You Win Some, You Lose Some

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Ah, young love. That special time in a relationship when anything and everything seems possible. Pull the old transmission from your engine room? No problem! Repair your propane system? How hard can it be? Open a seacock? Don’t mind if I do!

Down there is a shaft coupling that will not bend to my will.

Most of my weekend was spent staring at the ass end of a Hurth 360 transmission wondering how four simple bolts could cause such woe. So far I have used PB Blaster, Transmission fluid and acetone and every socket and wrench combination in my arsenal to no avail.  Even with chemical help, I can’t seem to muster enough mechanical advantage in the small area available to break these bolts free. I even started, and then aborted an attempt to cut the shaft just forward of the PSS Shaft seal. So, with tail firmly tucked between my legs, I turned to removing much of the old wiring and some of the old plumbing in the engine room. This gave me some sense of accomplishment and a feeling of mastery over some small part of our very long project list.

Trust me. This is progress

Meanwhile, Melissa was going mano-a-mano with the propane system. The regulators and fittings were pretty grungy looking and didn’t inspire great confidence that we would not blow ourselves up. She disassembled all of the fittings, cleaned them up and reassembled with new Teflon tape. Unfortunately, a leak test revealed a failed swaged hose fitting but that is an easy fix. We also need to place a drain at the bottom of the locker and make some other modifications to bring the system up to standards.

The propane system before Melissa’s rehabilitation

And after.

Finally, we have a seacock issue that we are unsure of. I turned the discharge seacock to the forward head so that we could test the toilet there. That toilet pumps directly overboard so we can’t use it until we are offshore but I still want to check things out. When I turned the valve, a dribble of water came from the valve flange. I have deduced that these are Blakes Seacocks and are very well made and easily serviceable. Two bolts are used to tighten the flange down on top of the valve cone and provide a seal but I haven’t quite gotten it to stop the leak. The newer Blake seacocks have a grease nipple but these do not and so I am unsure of whether I need to wait to haul out before I start working on this or if I can somehow attempt to grease and seal these up while still in the water.

Have you seen this seacock?

 

One small victory was in reclaiming the workbench. Andromeda has a proper little shop just off from the entrance to the engine room. Like all proper little shops, it becomes a bit of a dumping ground for the various boat bits that don’t have a home or we are too lazy to put away. With so many wires, hoses and engine parts flying off the boat, the work bench was really filling up. But a few hours each day gained more and more usable space and allowed me to de-clutter and organize the shop. The previous owners left plenty of tools and parts which are quite welcome. Of course, I bring many more tools onto the boat and it is easy to fill every empty space with more stuff than we actually need. We are really going to enjoy having a proper work space for all of the projects.

Happiness is a clean workbench 

Lest you think all we do is work, on Sunday morning Melissa and I found just about the the greatest coffee house ever at the Three Cups Cafe. Maybe we just needed time to lick our wounds, but both of us fell into a plush couch and felt the stress melt away with some of the best coffee we have ever tasted. We are still talking about their Thundermuck coffee two days after our first visit and the only thing we are confused about is why we didn’t buy a few pounds for the house. The Columbia River Coffee Roaster is in the same building so the whole joint smells like some kind of awesome. Andromeda’s former owner was a regular here as well and now we know why.

Man that is good coffee!

Three Cups Cafe. Melissa and I are still talking about the greatness of their coffee.

Likewise we always need dinner, since the propane system is not up and running, nor do we have a refrigeration system yet. Our forays into the wilds of Astoria have turned up gem after gem in terms of eateries. This time we went the way of our friend Steve Yoder who always seems to find the perfect small cafe down in Mexico. We stopped in at Blue Ocean, a small and discreet Thai restaurant off the main drag. What a gem! Tall ceilings, quiet atmosphere, service with a smile, moderate prices, and the best Thai food we’ve had since Silk Thai in Tacoma.  It’s going on our list of regular haunts.

While we would both love to claim unconditional victory over every project we tackle on Andromeda, we know that just isn’t going to happen. So, we re-calibrate our expectations, enjoy our small wins and keep working towards the day when we slip her from the dock and onto the sea. And we drown our sorrows in excellent Thai food and coffee.

Boat Work in Exotic Locations

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They say that the cruising lifestyle is really just learning to do boat work in exotic locations. If this is, in fact, true, then we are well ahead of the curve. We aren’t even out cruising yet and already we are learning to modify our expectations of getting things done, especially when it comes to finding services.  How’s that? Well, we’re moored in Astoria, exotic land of the self-sufficient fisher-people. And this effects us how? Apparently they never need help, unless it’s from the Coast Guard.

The Coasties like to use photos like this to represent the Columbia River bar. This photo for dramatic representation only. Do not try this at home. Or with our boat, thanks.

The issue is this: we need to be towed to the Port of Astoria boatyard. Our boat has no engine, so we can’t get there under our own power. So naturally, being naive and trusting, I called the Port of Astoria to find out about who does these things. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi there! We need to have our sailboat towed to your facility so we can put in a new engine. Who do you know that does that kind of thing?

POA: Well, um, I don’t know. There isn’t anyone around here. I mean there’s really not anyone in Astoria who does towing . Also our travel lift is broken and we don’t know how long it will take to get fixed. Maybe about 3 weeks. We’re having trouble finding parts.

Me (Incredulous): It’s broken? Well, good thing we don’t need it just now. Hopefully it will be fixed in three weeks. The engine is ordered but it will take awhile to get here. Why is it that there are no towing services around? I’m just curious.  I mean, there are all kinds of boats around here all the time! Don’t they ever need assistance?

POA: Well, you know, they are fishermen. They pretty much take care of themselves and if they really have an emergency they call the Coast Guard. I think there’s a guy over in Ilwaco who has a service. I think his name is Capt. Bill. You could call him and find out but I don’t have his contact information on me just now.

Me: Okay, well thanks, I’ll call Port of Ilwaco and see if I an find this Captain Bill. So you think maybe that travel lift will get fixed soon?

POA: We sure hope so, but I don’t know.

Wow. Okay, time to regroup and think about what would happen if we were in Mexico, or maybe the South Pacific and needed to have our boat towed. I mean, we have some experience pushing Moonrise with our dinghy, but I don’t really want to start doing that with a boat I don’t know yet. Plus, I’m pretty sure our little Honda two stroke isn’t going to take this boat anywhere. Not only do we have no engine, we have no steering because that was removed to get the engine out. (Wait, we DO have the emergency tiller, so there is that…) So I called Boat US, our insurance and towing service company. Their website makes it sound like they can assist you just about anywhere!

Except in Astoria. There is no one in Astoria. But they do have Coastal Towing in Ilwaco on their list. Ilwaco, for people who are not from this area, is across the river on the Washington side. Turns out Coastal Towing is run by the same Captain Bill that the Port of Astoria knew about. So I emailed him to get a bid. Seems crazy to get someone from all the way over in Ilwaco to come across to tow us literally about 1/2 mile. But whatever… we have to start somewhere. If Captain Bill comes in at hundreds of dollars, that dingy tow will start to look better and better. Hey, at least we have time on our side! And by the way, the mechanic didn’t know anyone either. He referred us to the port office and to a ‘shack’ down by the boat yard where there is a bulletin board. river chart

Here’s a link to the Google Earth image of this area. See the letter A? Our boat is just to the right of that, third boat down, next to an empty slip. We need to tow it to Pier 3. We’re on Pier 1. So close and yet so far away. Perhaps we could harness some friendly sea lions? They are huge down here.

I guess the good news is that if the travel lift is broken for awhile, that gives us more time to work on the engine room. The engine will be delivered to the Port of Astoria, and we can’t leave it there, but we can have it loaded onto our little truck and bring it home if we have to. See? We’re learning to be flexible already! Your suggestions are welcome.

Making Friends

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I have a feeling there will be a lot of blogging as we begin working S/V Andromeda into our lives. There is so much to do, and we are excited to get some things accomplished. But the only project that is creating a sense of time pressure is the big one: the engine. The new baby Beta Marine 60 HP is already ordered and will be delivered to the Port of Astoria in about three weeks. So that means Mike needs to have that engine room ready to receive the engine by then. It also means we have to find a way to get the boat towed over to the boatyard and hauled out. That’s the only piece we have to pay someone else to do that hasn’t yet been contracted.

We told Shawn about the blog, hoping he’d be glad of the publicity, but I think he already has enough business to suit him.

This weekend we had only one day free to go to Astoria to meet with our new best friend in the world, Shawn The Diesel Mechanic. He wanted to lay eyes on the engine room and take some measurements and Mike wanted his advice about how to get things prepared. We are satisfied that Shawn has years of experience and that he will do the professional ‘hand holding’ Mike wants in terms of being our main support for this project. He comes well recommended and it will be worth it to have someone looking over Mike’s shoulder. He has already recommended that we go ahead and replace the shaft now rather than wait until later. Okay. We can do that.

In the engine room, Mike has his learning hat on. Oh Shawn, we’re not worthy! Note the bell housing for the transmission between Mike and Shawn; the scene of a later crime.

So Mike was stoked to start pulling the transmission out so we could commence with the cleaning. And now this is where the true ‘boat work’ begins, folks. Because you know very well that boat work is never, ever straight forward work.  Those bolts on the shaft coupling would not come off. No movement. I heard groaning, cursing, and the clank of a wrench at the bottom of the bilge. There was a trip to Home Depot for something stronger. But still, no movement of the offending nuts.

Four little brown, rusty nuts. So stubborn.

Helpless, as usual when faced with a man working in an engine room, I cleaned cabinets that were, frankly, already clean. I threw out things we had no use for. I offered to start on the work bench since there is a ton of stuff there that needs sorting, but Mike gave me a stern warning about that one. “Mine!” he said, a glint of steel in his eye. I sighed and handed him a wrench, distracting him with a recommendation that he remove the bell housing for the transmission so that he would have more room to access the recalcitrant nuts on that coupling.

Mike thought that might work and those bolts did come off easier. But as he pulled the housing toward him, water began to pour in around the shaft. Pulling the housing forward moved the seal out of place. Nope. We are not even going there with a boat that has been ours for only about 24 hours. So he pushed that back in place, stopped the gushing of water into the bilge,  and went for one more go at the shaft coupling. Meanwhile I made my fourth trip to the dumpster with an armload of very old and worn out life vests.  We had to leave with those bolts still on, winning the day against Mike’s attempts to budge them. But we’ll be back and Mike doesn’t give up that easy.

So I’d like to pause here and give a little product endorsement for something called Zout, which is a stain remover/enzyme presoak/miracle worker product. Had I been thinking, I would have photographed Mike’s clothing as he climbed out of the engine room. Grease stains everywhere, rust stains everywhere. He was one filthy human.  Yuck. I had to drive home with that man. I told him to simply hand me his clothing when we got home and I would handle things from there. Zout is, in a word, amazing. I sprayed the heck out of his clothes, really soaked them with the stuff,  let them sit in the washer for 15 minutes, then washed them on hot. They are like new! No kidding.

Next weekend we plan to go down on Friday night so we will have all day Saturday and Sunday to get stuff done. We had a trip to Home Depot and to Harbor Freight today to get blades for tools and hand cleaner, and various other small things for that engine room. Like a steam punk squirrel, Mike is gathering his arsenal of tools to wield against the stubborn nuts. They WILL come off. And I will find a project to keep me busy and will generally stay out of the engine room area of the boat.

Mike, loving on Moonrise.

Today we had an afternoon at the marina in Tacoma so Mike could climb Moonrise’s mast. Why would he do such a thing? Well, blog readers, get this: On the day we signed paperwork for Andromeda, the very day she legally became our boat, things starting picking up in terms of interest for Moonrise. There is a nice couple who is very interested in her, and another person waiting next in line should that sale not work out. Someone who looked at her while she was listed at the broker in Olympia called to see if she was still listed and was given our contact information. I tell you, it was positively uncanny.

So Mike wanted to climb the mast to check the spreaders since he hasn’t been up there in awhile and you know how he loves to wear that climbing harness.  The spreaders actually looked great and climbing the mast gave him an opportunity to clean them off. What we thought looked like a need for a paint job turned out to just be algae that came off with a quick wipe of a cloth. They look really good now and he’s satisfied that they pass muster.

So Moonrise is totally ready for new owners, and we’re totally ready to get back down to Astoria and address that engine room! Bring it on!