….sometimes. In my defense, I was a professional mechanic for the majority of my life. There were times when I really hated airplanes: one, two, and four-engined, turbine or piston bangers, metal, fabric, or carbon fiber. There were other times when I really hated cars: fast and slow, fancy and plain. And other times still when I really hated motorcycles: big and small, Honda to Harley. But today it was boats, particularly this boat. Spend much time in any shop, boatyard, or hangar and one is likely to hear some very hateful things being said by the technicians and aimed at the machines they are trying to fix. You might also hear some rather harsh opinions on the character of the designers and/or manufacturers of that same equipment. Some of the best words I was using today I learned very young while hanging around with my Grandfather in the truck repair shops he managed.
I knew it was going to be a somewhat challenging day just because I would be working in the engine hole. There is simply not enough room in that hole for two engines/transmission/drive couplers and shafts, the genset, two fuel tanks, starter and house battery banks and wiring, assorted pumps and plumbing, and one 69-year-old mechanic who is not anywhere near as flexible as he used to be. Spend any time in there doing anything close to serious work? Bruises, cuts, and welts on arms, torso, legs and (in my case) bald head are inevitable. In First Light the starboard engine has the oil filter on the outboard side of the engine, close to the fuel tank, and really close to the alternator. Slither in there and try not get twisted up in way that can't be untwisted? Not always easy to do with as many damaged joints as some of us have accumulated over the years.
The port side oil filter is really close to the alternator as well, though the fuel cell is on the other side of the engine. Be very careful not to to damage any wiring with the filter wrench. As in most boats the oil gets sucked out of the starboard engine through the dip stick tube. Something that still strikes me as one of the dumbest design-arounds I have ever run across. On the port side engine, the dip stick tube is so long they had to come up with a different plan. It has a regular oil drain plug in the pan, which has a 90 degree fitting installed. That has an inch or so ID hose run with a cap plug in the end. The oil gets sucked out through that hose. A better idea than the dipstick tube except, they ran the hose out to the port side where, once again, one has to slither between the fuel tank and the engine to gain access. Deb figured out what that tube was for at first glance. I looked right at its capped top end about three times. It never clicked as to where the other end went and I was frustrated at not seeing something I knew had to be obvious. (As I have said before, life is easier when shared with someone who is smarter than you. Though I am not sure just why she puts up with me.) And yes, I am also thinking, why didn't they equip both engines with the fitting and tube, and the run them both inboard?
Adding to the discomfort while crawling around is that the engines are hot. They had to be run, making the oil hot and thin enough to be suckable. Add sweat running in your eyes to the fun. Sweaty hands that are oil covered make it near impossible to hold onto anything, trying not to drop whatever it is in a place that can't be reached.
Since I was down there anyway, the air intakes got cleaned and the accumulator for the house water pump got charged. Next crank everything up to see if there are leaks at any of the filters. After that, pour all of the old oil into the jugs the new oil used to be in and lug them off to a facility that will handle the waste oil for you. There is one just a few hundred yards from where First Light is tied to the town dock. A rare something that worked out today.
The genset offered its own distractions. Somehow or another we didn't have a spare oil filter for the genset onboard so Deb looked up the correct part number in the manual and headed off on a longish walk to the auto parts store to get one. When I went to install it, it didn't fit. Apparently the parts manual is for a genset that is not mounted in the sound dampening box used on a boat. Fortunately, I am married to one of the best parts chasers on the planet. She headed back up to the auto parts store and found an alternate filter that worked and fit better in the space than the one that came off. (Life really is easier when shared with someone who is smarter than you.)
We started at 0600 this morning with the thought of getting off of the face dock in time to get to an anchorage to wait out the inbound weather. Oil and filters times three? A few hours at worst. Be off the dock before noon with lots of time to get to the anchorage and same some doubloons. Maybe half a boat buck's worth depending on the weather.
By the time we got done and the hole cleaned up and closed up, it was around 1500. It was too late to make the anchorage we had in mind and, truth to tell, we were both too beat. Me from being in and out of the hole for something like nine hours. Deb from multiple walks to the part store and, well, from putting up with me all day. Tomorrow morning we will study the weather again. But it looks like, in spite of our best intentions, we may be parked here until Tuesday.
But we are not the only ones whose plans have gone awry. The swing bridge we came through yesterday afternoon broke this morning. Sailboats are trapped, no way they can get under the bridge. Some of the trawlers around us motored in with fly bridge canvas and radar arches dropped. They likely didn't get near as far as that had planned today on top of having to reconfigure their boats to get under the bridge. A few turned back from the bridge and are settled in somewhere they did not intend for tonight either. So we are not the only ones whose day didn't go as planned. Which may actually be the average day when living on a boat.
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