Yesterday there were whitecaps in the harbor even though the wind was coming from the NNE and the breakwater offers protection from that direction, but today is beautiful. We've been hunkered down here in Rockland since last Friday waiting to see what Irma, José, Maria were going to do. We haven't been idle though; we've been checking chores off that list that every cruiser has. If you're a cruiser you'll know what I'm talking about.
Ours had things like change generator oil, empty and clean aft fuel tank, change fuel filters, figure out why toilet isn't bringing in water, replace masthead light bulb, install radar reflector, and fix broken flag halyard.
A new blogger told me that even these mundane things might be interesting to my readers, so I'm going to tell you a little about the fuel tank and the toilet. Thrilling, I know.
After removing the toilet intake pump and determining that it was clean, we checked the thru-hull next.
(not my picture, but similar to our thru-hull)
Sure enough, the thru-hull was clogged, because when we removed the hose and opened the thru-hull, water DID NOT gush into the boat. Something or someone had taken up residence in the grate.
Our boat has these grates outside on most of the intake thru-hulls and critters like to live in them. So now we had to take the elbow off the thru-hull and wiggle a piece of coat hanger around in there to dislodge the squatter. Keep in mind the thru-hull has to be open to do this.
About a minute of poking and pushing is all it took and suddenly water was gushing in like it was supposed to. We closed the valve, fit the elbow and the hose back on and tested the toilet. Perfect.
Oh, and don't worry about all that seawater in the bilge. The bilge pump is one of the things that's working fine.
Our aft fuel tank has a history of contamination problems. We cleaned it two years ago when we were in Grenada, but then we kept putting dirty fuel in it and the pick-up is in the lowest corner where all the gunk collects, so we use a lot of filters and the generator balks when we draw off that tank.
First we pumped 17 gallons of diesel out into jerry jugs using our dinghy bailer pump and a Baja filter. (Of course this project is taking place in one of the more difficult places to reach: through a 5"x10" access plate, under the generator and kitchen sink.) Then we used those bilge pad things to sop out the last of it. Finally we scooped and wiped all of the brown gunk out, put the lid back on and put the fuel back in the tank. And the generator runs happily now.
See folks, it's not all sandy beaches, palm trees, and rum drinks out here. There are hurricanes to watch out for, repairs to be made, and hitch hikers to evict.
Added later: We also cleaned the windings and brushes on the bow thruster and it's working at full speed now.
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