Summertime on Kent Island: 8/2 - 8/5

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Monday, August 2  

The rain finally stopped late yesterday afternoon and the sun came out at 6 PM.  This morning was sunny and 67 degrees outside, headed for an afternoon high of only 80 degrees--an absolutely  beautiful day!

This spider plant is our only indoor
boat plant. It has been with us
for over a year now.

I was planning on completing the fresh water hose replacement this morning but Lola was running very low on (wet) cat food and I had to make a trip to Annapolis.  So, I accomplished several unrelated errands while on the "mainland" (I love saying that!).

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I still haven't re-installed our dining table, mostly because I may have to lift the starboard floorboard again in order to replace the last fresh water hose.  Our dining table has been temporarily sitting sideways on the port settee during my hose replacement project.  At one time, we used a round teak table (which we still have in our storage unit) as our dining table and we seemed to have a lot more space in the main salon.  I have been thinking about re-using our round teak table again.  (An environmental changeup can be good for everyone involved.)

A round table fitting into a (more or less) rectangular space means the round table would naturally have less area.  However, there is only two of us.  When we are having dinner with the present arrangement, Maggie usually sits on the port side and I sit on the starboard side across from one another.  Using a round table, we would have to sit closer to one another.

Presently, Lola picks an empty spot on the (larger rectangular) dining table to reside while we are having dinner.  She does this to be close to us--not to beg for food (although sometimes she does.)  She couldn't do this (and she shouldn't be doing this anyway) on a smaller round table.  When we had Bunky (or Lizzy) and Captain Jack they would never lay on our dining table.  So, this "dining table lounge act" is Lola's unique behavior (for now).  In just one week, we will be picking up Kali and I'm sure she will learn from Lola's behavior--so, we will most likely have two cats on the (rectangular) dining table during dinner if we keep the present arrangement.

An additional issue is Maggie's sewing.  Maggie uses our (rectangular) dining table for her sewing.  I made a fold-up table next to the quarter berth for her sewing but it is certainly less than ideal.  When I make the electrical hook up for the outlet just below the quarter berth (which I planned to do this week) it will be a big improvement but still not perfect.  (Could she use the navigation station desk for sewing?)

Lola's litter box is another issue to be considered--it is currently located in the (forward port area of the) main salon.  At present it is somewhat difficult for us to access for cleaning and it takes up some available legroom for Maggie.  (Litter always can be found on the floor in this area.) Relocating her litter box would have many advantages (if we can find the right spot) and will be necessary for us to be able to switch to a round table.  (Would switching to a smaller litter box and/or re-locating it solve this problem?)

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I drove to Annapolis, leaving the marina about 10 AM.  I purchased the needed (canned) cat food and a new (smaller) litter box at PetsMart and, then, I had a delicious cafe salad for lunch at Market & Main--I'm sure that it was not KETO, but close enough for me.  I picked up some ice cubes (a 7-pound bag) on the way back to the boat.  Once back on the boat, I relocated where we store the bag of ice cubes within the fridge--now it is a little closer to the cold plate, not in the opposite corner from the cold plate as it was most of the time.  (We'll see if this extends the useful life of our ice cubes.)

After I got the groceries put away, I put a bag of nice clean litter into the new (slightly smaller) litter box.  Lola sat in it right away--after all it was "new."  (I will wait until this evening to throw out the old litter box. In the meantime, I placed it out in the cockpit.  Cats are funny this way.)

Tuesday, August 3

Today was practically identical to yesterday in terms of the weather, except for the overcast sky and a slight chance of rain at the end of the day.

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As an extension of Sunday's boat project, I decided to replace the fresh water hose between the strainer and the fresh water pump inlet.

I started working on the fresh water hose replacement at 9 AM.  I removed the drawer unit and everything in the quarter berth, including the platforms beneath the cushions.  (Does this sound like a repeat of last Tuesday?)  Our fresh water pump is located under the aft section of the quarter berth.  I started the hose replacement at the fresh water pump and worked my way forward, just outboard of the port battery bank, down and forward of the engine, then under the floorboards.  When I worked my way forward of the companionway stairs, I realized I was replacing the hose from the pump discharge to the primary filter located under the galley sink—not the one from the strainer to the pump inlet!  At this point, I continued with the hose replacement—it was old, dirty, and severely discolored and needed to be replaced too.  (I replaced another very short length of hose from the primary filter to the accumulator tank under the galley sink as well since it was a similar vintage.)

This photograph shows the new white lined hoses
under the galley sink.  The primary filter is
on the lower right and the accumulator
is in the back at the center of
this image.

I didn’t have a sufficient length of new hose to replace both hoses or I would have continued working past the 5-1/2 hours I had already spent today.  I needed at least 19 feet of new hose to replace the pump inlet hose—I had 15-1/2 feet of new hose remaining from the 50-foot roll I purchased--3-1/2 feet too short.  So, I plan to purchase 25 feet of new hose tomorrow morning and perhaps changeout the last remaining fresh water hose in the afternoon.

So, after all my effort today, I still have one more fresh water hose to replace.  As I was working today, I recognized that the other hose (pump inlet hose) was plain black rubber hose near the pump and for about half its length and there was a hose barb-to-hose barb junction under the floor boards connecting the black rubber hose to a section of clear reinforced vinyl hose. I don't know why this was done (I can't blame it on a previous owner since I owned this boat since it was 3 years old!) but it is yet another reason to change it out.

I kept the quarter berth empty of its usual contents, knowing that I will be removing the cushions and underlying platforms again very soon.  The boat is a big mess right now.  (It's time for a nice hot shower.  At 74 years old, I feel like I'm getting too old for this shit!)

After a nice hot shower and a glass of my favorite
wine, Erath-brand Pinot Noir (from Oregon),
I am all good again.  (Well, almost.)

Wednesday, August 4

I was up early and in the car driving to Annapolis to buy more 1/2-inch diameter fresh water hose already at 7:45 AM (Fawcetts opens at 8 AM).  It was a pleasant day with full sunshine and a relatively cool temperature (high 60's to low 70's).  I felt determined to get this fresh water hose replacement job done once and for all, even if some of my other plans suffered.

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When I got to Fawcetts Boat Supplies, one of the sales guys went down to the storeroom to look for the hose I needed.  He concluded that they didn’t have anymore and I’d have to order it but he said West Marine may have it.  I stopped at West Marine and they didn’t’t have a clue what it was I needed and all they had was on the showroom shelf.  So, from there I drove out to CruiseAir-Annapolis because I’ve had some trouble with parameter selection in the program mode of the A/C using the new thermostat.  They gave me a new guide and I immediately recognized the problem—there was a slight change in the instructions that I didn’t know about. (This issue involved the fan operation.  The fan was on continuous mode and I wanted it to cycle with the compressor.)

At this point, I drove across town to Fawcetts to order the additional hose I needed.  A different sales guy helped me this time and he looked it up in their computer before ordering and it showed that they had 93 feet in stock.  He found it in the storeroom and cut the 25 feet I needed and I was on my way back to the island with my 1/2" diameter fresh water hose.

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So, back at the boat, I (again) ripped apart the quarter berth and removed the companionway drawer unit.  I started feeding the new hose from the pump end again--this time I couldn't get the wrong hose since I had already replaced the other one. (Shortly after I started working the A/C unit sucked up another jelly fish and I had to clear the circulating water system.)

I worked hard until about 4 PM when I called it a day.  The hose I removed had two transitions within the 19-foot length--it was essentially a black rubber hose with a clear reinforced vinyl hose on each end which couldn't have been very good for our drinking water.  I had the new (PVC lined reinforced vinyl) hose in place and the fresh water system was working perfectly in the end.  I didn't have all (but most of) the floorboards back in place when I quit for the day.  I still have to trim one of the floor boards with my circular saw before reinstalling it so that it is easier to remove next time around (which I hope is a very long time into the future).  

"Don't forget, you are supposed to feed me!"
(Can't you tell that's what she
was thinking?)

It was 4 PM and I was beat--I AM definitely too old for this shit!

Thursday, August 5

I slept a little late this morning (8 AM) and without the A/C running last night because it was so cool outside (high 60's during the night).  It was sunny and cool (low 70's) from the get go today with an expected afternoon high of only 81 degrees.

I sat outside in the cockpit with Lola for about 45 minutes in the morning—she loves being outside!  I spent the time moving some of my daily tasks around on my iPad and organizing my day.  I needed to drive to our storage unit in Annapolis around mid-day and pick up my belt sander (to use it reduce the width of one of the floorboards).  I decided to go out for lunch while in Annapolis.

After bringing Lola inside, I worked on fastening the 

platform under the quarter berth.  There are 

about a dozen Phillips head screws that 

fasten it to the boat's structure.

Since I had some time before leaving for Annapolis, I tackled the problem we were having with our little 12-volt HELLA-brand fan in the v-berth.  I had thought that it simply burned out and I had ordered a replacement.  I was going to pull the identical HELLA fan from the quarter berth and wire it up in the v-berth as a temporary fix.  

The little HELLA-brand 2-speed fan located
in our v-berth.  (The teak vent on the left
of the image is the A/C's cold air
discharge to the v-berth.)

When I inspected the wiring in the v-berth to find out what type of connectors I needed, I found that both butt connectors were pulled off (each still attached on one end) probably by my friendly feline companion who likes to sleep on my shirts in the same area as the fan wiring.  It proved to be a pretty simple fix.  (Finally, something simple!)

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After driving to Annapolis, I couldn’t find my belt sander in our storage unit despite looking through 3 plastic containers of tools.  So, I went out to lunch at Panera Bread (had a big salad) and drove back to the boat.  When I returned to the boat, I looked for my belt sander again in our dock box to no avail.  Also, it was not in our car’s trunk since we carry so many things back and forth to our storage unit.  (By the way, I found a spare HELLA fan in our storage unit.)

Somewhat discouraged but not outright beaten, I put a line of masking tape on the floor board and sanded away using my orbital sander and a very course sanding disk (on the dock) until I had removed width right to the line of blue masking tape. 

 

Sanding the edge of a floor board to a
blue line of masking tape.

It took much longer than the belt sander would have but, oh well, it got the job done.

Cutting down the width of just one floorboard allowed me to mount the dining table and generally get the boat put back together which was my primary objective for the day.

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Stay tuned for more stationary adventures of an old sailing couple...

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