End of Phase 1 -- update

So, here we are on day??.... not sure but it seems like a long time. Actually it is April 29 so that makes it Day 19!!!

It has been a while since i've bored anyone with our latest trials and tribulations.

Hot Water Heater:

This turned into the "project from hell": it was almost 5 days to remove the old tank which barely made it out of the hatch. It was heavy and had metal feet that were snagging on insulation making it next to impossible to move. It was removed and out the companion way...at one time I had rope around my neck supporting tank as I backed out of the cabin where it lives!

New tank reflects some improvements: plastic housing not metal, solid foam insulation, not household fiberglass,etc. It is lighter and slippery so it went in very easy. Not so easy was rearranging the piping to make it "neater". The accumulator tank needed to be replaced, so I made decision to put in new variable speed pump which eliminates the need for tank and runs quieter [ in theory]. This was all in but there were leaks in the brass fittings, which meant dooing them all over again. Turns out they need more than 2 wraps of Teflon tape to seal. After re-checking all 34 hose clamps and pressure testing, all is wel. EXCEPT that it seems to be almost as noisy as the previous pump, albeit it a different noise. The plan was to test with cold water, then the electric heating then the glycol circulation from the the engine.

Of course that requires running the engine!! I was concerned about glycol leaks since there are 6 brass fittings and to replace/repair them would mean un-mounting the tank.

We got engine started, but it overheated and no glycol was circulating; best guess was stuck thermostat; while replacing the thermostat I inadvertently hit and closed the fuel tank shutoff valve. We started the engine, it began to surge then stalled.

Visions of many boat units going to new engine flashed through my head. After I calmed down, and then found what I had done, I thought all was well.

I was worried about having damaged the Racor primary fuel filter by the engine sucking on it with the fuel valve closed: changed that, cleaned out the bowl, then decided it would be best/prudent to change the secondary fuel filter on the engine.

Problem was that the old filer had 3 sealing rings and the official Perkins part I had to replace it only had 2; I had also found gunk in the heat exchanger; I booked 1 hr of Gartside mechanic to confirm I had proper filter (yes, it seems that mechanic that changed the last filter left in a sealing ring!). He suggested that the gunk in the exchanger was from old hoses breaking down.

Since he was here, he walked me through proper bleeding and the engine is now running, confirmed no glycol leaks and we now officially are back to square one with operating engine and hot/cold running water.

This accounts for many hours head down,ass-up in locker which hasn't done much for my not-so supple upper body.

Y valve in the head:

After getting this awful job all back together, we had a minor leak when the tank filled up. One of the hose connections is leaking on the run from the tank to the Y-valve.

I had noticed that on the old valve, they had ground off the hose barbs to make a better seal and ( so I thought) make it possible to actually get the hose onto the fitting in tight quarters with such stiff hose ( sewage hose is very stiff!). So, without test fitting it , I got out the trusty Dremol tool and did the same. It appears that the new Y valve is slightly smaller diameter, so of course, by removing some of the barbs, i've made the fitting too loose; the hose clamps can't compress the stiff sewage hose to make seal.

I have 2 choices: try to put enough sealing tape and sealant and hope for no leaks or suck it up, buy yet another Y valve ( less than 1/10 of a boat unit) and redo the whole shebang.... I think it will be the later; else I'll constantly be waiting for the next holding tank leak.

Update to the Update: decided to take no chances and installed new valve last night (April 30); 3 hrs bent up in the head, but no leaks now.

Steering Column:

After talking with various "experts" the best I can determine is that some portions of the chain links are sticking and that it is not a problem to worry about. While taking it apart I was close to sheering off the machine screws that hold down the compass; obviously they have not been removed for some time.

Since they are steel screws into an aluminum housing, they should be coated to retard corrosion that will lock in fittings and make them impossible to remove. They should be coated with zinc chromate paste; Robin made the rounds of the chandlery's : no one had any or knew what should be used.

I bumped into Brent at Blackline Marine [ when you spend boat units, you get to know many repair types!...he did the new rigging on Tatoosh a few boat units ago!]

I asked him what they used: zinc chromate, I asked who stocks it: no one, they buy it from england! He agreed to sell me small tube. I send Robin over with the ship's Toonie collections ( kept for showers,etc when at marinas) thinking it can't be more than $12. Turns out I forgot the old adage about how prices go up when you add the word "marine"...this stuff is even worse since it is used both in marine and in aviation.....tube was $39. There is enough here that I'll leave this tube to some lucky winner in my will.

Other News:

Turns out the life raft that came with the boat is actually a used aircraft type life raft; Robin took it into a life raft re-packer and they told us the bad news. Not only is it not a marine raft but it is very old: basically it is trash and we need to look at new raft..... how many boat units will this turn out to be??

Plan now will be to ramp down, close up and return later in May to finish the rest of the TODO list.

We have taken great delight in using our pink highlighter to mark off the DONE items; The score on the list is 29 priority items gone, 24 remaining. Not bad considering that the water heater battle was not even on the list!!