I have posted two new entries on my blogger site today and there will probably be a third coming shortly. Also, there are new photos up on Picasa, so take a look.

Comments [0] | | More

Well, I am still in Oeiras as the title may have alluded to. The past few days have seen a relatively large -- as far as importance -- issue with a system on the boat come and go. Our refrigeration pump came to a screeching halt the other day which caused the refrigeration to repeatedly attempt to cycle but then shutdown once the heat built up enough to kick the high-pressure shut-off (thank goodness for that little gem, they've saved both air conditioners and now refrigeration compressors on this boat). Anyway, no problem right? We carry spares for all of that kind of stuff and I pulled out our identical spare pump and prepared for a plug-and-play installation after removing the broken pump. Well, it wasn't as "plug-and-play" as I thought. After switching the pumps out we turned on the refrigeration breaker and it ran for about ten minutes before shutting off with the same problem. It turns out that our brand-new West Marine water pump was defective from the factory! This deduced we headed for a nearby shop where we had seen a variety of marine pumps. The pumps that this shop had were very nice and they were quite proud of their quality as was evidenced in the astronomical retail price of the one that we chose.

New pump in hand we headed for the boat and went through the process of adapting hose sizes and the other necessary installation steps. After firing up the pump and letting it run for almost three hours to catch up with the thawing freezer on board it looked as though the problem was solved. The next time the pump kicked on it started making some odd noises and it sounded as though they were coming from the general area of our freshwater tanks (which our refrigeration system draws from and then recycles back into). I checked the water level in the tank and discovered that one was dry while the other was over-full. It turns out that this new pump was a little too efficient in moving water and that combined with the slow communication between our two water tanks had added up to one tank being drawn completely dry.

Now we have a pieced together pump (the head of one with the motor of the other) made out of the two non-functional West Marine pumps that is serving as the refrigeration water pump. Today we returned the overly-efficient pump and exchanged it for something more in line with the flow requirements of the refrigeration system and our water tanks.

After purchasing the new water-pump it was time to tour Lisbon a bit. I wanted to go check out the Castelo Sao Jorge in the middle of the city but was pretty disappointed when I exited the metro station and realized that I had neglected to switch my camera to the bag that I brought with me when I had shuffled all of the books and junk that are helpful for sight-seeing. Instead of going to the castle I decided to take the famed Tram #28 around Lisbon. This tram is listed as one of the most scenic routes in the city. The route winds through some incredibly narrow streets and works its way through all of the oldest areas of the city, it turned out to be a great way to spend some time.

I forgot to mention the dinner that I got before the tram ride. The metro station nearest the Castelo Sao Jorge is in what could only be referred to as Lison's Chinatown and it seemed like a good idea to search out a Chinese restaurant. As I walked into a restaurant not too far from the station I noticed that I didn't see a menu posted outside nor did I see anything written in English. After sitting down we were informed that the menu was only printed in Chinese characters (this could get interesting). After getting some aid from a frenchwoman, who spoke Portuguese and happened to be sitting at the next table, we managed to order way too much good Chinese food (staying on the safe side of the menu with shrimp dishes, fried rice, and pork dumplings).

Anyway, after the tram ride it was time to search out a cafe that I had read about in one of the guide-books. This particular cafe was a writers' and artists' hangout a few hundred years ago and the inside has been changed very little as far as the basic layout goes. The name of this interesting cafe is "Cafe Fabulas" and it was a great place to get a "Burrito La Bamba" and a cafe. The windows still have ancient-looking bars in them and the interior is layed out between stone archways, a good way to spend a few minutes in the Baixa area of Lisbon.

Since I forgot my camera today there are no new pictures to post but I did post a few from other recent trips the other day on Picasa. More pictures and stories soon...

Comments [0] | | More

...to make a full post on here. But for today this is just another post saying that there is a new post over on my Blogger site. Also, there are pictures uploaded to the Picasa Albums so take a look. I'm heading into Lisbon tomorrow and will hopefully have tons of sight-seeing to report about.

Comments [0] | | More

I finally have a decent internet connection again and have been catching up on posting some blogs that I had written and saved on the computer when I couldn't upload them. There is one on Blogspot now and it will soon be followed by a second. For now I am going to get to work installing our window screens for the pilothouse!

Comments [0] | | More