Ongoing boat repairs

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks doing boat repairs. It seems every time we go to fix one thing we find two more things to do. Kim, the eternal optimist, just shrugs this off as normal life on the boat. I am still amazed by how complicated it can be to get anything done, and how much longer it takes than can be reasonably expected.

For example:

Hot water heater element.: The hot water heater doesn’t work without the engine running, and we were told during our survey it was probably the heating element. The hot water heater is under a bunk near one of the engines. To see the heating element is not humanly possible, for any normal sized human at least. We measured the hot water heater, decided it was probably an Isotherm brand–commonly found at West Marine and other American retailers. Then started looking for the replacement part.  We were having trouble finding it, so finally called Defender (an online website for boat parts) who called the manufacturer and got the part number. We received it in the mail about a week later, only to find out it was the wrong part (and it can’t be returned since it was a special order) Then I started hanging upside down to try and read the front of the hot water heater where the heating element is located.  I couldn’t see a thing so I hung my phone down in the space to take pictures of the front of the hot water heater, but couldn’t get a good view. I realized I needed to be very long and skinny and able to read. Sound like anyone you know? Yep, Ben was sent down to climb in that tiny space and take pictures of the front of the heater and read the brand. Come to find out it was made in Italy. The website is only in Italian. I sent an email to the manufacturer who (in broken English) referred me to an after sales customer service who referred me to an Italian distributor who referred me to an American distributor who said that they don’t sell that part.  Finally I found out the element is made in Italy but then installed on an American brand that has been bought out by another company since then and I was able to get the part shipped from Canada.  It arrived after about a week and now we have hot water!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there was the anchor:

We bought a new anchor from Mantus. We needed a 65 lb so bought an 85 lb just to be safe. It came in a large wooden crate needing to be assembled. I was so proud, I almost assembled the entire thing myself. I had to use a large wrench and thick grease and I felt like a real handy boat mechanic. But then we had to install it. Not so easy, the old roller is almost completely worn through and we need to get a new one, and the anchor is hitting our bowsprit, and the windlass doesn’t have enough power to raise it up and down. You would think that old roller would be easy to find. Nope. In fact I’d give $10 to anyone who can find it for us from any online site. We finally settled on one that is too narrow and has the wrong diameter whole in it. We will drill out the hole to make it larger for it to fit and then use it anyway, that’s on the list for this week. As far as the anchor goes, I’ve found some adhesive backed neoprene to put on the bowsprit, hopefully it will keep it from rubbing.  The windlass is getting a new battery installed this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dinghy:

Our poor dinghy has a leak. We put the kids in it for them to blow it up so we could start looking for the leak. Well, they pumped and pumped and pumped and pumped.  They would beg to get out of the dinghy and Kim and I would encourage them to keep pumping. After all, when it was delivered the delivery captain said it was a slow leak. The kids reapplied sunscreen, and kept pumping. Finally Kim and I realized that it wasn’t working and allowed them to get out. I didn’t think it was possible, but after all their effort the dinghy looked worse.  The dinghy was now almost completely deflated.

We were lamenting over our dinghy problem with other boaters and one of them came over with a dive tank to help pump up our dinghy. He noticed the little valves were not in the attachment area of a pump. The kids exclaimed, “oh that little thing? We weren’t sure what that was for and took it out”. Fortunately they knew where they had put them. Once the valves were in place the dinghy blew up like a charm. There is still a slow leak, we need to add air every few days, but it is much more manageable. After changing the spark plugs and the gas tank the engine starts up so the dinghy is ready to go. Well enough for now. We will need to find and patch the leaks eventually, and the gas can is being held together with zip ties for now. But for us, it is functional.

 

 

And the list goes on and on; three steps forward, two steps back.