10-8-06

Left from work at 11pm. Arrived at boat about 11:45 carrying a pillow, blanket, and bag, looking like the wife just kicked me out, but, no, I just needed to work on the boat. Made my bed in the port quarter birth and crawled in but couldn't sleep so read a sailing magazine and listened to radio till 2 am when I finally went to sleep.

Alma Del Viento

Got up about 9am and sat in the cockpit drinking a coke and watching activity around the docks. The slip is surrounded by condos so the sun was just rising above the roof of the condos. Saw some people take off to work and some just sitting on their condo balcony but not much activity on the boats or dock. Found the water dump noise I heard all night, MISS T a Catalina 27 just behind my boat must leak really badly because about every two hours she dumps a load of water out of the bilge.  I got the shore power cord  hooked up and started charging the batteries. Opened all engine compartment hatches. Tried to start motor but it just spins and wont light off.  I pulled one of the spark plugs and found no spark. Troubleshooting an ignition system is usually a simple process of changing parts out and I started with the coil which is clamped on the back of the engine block but everything takes twice as long to much much longer because of access. The engine compartment hatches are about 1 foot by 1 foot in size and those hatches are in the port and starboard quarter births. (see photo) For a big guy like me it takes a long time just to get into a position that I can even get one hand on the part but I finally got the coil out, made a run to the auto parts store and got back with a new coil and started the process all over again to get the coil installed. Finally got it hooked up and I tried to start the motor but still no fire. Getting late in the afternoon don't feel like fighting it much more so go get something to eat then call my wife Margie and find out my engine service and overhaul manual has arrived. Great! I'm down here and the motor manual is 80 miles away. I spend the rest of the evening just loafing around the boat thinking about the boat mods I want to do and how to do them. Went to bed about 11pm

Got up about 6 am but didn't feel like working much till about 9, I 'm not a morning person. Called the wife and had her check some internet files and the new manual for parts I need. I find out that the ignition parts are the same as the ignition parts for a 1972 Chevy Vega.. Went to parts store and wow they have all the new parts I need, points, condenser, rotor, and cap, I went to get something to eat then back to boat. I spend most of the day fighting bending and twisting into the engine compartment to get these parts installed., Setting the gap on the points one handed is a real pain!!  Had some interesting phone conversations with the wife as she looked at the manual and tried to tell me what it said. Something like "well just hook the wire to the front of the little silver thing"  and I would say " what silver thing and which way is the front I have it in my hand" Finally got it all hooked up and tried it out, and got it to spark. Yeah! I put the spark plugs back in and tried it but it would not start, I sprayed some starter fluid in the intake and it fired up and spit out a huge ball of smoke but would not stay running. Ah-ha! ignition is now working but still have a fuel problem. I even got the motor to idle by slowly drizzling the starter fluid into the intake. Well the fuel problem will have to wait to another day its 4pm and raining like crazy and I wanted to get home before dark. So loaded all my tools back up, which means moving each tool bag and other stuff about 5 times, from cabin to cockpit, to finger pier, to dock, to cart, and finally into the car, got soaking wet and very tired but happy I made some progress. Got home about 7 pm

1972 Chevy Vega

In my haste to get home yesterday before dark and get out of the rain, I left my extension cord laying on the dock. So I left the house about 6am and got to boat about 8am, Its an 80 mile drive. Found the extension cord exactly where I left it, so packed it away and went on board the boat. I had to go to work today but not until 2pm so I had some time to kill. I thought it would be fun to hear the motor fire up again so I sprayed it with starter fluid and turned the key but it just spun and would not fire. Argh! In disgust I slam the engine compartment door and go sit up in the cockpit and think about shooting a hole in the bottom of the boat and let her sink in the slip. Then to make matters worse as I am sitting there, some guy comes strolling down the dock and boards a sailboat a couple of slips down from me. Its an old boat that looks in worse condition than mine. But he goes aft and opens a locker and starts pulling a starter rope and after about 4 tries he gets a big ball of smoke and his engine continues running and continues running while he unties his boat and slowly motors out of the slip and out of the marina. And as he fades out of sight I realize it is very quite in the marina now. Too Quiet! I locked up the boat and left, I just couldn't take it anymore. Spent the rest of my free time shopping at West Marine but didn't buy anything for that dang boat, just looked at all the neat stuff I could buy for a good boat. Ha!  Went to eat and then got to work on time at 2pm.

 Thinking about sinking boat in slip, hmmmm!

10-17-06

 Heavy rains in the area yesterday but cleared off today and Margie and I headed off to the boat to see if it had leaked in much. Found the boat to be in good shape and not much water in the bilge. The water level was very high and Margie was able to just step on the boat with no trouble at all. Usually the boat is a long ways down from the boat dock. I installed a new solar powered 24 hour ventilation fan on the foredeck. I hope it helps keep the mold out.  Got a pretty good deal for the vent on Ebay. Didn't have time to do much else so Margie and I went to eat at Joe's on the Kema Boardwalk and we sat outside and watched the boats enter Clear Lake from the bay. Saw some really nice sailboats, then headed home.

Margie and I headed off to the boat early today and found the boat in good shape with no water in the bilge. I figured, I must have fouled out the old spark plugs with the starter fluid last time I tried to start the engine. So I installed some new spark plugs and used the hotter plugs recommended in the manual. I also drained the carburetor bowl of old fuel and cleaned it up with spray carb cleaner. Margie and I got the boat ready to spend the night by dropping the table and making it a full size bed with the cushions. Made a run to the local Wal-Mart to pick up some drinks and snacks, we also got a small propane heater because it was going to be cold tonight. Most of the day Margie read her book and handed me tools which made working in the engine compartment a little easier. It was a rough night trying to sleep in the boat, the smell from the carb cleaner and the old fuel was awful. I had all the hatches open and ran the bilge blower a long time and I put a box fan in the forward hatch but early in the morning it got really cold so we closed the boat up and  started the heater. I left the sliding hatch partially open so some fresh air could come in and the new 24 hour vent helped pull the air in the boat. It was stinky but tolerable

Didn't sleep much so we didn't get out of bed until late. I started changing the oil and rigged an electric pump down the dip stick hole and a manual pump from the drain hole. I pumped out what looked like cream sugar that you would dunk a donut into. I added more oil and pumped it out, in all about 3 gallons. The manual says I may have to change the oil 3 or more times to get all the water out. I filled the motor back up with oil and its now ready for the big test. The choke cable is frozen up so I have to manually hold the choke on while Margie turns the key. After about four tries the motor lit off with a big puff of smoke and purred like a kitten. I slowly let off the choke and crawled out of the engine compartment and the engine just kept running. Margie and I danced a little jig in celebration. The motor was running good so I tried to put it in gear but it would just die in forward or reverse, so I checked the shaft stuffing box and it was really tight. So I loosened it and it started leaking a steady stream of water. Started the motor back up and forward and reverse work good pulling the boat against the dock lines. Great!! The manual says the shaft packing box should leak 2 or 3 drips per minute but I either get a steady stream or nothing and then the shaft wont turn so looks like the stuffing box will have to be repacked. I had Margie look for water coming out the exhaust like it should but she said she didn't see any water so I may have to replace the water pump impeller. Still work to do but the motor runs smooth and we made some progress. It was getting late so we packed the boat up and headed for home.

Margie and I went to the boat today and we found it in good shape. I was afraid the shaft packing box would have leaked a lot and the boat would be full of water but very little water was in the bilge. I installed a new choke cable today so I don't have to go down in the hole to manually hold the choke on, I can now run the boat from the cockpit. And that's what we did, I pulled the new choke on and the engine fired right up and purred. I ran the engine for over an hour and most of that time was in gear with the boat pulling against the dock lines. I ran it in forward and reverse without a problem and at high and low power. I was just about to shut the motor down but thought I would run it in reverse one more time. I always get in trouble when I want to do things "one more time" WAM!! an unnoticed dock rope wrapped itself around the prop. I pulled and tugged and fiddled with it for a long time but it was stuck and not coming off the prop. Margie and I talked about it for a while and decided that since today was unusually warm for Halloween and that it would  probably be the warmest day for the rest of the year someone was going to have to go in the water. Guess who got elected for the job? Margie just looked at me and said "its your boat!"  So off I go down the dock ladder and swim in the freezing cold water to the back of the boat. Actually the water was still pretty warm and felt ok after a few minutes. I could just reach the prop with my nose and mouth pressed up next to the hull and above the water so I worked on the line and got some of it off and unwrapped from the prop but some was still stuck and had to get a knife to cut it off. Finally after about 30 minutes in the water I got all the rope off the prop. I sure got some funny looks from people walking around the docks but luckily no one saw the funniest part and that was me trying to get out of the water. I could not get back up the dock ladder because the bottom step was at the top of the water and covered with barnacles that really hurt my feet. I had to swim over to a low work dock and build myself a ladder out of rope hanging from the dock. I finally flung myself out on the dock like a beached whale. Margie liked my new Halloween costume "the drowned rat" We fired the motor back up and it ran fine in forward and reverse. I ran for the shower and Margie cleaned up the boat and then we headed for home.

Alma Del Viento

 Margie said she was too busy looking out for me to take a picture of me swimming around the boat. She sure missed a good opportunity for a funny photo,

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