IT SHOULD NEVER BE THIS EASY! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

I went down to ABISHAG with the intent of spending the afternoon in the hot sun removing the masking tape from the aft deck where the deck leak was located and then carefully trimming the excess sealant from the deck. Much to my surprise, pulling up the tape left a clean edge on the sealant, much like what happens when you use masking tape when you are painting. It took 5 minutes . . .tops and it was done. And it appears that the leak got filled as well and so the boat is tight and dry ! !! ! !!

I could not find a battery tie-down. I wanted one to secure the LECTROSAN in place in the forward locker. Of course, they only come with a battery box and neither DEFENDER or WEST MARINE had one by itself. I spent a lot of time in the THINKING SEAT trying to come up with a way to secure the unit. It was tough to come up with something that didn't look like something Rube Goldberg designed. I was saved when I went to West Marine to pick up a couple of fasteners and there it was. The Solution. Not a battery tie down but an outboard motor fuel tank tie-down. Perfect! It took only a few minutes and the LECTROSAN Unit was secured in place and everything was right with the world.

I tried out the toilet in the aft head (No not like that). There is a small problem. While it will flush just fine, it doesn't draw water into the bowl for flushing. I hate to say it but since there is water coming into the seacock that supplies the water (Yes, I checked), It probably means that there is a hole somewhere in the hose that leads to the toilet bowl. Checking for the air leak requires a little soapy water and access to the hose. Pumping will reveal the leak and then it will get repaired. Of course, the hose is now 30+ years old and it just may be gone and needs replacing. Again, not a big project but a pain to execute.

Hunting through the bilge I found an in-line raw water strainer on the hose that feeds the Refrigerator compressor. Well, I found most of it. The part that connects the two pieces of the hose was there, but the actual strainer itself was gone. This means that if you open the seacock to let the water enter so you can run the compressor and so have a working refrigeration system, the water will hit the connector and flood the boat. It means another item that needs to be replaced and it needs to be replaced before I can check out the the condition of refrigeration system.

Digging around the bilge also revealed a tiny hose with a valve in it that runs under the deck. I can't remove it and I can seem to find out where it goes or what it is/was for. The next project is to clean the bilge again and perhaps, just perhaps, what it is and what it is for will be revealed.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Still waiting on the Shipyard and the divers. The Shipyard for the engine and the divers for the mooring. The dive service called last night and indicated that they will be setting the mooring within the week. Hopefully the Shipyard will follow suit and I will be underway before my next birthday!

Things are getting tight . . . financially. I had planned to use some of the money from the sale of my condo to cover the costs of getting the boat ready to go. Unfortunately, the housing market stinks and nothing is selling. I have only so much financial wherewithal and it is getting tight. That really is beginning to wear on me and it is getting important to go sailing again. I am sure that God will come through but it will be a struggle until that happens.

Still, it is exciting to know that the time to go sailing is just around the corner.