Springtime on Kent Island: 4/9 - 4/11

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Friday, April 9

The rain made a nice calming monotonous sound on our cabintop as we awoke this morning.  We expected the rain and it was expected to continue through the weekend--so, we have lined up some "inside" boat tasks for the coming days.

The outside temperature (50 degrees F) was a bit cooler than I anticipated.  (Maybe the rain made it feel cooler than the thermometer's actual reading.)

For some strange reason, I woke up this morning thinking about ways I could make my life more efficient--yes, more efficient?  I thought about getting a more efficient haircut (but not a buzz cut!) and about buying a straw hat from a street vendor when we arrive in San Miguel de Allende in early October.  

I don't understand completely how a "straw hat" fits
into my early morning thoughts on "increased
efficiency" but it beats a sombrero!

My simple thoughts on "increased efficiency" were interrupted by the smell of eggs frying as Maggie cooked our breakfast.  (It is very unusual for us to have eggs for breakfast--I can't even remember the last time we had eggs for breakfast!) 

In the afternoon, we cleaned the bilge because it had been a bit smelly lately.  There was a pink-colored substance in the bilge.  Not too long ago, we had poured some bilge cleaner in the bilge and it is pinkish colored (well more like orange colored) but that usually creates suds as it breaks down oil in the bilge.  This particular pink-colored substance was oily in nature, very much like ... automatic transmission fluid.  We pulled apart the engine access way and investigated the transmission, first checking the fluid level--it was a little low but not seriously low.  There were no signs of transmission fluid leakage on the engine diaper kept below the transmission, thank god!  We ran the engine at idle in forward and then in reverse and still there were no signs of leakage of any kind.  So, for the time being the pink fluid in the bilge remained a mystery...I had to get some rest.

Saturday, April 10

In the morning, fog blanketed the marina--it was pretty!

Fog blanketed the marina in the morning.

Droplets from the fog accumulated on
this spider web on the dock.

As I woke up I couldn't help but think about the reddish fluid leaking into the bilge.  I considered the possibility that it was diesel fuel and not transmission fluid since their colors are similar.  I also thought about possible ways the fluid could get to the bilge while bypassing the engine diaper and two came to mind.  

The still unidentified red fluid that
had leaked into our bilge.

The first possibility was a spare can of transmission fluid (possibly stored under the forward portion of the v-berth) somehow got punctured and leaked into the bilge while the second possibility was that diesel fuel was leaking from our auxiliary tank which is located beneath the navigation station seat--this one seems most likely based on the large amount of fluid in the bilge.  I started a further investigation by removing the floor board in the companionway, looking for telltale signs of a leak path.

We worked forward, lifting floor panels looking for the leak path.  We finally found it as we lifted the floor board in the galley.  The diesel fuel was leaking from the auxiliary diesel tank into the bilge via a structural stringer that originated under the toilet in the head--we saw it dripping from the stringer.  I quickly transferred all the remaining fuel (about 5 gallons) in the auxiliary tank into the main tank.  (We had lost about 12 gallons of diesel fuel from our 19-gallon tank over the past two weeks.)

We, then, cleaned up the remaining fuel in the bilge using bilge cleaner and fresh water from the dock hose.  (We will disassemble the navigation station seat and remove the auxiliary tank at another time in the very near future. We have too many projects on the agenda for this weekend.)

Sunday, April 11

Today, we anticipate a few passing thunderstorms but they never occurred.  The sky was a bit overcast in the early morning but burned off as the day progressed.  On our agenda for the day was replacing a gasket in our composting head--the subject gasket seals between the solids container and the top section of the toilet.  It was constructed from PVC.  A portion of the old gasket was protruding out of the junction between the two sections of the toilet.  We had ordered a replacement gasket just before leaving Annapolis.

When we took the toilet apart (fun job!) the section of gasket that protruded from the junction of the two major pieces was like an "add-on rubber piece".  The original (PVC) gasket was in tact and in good shape.  We pulled off the "add-on" and cleaned everything up.  Before re-assembly we coated the section mating with the gasket with a generous coating of Vaseline to make up for the removal of the "add-on" gasket piece.  By feeling for air leakage around the junction, the old gasket (without the "add-on" piece) seemed to be sealing fine.  So, we didn't change the gasket.

In the afternoon, I spent a lot of time preparing our dinghy for bottom painting.  (I hope to apply the first coat of bottom paint tomorrow afternoon.)

This blog posting was my 700th posting!  I hope other C&C sailors or other people my age are getting some benefit from my experiences.  Thanks for reading our blog!