DOWN TO ONE!!!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

Leaks that is! It would appear that all of the hatch leaks are fixed. It took two little dabs to catch a little weeping but aside from that, the one leak that remains is in the aft cabin. The problem is finding it. Just like in any structure, where the leak shows up inside doesn't necessarily mean that that is the location where the water is entering. With ABISHAG, there can only be just so many place of entrance, usually fixtures on deck, ie. chainplates, cleats, etc. It then comes down to figuring which one it might be. You just can caulk everything because then you never know where the leak is. Why is that important? Well, a leak is usually a symptom of a larger problem - ie. the need to re-bed a fixture and making sure the water coming in hasn't done any other damage. It also means I have to do it one at a time, test it, and then move on to the next one until the leak stops. Tedious but necessary, especially since it is no fun being asleep and getting dripped on. Say a prayer that the leak is not somehwere under the teak decking. Such a case would not be a good thing!

I have been putting off a rather "odorous" task. There is no holding tank in the aft head. It is direct discharge which is a major no-no inside of the 3 mile limit. Getting stopped by the Coast Guard for a check and not having that head fixed so it doesn't discharge inside the limit is a "nice" fine. I am going to have to find a way to install a holding tank and associated hoses and valves. The "odorous" part of the task is cutting into the existing sanitation hoses to install by-pass and diverter valves. Screw it up and the boat becomes "malodorous"! It will require cutting through bulkheads to do the work and then "repairing" all signs of the effort. More fiberglass work . . .which I love so well.

The foreward head is a little "different" project. The foreward head has an "ELECTROSAN" waste disposal system. It is designed to treat the waste so that it becomes sufficiently "clean" so that it can be discharged into the water. Still the number of locations along the coasts where even this is allowable, unless you are a government craft, are shrinking. Indeed the whole of the ICW is such a zone and since that is where I plan to be heading in the fall, a adjustment to this system needs to be done as well. The ELECTROSAN unit is located under the sink in the foreward head and needs to be re-located. It is not a particularly well done installation. I will probably move the unit under the bunk in the forepeak which is right on the other side of the forehead bulkhead. This will allow for the installation of a small holding tank in the head under the counter which will make the Coast Guard happy and make both heads usable in all circumstances. Again, it will be a "odorous " task, and that includes more cutting and fiberglass work. O FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!

While on this "plumbing" jag, I am going to have to do the plumbing for the head sinks and showers. It will be another one of those down-on-your-knees-in-an-uncomfortable-position reaching-through-the-bilge sort of project. I will have to dismantle the old "grey-water" sump and determine if it is still viable. I tend to think that such will not be the case and it seems that with most of the items on the boat, if it broke, at best it got jury rigged and not fixed or replaced if necessary. I expect that such will be the case with the grey water sump. O well, why should this project be any different.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It is getting frustrating! The weather is very "New England-ly" in that it is 70 one day and cold and rainy the next. The wind is almost constantly blowing, and hard. Yesterday, the wind indicator had it hitting the low 40's. The yard is still waiting for filters and so the engine can't be run. The divers haven't set the mooring yet and it is only a matter of time before I get "nudged " out of the slip. I can tell I am getting frustrated because I am having what therapists call "frustration" dreams. Of course, it can all disappear by simply going sailing . . . . and it will happen, and soon.