Finished with Stinky -- Finally

Today was going to be a tough day. I knew it when I went to bed and I knew it when I got up this morning. I was going to replace the sanitation hoses in the Aft head..

How does one even begin such a distressing job?? Well you just dig in -- oops bad pun there.

I had a leisurely breakfast and read some maintenance stuff about my transmission -- need to change the oil there soon, and just fussed around delaying the inevitable. I listened to Chris Parker and he had good news for us -- Tropical storm Hanna-- soon to be a hurricane does not look like it will threaten us.

I got the tools out and prepared the work area. Loosened all hose clamps and now it was time to start pulling the old hoses off the fittings -- this is where it gets real messy and stinky. Ahh I need to take a walk first.

It was a little before 8am and I was walking the docks when I ran into Cory and Dale -- they were headed to Oriental for a flea market. Hmmm would you mind giving me a ride to Minnesott ? No problem but hurry so we can catch the Ferry.

Ahh this worked out great. I could get my truck back and not bother anyone else for a ride.

While over there I went to Oriental to visit Ralph who is on the hard. His boat is looking very nice. Everyone getting ready to head South!!

Well it was time to face the music and back to Temptation. I arrived and just started around 10am. The start was not too bad. Not too much liquids and I was much better and quicker and containing it. Still when I pulled the Holding tank hose of the diverter valve I got a partial drenching of the nasty stuff.

I had all the old hoses off and cut by noon. I had to have a beer then to quiet my stomach though -- that odor just knots my stomach up.

After lunch I proceeded to install the new hoses and diverter valve. It went smoothly but took a lot of hard pulling and pushing to route the new hoses and clamp everything. Ohh did I mention that6 the door entrance below the bathroom sink where all the connections are made is only 5 inches wide!!

Had it all connected by 3pm. Ohhh yeah to get better access I had to remove one cold water supply line and the sink drain hose and then reinstall.

Things didn't get interesting till I cleaned up. I hosed down the head floor pan and the shower floor pan and then turned on the shower sump pump to drain all the nasty water out. Uh Oh -- she no run!!! Damn and I have all this nasty water to get rid of. Ohh well settle down and troubleshoot the pump. Ahhh the switch is missing a ground wire.. Hooked it up -- still no pump Grrrrr. Troubleshoot again. Hmmm four wires go up towards the switch but only 3 attached. I fish in the wall again -- Ahh another ground wire -- now the pump sucks.

I'm on a roll now. I go to the forward head to clean that head floor pan. I scrub it with soft scrub then go to run the sump pump and hey where did it go?? Drained away without the pump!! I investigate. Ohhh the shower floor pan is connected to the sump pump. The head floor pan just drains to the bilge -- ohh yuck... Well learned something new.

Now it was time for a shower and relax.. Cooking a T-bone on the grill tonight and going to bed early!!

Here is a picture of the old and new sanitation hose:

Not a bad Splash once I fixed the leak

Today was splash day -- time to put Temptation back in the water.

Lots of work has been done over the last 3 weeks and most could affect the water integrity of the boat.

Last night when I got here I reinstalled the steering cables. That went better than expected -- the steering is so smooth now. It appears there were two problems affecting the steering. An interference problem at the extreme movements and the overall stiff wheel was due to poor adjustment of the cables -- like everything else I have found -- TOO TIGHT!!!

The marina boys were ready first thing to splash me. I let them take the boat around 9am and I settled up the costs before it went into the water. An archaic marine rule that when some one does work on your boat -- they own it till you pay the damages...

The launch went well. I fired it up and let it warm up while I revisited all the areas that could leak to check them.. All dry. When I came back on deck they7 turned the lift motors off and Don -- the foreman -- noticed my engine was not spitting water -- a necessity. I immediately shut it down and investigated. Damn an air lock in the water intake lines to the engine -- Ohhh yes Al did caution me to close the intake seacock before hauling --- I hadn't. I bled the lines and restarted the engine -- she was spit tin water now.

I went ahead and left and slowly cruised through Minnesott Beach Marina -- very close and tight. I made it out without bumping then checked for leaks again -- all okay.

I motored back to Matthews Point -- no wind and the Neuse was flat calm. It was hot humid and hazy for so early in the morning.

I visually checked the packing on the rudder and prop and both were dry -- that's good but the prop should be dripping about 3 drops a minute. I pressed on.

About a mile from Clubfoot number 3 I checked again. Every thing still dry. Hmmm I wonder if the packing is warm?? I touched it -- yooow it burnt me!! Damn it was hot!! I poured some water on it and it sizzled and evaporated immediately -- that is BAD. I cut the RPMs from 2200 to 1800. Poured more water on the assembly -- still HOT. I checked the temperature with an infrared thermometer -- damn 170 degrees -- not good. I slowed down to 1500 RPM and crept into the marina. I made the slip with no difficulty and tied up. Thank goodness for a calm day.

I shut the motor down and heard a pump running.. What the?? It was the fresh water pump. Lost its prime for some reason. I corrected it. Then sat down to have a celebratory beer at 11:10 am. Hmmm another pump just came on and stopped -- the bilge pump.. Ohh well. 10 minutes later the bilge runs again.. then again .. Ohh boy I got a leak somewhere!!

I check all the areas that had been addressed. When I looked at the packing assembly there was a stream of water coming out from the packing log to brass coupler interface. Damn that heat did something!! I tightened the clamps -- oh boy leak stopped -- but what happened???


I'll write this off to the Friday curse. I know better than to start something new on a Friday but I thought maybe it would be okay today -- always a bad assumption. I tried to launch yesterday but the remnants of Fay came over and dumped 5 inches of rain on the house and there was spotty flooding all the way to the coast. So I launched today and was burnt -- literally.

All seems okay but we won't push it for a Friday. Just clean the boat and relax.

There could be another cause for these problems besides the Friday curse -- hubris...
I was just so proud of how well that packing nut assembly had cleaned up I guess the gods wanted to punish that pride.

Well any way let me show how well it cleaned up:




I just can't help myself and I know I'm going to have to pay for this too.

Stinky ME

I was up early this morning -- 6:15am knowing the long day ahead. Today was HEAD day and I was planning to replace the sanitation hose in the 2 heads. I was up early but the enthusiasm wasn't there. I had a leisurely breakfast and a moderate walk before getting started. It was 7:15 am before I started.

The place to start was removing everything from the medicine cabinet to expose the "secret" panel that would expose the vent tube for the sanitation hoses. I then practiced removing the hoses from the diverter valve because I would need to preserve the holding tank hose -- I wasn't going to replace it.

I first pulled out the hose between the diverter valve and the toilet. I had a plastic bag over the end of the hose with the joker valve. Ohhh yuck it leaked and I had the mixture of CLR and baby oil all over the place. Half in a bucket and half out -- Ohh the smell!!! I got it out of the boat and breathed fresh air awhile.

I then cleaned up and tackled the hose from the vent tube to the diverter valve at the vent tube. Not too bad. I then pulled the vent tube out with the hose from it to the thru hull. It was hard work pulling these old houses out from behind the wall. Ohhh it's going to be a bear installing the new hoses!!

I then removed the holding tank hose from the diverter valve and cleaned up the end and installed a new diverter valve. I then labelled and cut to length the 3 sections of hose to replace. WOW this new hose -- Shieldsflex Poly X Sanitation hose is easy to work with. It is more flexible then most and pushed on the fittings with little difficulty.


I fought and pulled and tugged the hoses, vent tube, and diverter valve into position and double clamped everything. Whew -- all hoses installed by noon. Boy that took longer than expected!! I broke for some lunch then started again. Now I had to install the rebuilt Toilet pump and connect the hoses and test. This took me till about 2pm. the results are not impressive to look at but represented a lot of hard physical labor -- I used 16 feet of this $11 a foot hose:



I then had a beer and planned the next step -- this day is pretty much shot and I have another head to do!! Could I stay down another day?? Nope I need to be home for a conference call and test session tomorrow morning. I then looked over the aft head and tried to see what the minimum effort might be -- could I replace just one hose for now?? Hmmmm I moved the old hose to Thru hull around and found away to use the existing length to clamp on. Voila!!! 30 minutes later and all done, however I do need to replace all those hoses very soon.

Ohh the Stinky Me part... While manipulating the old thru hull hose around it looked empty but as I sat on the floor and contemplated a way to reuse it, I didn't notice a steady stream of that CLR/Oil mixture leaking out until I noticed the seat of my pants all wet!!! Yuuuuck!!

I took a long shower then packed up and left about 4pm -- a very long day but Temptation is nearly ready to splash. I left the steering cables off till they finish the work on the rudder. It should take less than 30 minutes to install and adjust.

Not a Bad Work Weekend after a TERRIBLE Start!!

I had a lot to do this weekend if I was going to make a Thursday Splash Down but ohh the fates were going to have some fun with me.

The drive down was okay. I made a stop at the Food Mart in Durham to gas up with just enough to get the cheap gas in Kinston -- about 20 cents a gallon cheaper than Durham, than again in Kinston, and again in New Bern for groceries. Each time I started the truck it cranked very slowly. I was a little worried. I stopped in Grantsboro -- just 8 miles from Minnesott for diner. When I left I got in the truck and turned the key and NOTHING!! Lights came on but no crank. Damn... I checked the battery with the lights and no dimming when cranking. Thus battery good -- power not getting to the starter, I thought stuck starter relay because I didn't hear it click. I jacked the truck up a bit and climbed under it -- very anxious moment since this is a Burger King parking lot -- worried about someone pulling in beside me and running me over!!

I smacked the starter a few times with a small hammer. Still nothing. Finally a couple of ladies pulled in and I talked one into cranking the ignition for me while I banged on the starter. Nothing except the AC condensation water dripping in my face. After 5 minutes I thanked her and let her go. I pulled the battery cables and cleaned and still nothing.. Damn I don't know anyone here!!

A gentlemen pulls up and I ask him to crank the ignition switch. This time I hit the starter hard a rapid. Finally it starts but the guy leaves the key in start position -- grinding gears!! I yell "release the key but don't turn it off!!" He does. Ohhh boy now dirty and sweaty I continue on to the boat. What a way to start the weekend.

I'm wondering if it will start again!! I call Craig because he is coming down tonight. He has just arrived in New Bern and was headed to BoJangles-- I asked if he could pickup a starter for me. He says -- "no problem -- there is an Advance Auto right across the street!! What a guy..

The boat looked good. They got a lot of work done on it this week. Partial repair on the rudder, new Thru hull/seacocks on both heads, painted the bottom.



I was going to do some work tonight but I didn't. Just relaxed and read.

Saturday morning I started putting the packing assembly back on the prop shaft. Uhh the shaft coupler did not want to go easy. It was going to have to be beat on. Not good because there is a delicate measurement on the shaft locking bolts. They need to line up with dimples in the shaft. It was no fun. I would tap on the prop shaft from outside, climb back into the boat, crawl into the engine compartment and check. It took 7 trips to align ... would have been so easy with an assistant!!

I got it all back together and repacked the packing nut. That went well.

I then assembled the Max Prop back on the shaft. I thought this would be a 40 minute job.. No way!! I had to put the spinner on twice because I missed the index gear the first time, then I tried to put the 3 blades of the prop into the spinner holding them and keeping them in a full feathered position -- that took more than 45 minutes. Things just kept slipping and once on of the blades fell and chaffed my leg -- Ouch!!. Then I put the back on and couldn't start the screws -- damn!!!I finally had to take it and the blades out to see what was wrong. The internal spider that hold all 3 blades need to be flipped. I did learn that if I put the blades in the back and then attached to spinner I had no problem aligning the blades.
Total time -- about 2 hours!!

It was then on to lunch -- 5 hours to put the packing on the prop shaft and install the prop!!

After lunch I cleaned the prop and paitned it with an anti barnacle paint. Kooks GOOD!!


Relaxed a bit then tackled the steering packing. I had asked them to do but they hadn't. So I cleaned it up and packed it myself then went on to install the quadrature. That took till 3:30pm. I called it day and relaxed till Craig came by to pick me up for dinner. He brought along Doc Hoffman and his granddaughter Mallory and my Starter Motor -- what a guy. We went to Gary's for a fine dinner.

Back on the boat around 8pm to crash and read. I was whipped.. Hit the sack about 9:30pm.