nice leak in it. I think it's been slowly leaking for a while, but finally gave way over the hard winter. I ordered one yesterday, but it won't be here till at least Monday or Tuesday. That means I can't really go anywhere right now -- the channel is a bit too long and narrow to try to sail through -- but I've got plenty to keep me busy, so I don't mind waiting.

Power watch:

Since I can't use the engine to recharge my batteries, and with one battery unable to hold a charge, I've had to be very careful with my power consumption. Luckily, I filled up a 5 gallon water jug right before I left just in case, because I still haven't had time to install the manual foot pump.

I'll try to install it and the solar panel today, but surprisingly still have about a half gallon left in the jug. Except for running the anchor light at night and recharging my phone, I've pretty much left the battery switch turned off the entire time I've been here (well, at least since I discovered the leak that disabled the engine).

The good battery's still at around 90%, so that's a good sign. I've decided to keep it as my starting battery and get two new house batteries. I'll talk to the guy about it when I pick up the new hose. However, I may try to get a ride down to some place like Auto Zone if I can get them cheaper.

Fuel Leak

Last night after I got anchored and shut down the engine, I noticed a diesel smell in the cabin. I checked the bilge and thought it might have had a bit of a sheen, but wasn't sure. I'd accumulated a few inches of water on the trip, so I pumped it, but didn't see any sheen on the water, so I figured it was okay. The smell also went away after a while.

I took care of a bunch of stuff today, including recaulking the chainplates and reorganizing some of my gear. I also checked out all my new plumbing and tightened a few hose clamps to stop some leaks.

In the late afternoon, I started messing around with my radios, but didn't transmit because one of my batteries won't hold a charge and I wanted to make sure the other would still start the engine. Even though it was still at around 90%, but I figured I'd go ahead and start the engine, recharge her and see if I could find the fuel leak.

She started right up, so I checked to see if she was charging, and everything looked fine, but I did smell diesel, so I pulled the cover and saw a steady stream dripping off the hose connecting the fuel pump to the fuel filter. I shut her down right away and spent the next couple of hours cleaning up the mess.

I pumped over a quart of fuel out of the oil trap -- it looked good, so added it back to the tank, and cleaned up the mess along the side of the engine. I tightened up the connectors, then, with the stop pulled out, I cranked the engine for a few seconds to see if that fixed it.

It didn't, so I cleaned it up again, and this time used the manual pump lever on the side of the pump and saw the wire shielded hose get wet as I pumped. Since the connector was nice and tight, I figure the hose had gone bad. I think it had already been replaced before since all the other fuel lines are metal tubes.

The sun's going down, and without an engine to recharge the batteries, I don't want to waste any power, so I'll wait till tomorrow to take it apart. Hopefully, it's just the hose and I can find one locally without too much trouble.

I think there's some fuel in the bilge too, so I threw on of those absorbent pads down there and will take a look at it in the morning. I read in the manual that the pump is only necessary if the fuel tank is below the injectors (or something like that -- too dark to look it up right now). Anyway, I might try bypassing the pump tomorrow -- I've got nothing to loose.

Zoe watch:

She still hasn't learned to go on the boat, but it's only been a little over 24 hours. Hopefully she'll go tomorrow, but it could take longer. I want to hold out till she dies, otherwise we'll have to start the whole process over. It can't be pleasant for, and I'd gate to put her through it again.

Oyster Bay

I just anchored in Oyster Bay. I'll secure the boat and make sure the anchor holds, but otherwise I'm exhausted and plan to take the rest of the day off. I might even take a few days off.

I'll write more about the trip later, but basically, she handled pretty well, though she's still a little difficult to singlehanded. I kept Zoe leashed in the cabin for this trip -- it was too hot on deck anyway.

However, she did have to deal with a few things, mainly cd's that I left on the counter, falling onto the cabin sole. I was in such a rush to get out of there, that I don't have time to make a final walk through -- sorry Zoe.

I have a single warm beer left, so I plan to celebrate with Zoe as soon as I send this post.

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Mañana

I went down to Acapulco a few years ago to help sail friend's catamaran up to San Diego. I ended up hanging out for about a week waiting for them to fix the engines, but needed to get back and go to work, so I ended up not making the sail.

While I was there, I met another America who was also waiting on parts. I'm not sure how long he'd been waiting, or if he ever left, but he did teach me the meaning of "mañana." It seems that every time he went in the office to ask if his parts had arrived and when his boat would be ready, they replied mañana. After a while, he realized that mañana didn't actually mean tomorrow, just not today.

I told the story to the guys here, and they liked it so much, they started using it with customers. Anyway, the owner just walked by and told me I'll go in mañana. In this case it really does mean tomorrow. I could have gone in today, but with such a late start, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make Oyster Bay before dark. I still need to do a few things with the sails once she goes in as well as check out the engine -- sure hope everything works.

It also gives me another chance to do my laundry. I'd planned to do it yesterday, but the painting took so long I never made it. I guess I could have, but since I did all the prep and painting out in the hot sun, I didn't have much left in the tank by the time I finished. I just did the 6" edge below the toe rails and leading edge of the bow where I'd fixed a few dings and left it primed. It doesn't look great, but it's only temporary and does look much better than before. She's looking less and less like a derelict all the time.