The Oreo, the Head and the Search for Water

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, first there was the OREO, a week of great sailing bounded on either end by crappy weekends. The first was the weekend of the much heralded Hurricane Danny which, thankfully, turned our to be rather a bust. Lots of rain, indeed a true tropical downpour on Saturday, but the much anticipated winds, waves and storm surge never quite materialized . . . unless you happened to be in Maine or Nova Scotia. of Course, you can never tell about these things so it necessitated readying the boat for the "anticipated" storm. Off came the mainsail, down came the Genoa, bagged was the mizzen. cockpit cushions were stored down below. Everything either came off the deck or was tied down so as to be immovable. Everything movable inside was stored in lockers and cubby holes throughout the boat. Goodness only knows when I will find everything again. When Danny fizzled along the coast, staying too far out to sea to have much more than a rain-soaked impact, everything had to be put right again. For some reason I can not fathom, it always takes much more time and effort to put everything back the way it was than to stow it all away. And of course, to use the boat, one has to put everything back the way it was.That blew Sunday.

Ah, but the week was wonderful. Summer really hit all at once, at least August did. It was hot! It was HUMID! And like every August, the wind was "light"! I did a lot of miles without really going anywhere but then, in sailing, it is all about the going. I got am opportunity to practice with sail combination, flying the spinnaker ( scaring myself to death in the process) and generally letting ABISHAG sail herself. And she did a fine job. Balancing the sails just right and she holds a course like she's on rails. It is fun to set a course and then wander around on deck looking at things, coiling lines, arranging stuff and enjoying the fact that I am not "tied" to the wheel. Of course, every now and then I had to adjust the sail trim to keep her on course,, but then using the wind steering system eliminated the need for that. I even did the Leonard De Capario(if that's not spelled right you know who I mean) scene from TITANIC and stood on the bow and proclaimed myself to be "the King of the World." And I was too, 'cause that seagull just miss crowning me! Nothing worse than being anointed by a seagull. Even the engine worked! Yep, it was a good week . . the cream center of the OREO.

The last weekend crapped out again. Cold, rain, little sun, and no wind. It was more like April than August. I did get out on Sunday, and while it was cloudy, there was a little wind. But the then the sun came out!!!!!....and the wind went away, only to re-appear when ABISHAG was all mooring nice and safe and everything was put away and the launch was coming. But I had the week. I'll take it!

Then there is "THE HEAD":It was "my" head, but it wasn't my "head", if you know what I mean. It is mine because I own it but it is on the boat. It is one of two(2), this one in the aft head. Truth be told, it was the "head" in the head, or, for those no cognizant of nautical terminology, it was the toilet in the bathroom at the back of the boat. It was leaking. Now unlike the toilet in your house or anywhere else on land, the toilet on a boat does not empty downward but upward, drawn up by a pump through a hose to a holding tank and/or, when you are outside the three mile limit, overboard. The landlocked toilet is affixed to its discharge pipe by a large wax ring and at least two(2) bolts. The discharge hose attached to the back of a marine head it held in place by a single, sometimes two, hose clamps. The should be stainless steel so they don't rust and corrode and so betray their primary function, clamping the hose tightly to the outflow from the toilet, less any effluents end up on your shoes. There is stainless steel and then there is semi-stainless steel, something of a lesser quality that rusts to beat the band and totally falls apart. Whoever last replace the single hose clamp on the aft head(more nautical talk) use the less than stainless steel, which was now rusted and "evidently" was the source of the leak. It had to be replaced.

Imagine if you will, one of those now hard to find telephone booths with a porcelain throne inside it and your task was to remove a stubborn clamps by embrace the bowl and reaching around behind to where the offending clamp lay. Yo could position your body so you could see what you were working on, but had to lean around, examine the situation, decide where the screwdriver was to go, then move back around to the front and attempt to unscrew the screw on the clamp from the metal imagge you had formed. Imagine all so that the screw was so rusted that the head broke off. Imagine then that you had to try to file the clamp off, being careful not to damage the hose, again more by mental projection than sight. Imagine that you had to do this kneeling down, and that it was in the mid 90's at least, and the sweat was rolling down your glasses and into your eyes. That's about what it was like and it took a good hour to get the old clamp off and the new clamp on.

There was no doubt about it, the clamp absolutely need to be replaced.Actually, I am not quite sure what was holding it together it was so rust. So it was a good and necessary thing that it was replaced. The one small problem in all of this is that it wasn't the source of the leak. The hose was clamped onto a a piece of pipe that was inserted into the back of the toilet. There was a rubber or leather bushing seal around the pipe where it was inserted in the toilet. It was the bushing seal that was leaking. Not being in the frame of mind to remove it, as well as not knowing how to accomplish the task, as well as not having another bushing or seal, I slathered half a tube of marine sealant on it, over it and around it. Leak gone!

Then there was "the Search for Water": ABISHAG is equipped with a 55 gallon water tank. Sounds like a lot but with two showers and three sinks, it goes pretty fast. For some reason, I can't get it to go at all. Flicking on the water pressure pump for the water system, should cause the water to spew out whenever a tap is opened. But they are dry. The pump works, or at least makes noise, but no water flows. There are two choices, or options or answers. Either pump ain't pumping (it's just making noise) or there is a blockage somewhere in the system of hoses that moves the water from the water tank hither and yon.

The first step was to trace the water system. Up came all of the floor boards and I began to trace all of the hoses, one at a time from the water tank to each terminus. One of the nasty surprise you can find on a boat is the the hose, or wire, or cable or whatever, that is one type, color, style, dimensions, at the start often goes through several transformations on it journey to where ever it is going. Often, to keep things "simple?" and in order, one item is often bundled with several similar items as they go through the bilge, through the walls(not a nautical term), through the ceiling (another non-nautical term) to where ever it is that they go. Three hoses leave the water tank so this required that I chose one, mark it, and follow it. The hot water comes from a hot water tank (obviously) that is heated by water that cools the engine when it runs. Tracing this necessitated climbing over then engine as the hot water tank on the other side of the engine from the access hatch. This hose went from clear plastic, to a black metal pipe, into the water tank. Then another black mental pipe, carrying the hot water, exited and connected to another hose of indeterminate color covered with insulation that went around the front of the engine, into the bilge and "Teed" sending water through hose to the forward head ( for the sink and shower), to the galley sink, and to the aft head for the sink and shower there.

Then there was the second of the three hoses that exited the water tank and "Teed", diverting cold water to the same places. And then there was the third hose and I have know idea where it went. I am assuming that it is merely a vent hose for the tank so that the water will flow as it should but fore the life of me, despite all the floor boards I moved, I couldn't trace it. As far as i can tell, it is not connected to anything, but who knows for sure.

And that's where the project stopped. At least fro now. The thought of disconnecting each length of "hose" and making sure it was unblocked seems daunting in the extreme. As the boat was laid over on its side last fall (O the memories!), it is possible that there is one or more air blocks in the system as opposed to some organic mass that is actually causing the problem. It is also possible that the water pressure pump, while making pumping noises, isn't actually pumping. considering how many such items I have replaced all ready, it wouldn't surprise me. Of course, to check out the pump means that I actually have to be able to reach it . . .which is accomplished through a trap door in the floor of the closet in the aft cabin. Remember that mental image of the phone booth in the head repair, make it smaller. I am definitely going to have to get a warm body to help me with this one. Ah, the fun of boat ownership!