Ding Dong...

So, I should have been connecting the fuel gauge... but, I got "distracted" doing other things...
Like installing a new bell :)
And, the rest of the day was spent drilling new holes in the boat... Actually, I was drilling very near the boat hull and the day was very stressful because of such. I was working in tight places and sometimes the drill would just catch and run away from me, with my heart clenching as I prayed the drill would not accidentally drill through the boat hull... I drilled three new holes to run a new cable from the VHF unit to a remote mic. This took much reworking as the winding this way and that from VHF unit, through four different storage chambers, the bilge, the engine room, and finally the aft storage, quickly used up the available length of cable. The first trial run, was not the last... This project is not yet complete, but almost!
The boat quickly became a disaster area as lots of "stuff" was removed from the various storage areas to do the drilling and run the new cable. I almost wanted to run from the boat to escape, but, I stuck to it and cleaned her back up again. then Patty and I relaxed and watched Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End.
Life is starting to get a little more difficult in the marina. heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and no-see-ums are abounding. It was 80 degrees F in the boat when I awoke this morning. Trying hard not to put the A/C in just yet, but the fan at night is not quite keeping the bugs away from feasting... particularly since I haven't yet made screens for the boat...

New Waterlock Arrived & Installed

It's here! It's here! & now, it's installed!
Finally, after much trial, I am the proud new owner of a fiberglass waterlock.
Pic on the left is the waterlock installed without hoses; doesn't look like much does it... Pic on the right is with cooling water hoses installed and shows the location tucked in between the stairs (one showing) and the engine.
I have to laugh at how long it took to get from realization of pinhole leaks to installation of new waterlock. Yes, it seemed the universe was doing everything in its power to break me, but, it did not. It was a great practice of patience. I mean, what else could I do? There wasn't much I could do to change the circumstances. The only thing I can really change is the way my mind perceives the circumstances.
It's funny, at times I actually found myself pretending that I couldn't handle things, creating drama. Humans just "love" drama don't they... But really, deep down, I was just like, whatever, whatever will be will be. It was interesting to watch myself behave in a way I didn't truly feel. very interesting. I watched myself do this. My mind, perhaps the mind located within my central channel within the indestructible drop near my heart, was watching the mind of my brain... How else can one explain when one is seemingly watching one's self, watching the thought process. It seems something is inside our selves that knows beyond our brain's ability to think...
anyways, I digress. I am grateful the universe has such faith that I can handle such things...
and that life continues to give me opportunities for working to maintain a happy mind whether going through the trials of getting an engine part or having everything run smooth without a hitch; thus teaching me how to be happy whether sitting penniless on a park bench or sitting on a yacht with material wealth to the hilt.
This moment that moment, will never return again. Each step down the dock that I have to take to get to Athena, is a step in a moment of my life. I have to take it, I might as well have a happy mind and enjoy each and every moment, no-see-um eaten or not ;)
The moments do not stop going or coming. there's no stopping them, whether I'm sitting writing this blog or working on the sailboat. just have to smile and take it all in.
Now, back to business!
The day I installed the new waterlock, I also installed a new temperature sensor. I have a feeling the temp sensor was part of the overall problem with the engine, if not thE problem...
Actually, I think it was a combination of things.
Pic in the middle left is the old temp sensor (lft) and new sensor (rt). Pic on the bottom right is the new temp sensor installed.
With waterlock installed and new temp sensor in place, I started Athena's engine. She started right up. I ran her in place at the dock, including some in-gear running at near-peak throttle. I brought the engine up to temperature for sure; using the handy dandy heat sensing tool that Russell let me borrow I was able to watch parts of the engine heat up. The area of the two injectors seemed to get the hottest, which makes sense, being near the combustion chambers. That area heated up to 70 degrees Celsius. I shut the engine down for a short bit. Then started her up again, to simulate to some extent the occurrence of the overheating situation a little less than two weeks previous. Upon second restart, third restart, fourth restart, the temp sensor warning light never came on.
During this engine trial, I took another look at the engine manual. I reread the paragraph on the temp sensor (pic on bottom left) and noted the words "when the cooling water temperature reaches a specified high temperature" the alarm lamp is activated. Ah Ha! So, the engine itself can get up to a higher temp than 60 degrees Celsius, however the cooling water temp cannot. hmmm...
During my engine trials I checked the temp of those parts of the engine I thought might better be reflecting the temp of the cooling water. Those parts remained below 60 degrees C. So, I wonder if there wasn't something funny going on with the temp sensor, which only cost me $30 to replace. I think though, that the cleaning of the engine and impeller chamber and replacing zincs and waterlock was also a good idea. A lot of crud was cleaned out and it could be my imagination... but, I think more cooling water is now flowing...

Universe is trying to break me?

I think the universe is trying to break me.
It's been over a month since I discovered the pinhole leaks in Athena's engine's waterlock.
Before leaving for travel for a couple weeks, I attempted to order a new waterlock. I went to West Marine. They were going to have to special order it, so they suggested I try another place, Marine Trading Post. So, I ordered the part through Marine Trading Post, since they didn't have in stock either. I requested they order the part so I would have it the day I returned from travel....
Upon return from travel, I called Marine Trading Post to check on the part... that, they never ordered! they suggested that "we agreed" to my calling them when I returned from vacation to order the part. ya? whatever! they tried to order the part, but now it was not in stock and would take 4+ days to get in. I told them not to order it. I had asked them to order it before I traveled for this very reason. I went back to West Marine and ordered the part through them.
Four-ish days later the part has arrived. I go and pick it up. Unfortunately, I've order the part through a not so convenient West Marine location and fuel costs are a pretty penny now-a-days.
The next day, the old part now disassembled, I open the box to the new part and discover that what I ordered and paid for, was NOT in the box!!! Instead I found two four-inch diameter fiberglass elbows and exhaust thru-hull (see pic on right).
I try to do the return through the closer West Marine store, but they tell me I can't. So, back up to the inconvenient West Marine. They call the vendor and the vendor agrees to send the correct part overnight. This is a Wednesday.
The next day, no call from West Marine. The next day, still no call. Still no call the day after that. I go into West Marine the following day. They have not received the part and it's Sunday, so they don't offer to do much.
I go in the following morning, now Monday. They call the vendor and UPS and finally track down the box at a further away West Marine. I offer to go get the part. I go, open the box, and, it's not the right waterlock/muffler :(
I drive home defeated. This amongst my car being towed to the shop the day previous and finding out this day that the repair is going to cost me $500. This also being the 5th time I've taken the car into the shop in as many months.
I drive home feeling defeated, like the universe is really trying it's best to break me.
Upon arriving back home, West Marine calls me to tell me they've located my part. urgh.
Now awaiting for my car repair to be finished to pick up the car and boat engine part, I find out I'm going to be charged $185 for the rental car damage that occurred when my rental car was broken into during the travel mentioned previously.
I reflect on the fact that my astrological reading indicated next calendar year will be even tougher than this calendar year. Again, I'm exhausted with feeling like I can't do it and remain strong and positive. How am I going to make it through next year.
Why is the universe trying to break me?

Casey Key Beach

The Casey Key Beach is right across the street from the boat slips.
A nice private entrance to blue waters...
Unfortunately, for the Nokomis trip, my camera lens is less than clean, so ignore the smudges in the sky...

And, not too far down the street is a public parking beach access (bottom pic on left), that I haven't seen hide nor hair of evidence of a charge for. There are free access points left and right. So different than Marco for sure.

We also went down to the south tip of the island to check out the infamous "North Jetty Park," where all the surfers go...
Not really much of a surfer day, although there were some rollers coming in through the Venice Inlet... (bottom pic on right). The sailboats that we watched come through were tossed around like lettuce until they reach the calm inner waters...

Pop's

Further exploration in Nokomis led us to Pop's Restaurant, right on the ICW. A hop skip and a dinghy jump or kayak paddle.
In the pic on the left is the ICW looking south from the bridge over the ICW. In the pic on the left side down a little past the big dry boat storage building is Pop's, right on the water. Might need to click to enlarge the pic to maybe see the restaurant.

Pic on right is sign as we were walking over to Pop's. & truthfully, driving out to Casey Key, even though not that far from the highway, feels 1,000,000 miles away. So quiet, so relaxed.
Food and drinks at Pop's were good and looked like a fun place to hang out :)

Checking out Nokomis...

So, my friend Vicki and I spent a day in Nokomis checking it out. The pic on top left is looking down Casey Key Drive to the north. Really busy there as you can see ;)
Just down the street is a place with a potential boat slip.
Never very much depth around the west coast of Florida, so we fashioned a fishing rod to go fishing for depth. From nut weights to bobber was about 6.5 feet (see pic on top right), since it was a 2 foot high tide at the time we "fished" and Athena has 4.5 of draft. In middle pic on right, Vicki is testing the water depth in one of the available slips. Based on the bobber being in general about 6 inches out of the water, looks like Athena will be in the mud at zero tide, and definitely sitting up on it at extreme low tides...
Not the perfect situation, but Nokomis is such a nice relaxed area and the people at the docks seem very nice. And, Athena has a flat bottomed keel of about 4 inches wide to help ride out through shallow times.
Bottom pic on left is from a bridge going over to the boat ramp park that is hidden behind the mangroves on the right and looking down the canal north towards the boat slips.

The inter-coastal waterway (ICW) is on the east side of the boat ramp park. Turning around and looking south, one would see the bridge over the ICW to Casey Key (bottom pic on right). This bridge opens up when tall boats need to get through.

Autohelm working...

Well, while still waiting for engine parts... I dug through the mess of a nav station (top left pic) where I currently "hide" all the owner's manuals to all that be on the boat. Reorganizing the nav station is going to need to be added to the todo list.
Locating the old Autohelm manual, I was able to trace all the lines and confirm to where they were going/coming. I have no idea how old the Autohelm is or when it was installed. It looked liked the Autohelm was powered directly to the engine without a fuse in between... I was afraid perhaps the Autohelm might have been blown if it saw a power surge... I disconnected the wire to the engine and connected the Autohelm power line to one of the fuses shown in the mess of wiring in the pic on the left (been working for two years trying to clean this mess up, doesn't look like I've done much). With limited fuses (better get to the hardware store), I had to steal from Peter to pay Paul. Then I hit the newly connected fuse switch and wa-la! power to the Autohelm!!!! pic on right. I performed the in-place calibration for features that could be set at the dock.
Next, need to go out and see how she works!!!!
Without doubling up, I've now used up every spot of the 10 fuses available on the existing old fuse panel; and, I haven't hooked up the fuel gauge yet! I think I'm going to double up the fuel gauge with the GPS/Chartplotter fuse... for now.
The pic bottom right shows my "labeling system" for all the new stuff put on the panel in the past couple of years... Bilge pump was also rewired to the existing spot.
Next stop, West Marine for new circuit breaker panels with more spots!
Have I mentioned? I'm exhausted. and, I don't think I can exert any more muscle power out of my arms.

Securing the Propane Line

This morning's project (while awaiting one more engine part...) has been securing and protecting of the propane line.
This involves squeezing into tight spaces... tight hot spaces. Speaking of which, have I mentioned that the outside temperature is climbing into the mid to high 80s during the day this week while I've been working on all these recent projects...
Compared to being squished into the locker, it feels so much better to be top deck even in the 80+ degree heat!
Pic on top left is me partway into the aft storage locker. The propane is running through the part of the locker that is beneath my right elbow. Oh, and I'm not standing either, I'm sitting on my feet on top of the box protecting the rudder gear.
Top right pic is part of the propane hose coming through the aft locker now secured and protected with clear vinyl tubing.
Bottom pics from left to right are the propane line secured and protected through the starboard storage locker, some of the items stored in their in evidence in the pics (sailing dinghy dagger board and kayak paddle, not to mention the batteries). This locker is also the entrance to the engine room.

New water line

Replaced new water intake line from intake thru-hull to water pump. The old one wasn't too corroded, but decided to replace anyways. It took over an hour and a half to get the water pipe on the thru-hull fittings... Left to right pic shows the half-inch difficult section of pipe fitting...
In between efforts to get the pipe further up on the fitting, I reinstalled the water pump and closed up the aft and forward cooling water chambers... Had to take a break in between brute force and ignorance attempts at that darn fitting. much swearing like a sailor could be heard if one was standing just outside my boat on the dock... who needs a gym.
There is a little more space on the fitting I'd like to get the hose onto, but I gave up and put the two hose clamps on. This may be removed again soon anyways when I look into adding a water intake strainer.

Reassemble continued...

With all new gaskets and zincs, the forward and aft cooling chambers were put back together. Top left and right pics are of aft chamber. Left pic shows the temp sensor in place, which I'm thinking of replacing as well. Now waiting for that part to come in. Right pic shows very tip of new exhaust hose section replaced from the metal exhaust elbow to the soon to come new waterlock/muffler. This section was beginning to deteriorate.
Bottom left picture shows forward cooling water chamber back together, as well as water pump in bottom left of the pic; alternator is on the right, and hopefully still in place since taking apart the forward cooling chamber involved removing a piece attached to the alternator, which Russell and I have spent much time trying to secure in place with proper drive band tension!
Bottom right pic are the two new zincs, and evidence of securing the new and backup parts. I'm always amazed at how much the gaskets (seemingly little pieces of paper) cost.

Disassemble - Reassemble

With almost all the parts in, time to reassemble the engine...
A new impeller was put into the water pump with a brand new gasket (top left pic) and brand new bolts (right pic). The new bolts are different from the previously used easily stripped and broken bolts (holding one of the old ones in my hand in the pic for comparison). Then, reattaching the water pump such that the drive band is appropriately tight (no easy task with only two hands...).

A day with Russell

A day with rad Russell and a new hole was drilled for installing the fuel gauge (see top right of top left pic). Used one of the many existing empty holes in this area to try and clean Athena up a little. Fuel gauge reading less than zero because it still needs to be wired up!
Need to wire this up now that I've also changed out my cheater clear vent hose from the fuel tank to a black "premium" fire retardant marine fuel hose.
Plans in the near future for changing out that old fuse panel in the bottom of that pic on the left...
Pieces parts of the propane line were also connected and soapy solution pressure tested. We're cooking with gas now inside (2 burner stove) and outside (grill). Yae :)
Couple more steps to finish the project; 1) finish securing the propane hose in the storage lockers to prevent chafing of the hose; and, 2) sealing the new through-deck opening (bottom of pic on right).
Thank you, Thank you, Russell !!!!

Wildlife Viewings

Also been seeing lots of wildlife up and down the docks.
Manatees almost every day this week. A different kind of duck. I think the duck is a red-breasted merganser. They winter or migrate through SWFL.
And, a goliath grouper (about 3 feet long) that looks like it's not doing too well :(
I think it was probably caught at depth, and like can happen to an uncareful scuba diver, the air bladder exploded into the body chamber making it impossible for this poor fish to dive back down to depth. If you're an angler, and you must do catch and release with goliath grouper at this time since any kind of harvest is currently illegal, it's important to know how to use a fish venting tool.

Awaiting Parts...

While awaiting parts, I try to work on other small projects (like installing the second fire extinguisher in the galley beneath the sink). It's funny, I have a really difficult time moving on to another project while the engine is torn apart, even when I'm at a point I can't really go further. It's all I can do to get my mind to focus on something other than the disaster at hand. But, move on to other things we must. Can't waste time sitting around...
However, must leave some time for relaxing! spending evenings with Peppermint Patty.
Too tired and sore to do anything else but enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
It's a good reminder to me to stop and take moments.
Sometimes I rush around too much, going here, going there, out out and about. I suppose often times trying to fight that feeling of loneliness I get being at the marina, which is so wonderfully remote, but also, remote.
Not that I'm not watched over every day by my neighbors that call me sunshine, captain, or sweetie ;)
We may not all hang out together all the time, but we have lots of in-passing dock, parking lot, or laundry room conversations :)
Once settled into the groove of whittling away at boat projects, it's easier for me to deal with being alone so much of the time, course I've been spending a good part of it at the West Marine, hardware, and engine parts stores that all know me by first name... scary!

Working & Living

It's tough to work and live in such a small space that easily becomes a disaster when the engine is all apart... As I write this the boat is much more of a disaster than the pic on the left, but I'm too embarrassed to show! The mess shown had been relatively picked up each night before bed... now the disaster just sits... We're just awaiting parts.
A great thing to do is to keep receipts for recalling part numbers, especially for old engines... I've tried to start a running list of part numbers and associated part names in the old engine manual (orange pages). I don't even want to think about how much money is represented by the receipts in the pic...
worth every penny though. this has been the greatest adventure and learning experience.

You can bet...

You can bet my waitressing career would be stunted by my dirty fingernails from slaving away cleaning the engine...
I am sure sore after climbing in and out and reaching in and out of all the tight spaces around Athena's engine. The pic is of me tucked in the engine room... Racor filter attached to wall at my left, black fuel tank behind me, engine in front (holding the camera), and access through starboard aft storage locker (that has removable wood wall between storage and engine room) to my right where sun is coming in. Climbing around and "swinging" down into the saloon area of the boat (because the stairs are removed to access the forward side of the engine) sure is a workout! and, you can also bet I've hit my head a couple times... ouch, it hurts today.

Other cooling water chambers

Next I opened up a cooling water chamber I hadn't opened up during previous engine cleaning (July 2006). This one is difficult to access (typical). But, it had signs of saltwater corrosion (see pic on left salt crystals forming around edges. Middle pic shows partial removal, the three metal tubes/lines in front are fuel lines... which I've been told are not possible to purchase anymore so I certainly don't want to be breaking those in the process! Pic on right shows this cooling water chamber opened up and some corrosion...

Temp sensor chamber

The aft zinc chamber is also the temperature sensor chamber...
The temp sensor can be seen sticking out of the port side (which also happens to be left side of the picture) of the aft zinc camber in the blog entry below.
The pic of this entry shows the temp sensor chamber opened up with the temp sensor probe.
There's some corrosion and some flaking from zinc and other salt corrosion.
but, enough to be the smoking gun....?

Next stop, zincs.

Replaced almost 2 years ago (July 2006), I thought perhaps the zincs were degrading and causing clogging in the cooling water system... They should probably be checked/replaced once a year anyways...
The top pic on the left is the aft zinc and the pic on the right is the forward (for) zinc. The for zinc took quite the force to break free with the added difficulty of another part tough to access.
Pic on bottom left shows the two zincs side by side. New ones have arrived for replacement :)
The for zinc chamber didn't look too shabby. The aft one...
but, enough to be the smoking gun...???