THE BEST LAID PLANS OFT GO ASTRAY!!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, despite all of the best of intentions, things just didn't quite go the way I had planned. Then again, what else is new? I actually spent more time "figuring" than actually working. Work was done but not quite what was planned.

The main deck hatch leak was dry so that problem is solve, but there was still a leak from somewhere around the cockpit hatch. Taking down the overhead, I discovered that part of the wooden hatch frame had all the strength of wet cardboard. I had gouge out all the punky wood and repair it with epoxy putty. It is the stuff you see advertised on TV as "Mighty Putty," and it is actually great stuff. I molded it to fill the rotted portion and in an hour the repair was complete. I then had to caulk every single seam of the deck hatch frame, filling every single crack and hole. If it still leaks after all this, and last night's rain and the rain today should be a real test, then I have no clue how the water is getting in.

Being in a wood repairing mood, having the tools necessary, I decided to fix a piece that broke off of the toe rail on the starboard side. Some holes were drilled in it for some reason sometime and whatever it was was removed and the holes were never filled. As a result, the wood rotted and cracked and a chunk fell off. SO it was a simple glue-&-C-Clamp fix, filling the holes as I went. I am going to have to repeat the process on the port side as well. I wonder what was there and where it went?

Now with regards to the plumbing. Sinks and showers first. Wouldn't you just know that there are two different sized hoses used? I would have thought that if the sink drain used a 1" hose the drain in the shower would as well. Not quite. The shower drain is only 3/4". Why I have no clue except for the fact that it is an English built boat. If you have ever owned an English Car, you know what that means!The run of the hoses from the aft head is pretty simple and accessible. It will only take a simple "Y" connection to join the hoses and then run a single hose to the grey water sump. The forward head is a little more problematic. They are connected under the floor of the shower, or I say they were. The connection is a "T" shaped connection but the way that it is set up, I would imagine that the sink tended to back up into the shower. A previous owner disconnected the two hoses, destroying the connector in the process, so while the sink no longer backs up into the shower, it empties into the bilge, along with the shower, because of the broken connection. It appears that a new "Y" connector ( and a new bit of hose for the shower as the old one is old, stiff and cracked) should allow drainage of both toward the bilge.The problem is finding where the other end of the hose exits. I can trace it to where it disappears near the water tank but can seem to find the terminal end. I can't connect it to the grey water sump if I can't find the terminal end. It is the problem when you have several hoses in the bilge and all are the same type and size. Some are connected, some disappear and some are just cut and end in the air. Trying to find which is which and which goes where is an exercise in insanity. I have a terrible sinking feeling ( no pun intended) that the previous owner may have followed his modus operandi and simply cut the thing off somewhere when he couldn't get it to do what he wanted. I am now trying to figure out how to find which hose is the one I want.

On to the heads and holding tanks. Putting a holding thank in the fat head somewhere is going to be a chore. Space is at a premium and it is either already filled with the auto-pilot of refrigeration compressor, or where there is sufficient space, to fill it with a holding tank will block access to seacocks. To use a flexible bladder is a possibility but I fear that if it should wear through a some point, the thought of dumping a full "load" into the bilges would be really awful. It will take more figuring to work that one out.

There actually appears to be a little more room in the forward head. The ELECTROSAN Waste Treatment System is located under the sink and I am planning to move it to the space under the forward bunk. I am going to have to fabricate a shelf-box to hold it but after the propane locker incident, it should be a piece of cake. Running the hose through the bulkhead will be possible and appears that it will not even require buying new hose. This would allow the placement of a small holding tank in the space previously occupied by the ELEctrosan unit. It should be a simple fix.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It is slowly getting there. The weather even seems to be getting there. The biggest reason for delay is the yard. And they bare being delayed by one of their suppliers. It is just the way it goes. God is still teaching me patience by giving me lots of situations where one can only be patient. Getting to the point where I don't worry over things I have no control over really reduces acid indigestion and the stress. It all will get done when it all gets done.