For Want Of A Nail, A Shoe Was Lost . . . . .

SHIPS LOG:

And for want of a shoe, a horse was lost, and for want of a horse, the battle was lost . . . In my case, it was a little, little plastic piece that goes on the engine. It connects the cooling system from engine to cooler, allowing the engine to run cool and not burn up. Now it is a sturdy piece of plastic but it is still plastic and last year, it split. Of course, no replacement could be found as it is at least 10 years old and is from an English Ford diesel engine modified for use in a marine environment. Ford of America wants nothing to do with it as it is English, not American, and is 10 years old. And the English, well last summer it took weeks before they decided to acknowledge that the part was even theirs and they would have to get back to us if they could find one. So the yard just epoxied the bloody thing together and it has worked just fine.

When my adventure on the hard in Black Rock Harbor began, the yard crew didn't want to take responsibility for winterizing the engine the engine once they saw the epoxy patch job. For some reason, it was pick, a most unmanly color for an marine engine part repair. Eventually they did and the thing work just fine and spent the winter snoozing contentedly.

I had a friend of mine who is an automobile mechanic down at the boat to look at the engine and he saw the part, removed it, and vowed that he could get a replacement. That was some months(!) ago and he has had to admit defeat. He is hopeful that a friend can manufacture a copy of the part in aluminum and hopefully he will, but he has the part and I don't. I'll get it back sometime this week and either install the new or re-install the old. And then be off on the first nice day next week . . .that is any day that doesn't threaten thunderstorms in the Sound. It is bad enough sailing in the rain but thunder storms are down right dangerous! ! !

I have come up with a rather innovative storage idea for the tools. Currently, most of my tools are in a set of plastic draws in a plastic file cabinet. There really is no space where the cabinet is both out of the way and at the same time easily accessible. I came up with the idea of 2"PVC pipe. Affixed to the wall on the side of the engine housing, each pipe holds one type of tool - one for flat head screwdrivers, one for Philips head, one for metric wrenches, one for standard wrenches and the like. There will be some tools that won't fit, such as pipe wrenches, hammers, hack saws, and such large, oddly shaped tools, but these are already stored in a "tool box" so it really won't matter. the best thing is that the pipe storage arrangement will allow me to ditch the file draw cabinet and free up the passageway aft. It remains to be seen what the down side of such an arrangement will be but right now, it looks good, if just a little weird.

CAPTAIN'S PERSONAL LOG:

I paid off the Roxburgh's for the fiberglass work and I am all square with the yard. Now ABISHAG needs only to be splashed and a day for fitting out (bending on sails - which can't be done when your boat is 10 feet in the air. A puff of wind and over she goes . . . not a good thing when you don't have insurance yet - restocking the "stuff take off ", etc) and I will be off to New London. And then? ? ? ? well, I'll just have to see. But just to be afloat, even if just on the mooring will be a heck of an improvement. Boy, am I looking forward to that! ! ! ! ! !