So, I've never seen one before and my daughter tried to describe him to me using various terms like "he's just simple"...and "he has a cool personality" ...but I wasn't prepared for the dog with no brain.

We live on a boat...and I often think to myself "boy I'll bet that water's cold and wet"...especially when it's cold and wet. (I don't do cold water...some kind of allergy)...anyway...My daughter and family came to visit...which included two of her dogs...greyhounds to be exact....Now to be clear, greyhounds don't do much anyway...I mean they look like they do ...you know...low, sleek, super fast looking even when their standing still...but in reality...they've often been described as 45 lb couch potatoes!...Oh and they're not the brightest candles on the cake either...but...all that aside....evidently one of her dogs failed to pick up on one of the more fundamental clues about the nature of reality. He was on the dock and fell in the water. No biggie...dogs and kids, (and some adults but not me) fall in the water all the time...and sometimes dogs even run and jump into the water...you know...to chase sticks and stuff...well this dog (who, from this time forward shall be labeled..."the dog with no brain")...tried to walk on the water...literally! He was just like...walking down the dock...and didn't get that the dock ended and doink! Not like he didn't see the end of the dock (he's not blind or anything)...evidently he just kept walking and went in...of course being a greyhound (make that read "a bag of bones with skin") he just sunk like a rock...poor thing tried to paddle but when all you have is sticks to stoke with and zero body fat, things weren't looking too good. (My daughter says that although it's true that he has low body fat he does have large padded paws...I'm thinking...she's right...large feet work well for ducks..but ducks weigh like 12 ounces...and have tons of feathers!....he, on the other hand, was a hundred pounds of tangled twigs...and my mental picture of him drowning kind of reminded me of stuff I put in the blender just before it gets sucked under....so anyway he's floundering around...her husband comes running and grabs him and pulls him up on the dock. Me?...I did what I was trained to do...went to the life sling...and started to throw it at him when it dawned on me..."let's see ...here's a dog that doesn't even get water...in a state of panic and I'm expecting him to grab the lifesling and pull himself through, and wait to be hauled in...maybe I should just join the dog." In his defense, he is a greyhound...one of those caged rescue dogs, and my daughter says he had no prior experience with large bodies water...especially flat mirror still water as it was in the harbor....and he probably just thought..."Hey look at that shiny stuff...I wonder if it will hold my weight." Watching the dog later, I came to the conclusion that he didn't think that at all...in fact even when he was drowning I doubt if much was going on in his head...short of "What the %$#@!"
It appears that these dogs need to be taught everything from the git-go...meaning outside of running, and being in a cage, (and maybe eating), they have no survival instincts what-so-ever. She says they have a great personality...and I'm thinking "yeah so does a stick...but even a stick knows enough to stay out of the chipper! Proof came when they got him out and he just stood there. Most dogs shake off and stuff...this one just stood there... dripping. He should have at least been embarrassed or something...nothing...just stood there seemingly unaware that he had a bad experience. No panic, no trauma...just wet.... the only conclusion I could draw was he had no brain what-so-ever...in fact I think it's a miracle that he even remembers to eat or get up after he's been laying down. On the other hand...I thought a fun thing to do with them might be to take them to a place like Pet's Smart and maybe open a couple of cages and turn him loose on a waxed floor...but I'm easily entertained.

Ray out for now...

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Above center is the culprit...no leaking when I took this picture of course!

Well, the verdict is in...the "weeping" itsy-bitsy leak coming out of the throttle positioning pin on the fuel injector pump spells bad news no matter how you look at it. It's not normally a thing DIY'rs mess with.

Our plan to leave here in a couple of days just got pushed back. We either have to send our pump in for repairs/rebuild (I heard estimates between $100 and $700 depending on who you listen to and as long as two weeks time)...or..find a new or re-conditioned pump and exchange for ours (still in the neighborhood of $500-$800). Of course these are the most expensive part of the motor...but fortunately, ours looks relatively easy to remove and replace.

With the exception of groceries, parts, and distance to any main sevices, we're in a pretty good place. While we're here maybe we can take advantage and get some other important stuff done and even attach our monitor windvane...whatever that is.

Further posts as things get updated.

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Well our shake down cruise is finished...now for the repairs and replacements.

All in all, our 2 months out on the water in the Sound, San Juan's and Gulf Islands of Canada went pretty well. We had lots of different weather and seas...from flat calm to 9 foot seas and 65 knott winds!!....lots of different anchorage combinations, and met some wonderful people. For repairs we had to replace the alternator, and just today...the starter...not sure what any of that was about...maybe just boat's getting older. In the process of changing the starter, I noticed an itsy-bitsy fuel leak coming out of injector pump. Not a good thing...looks kind of like a seal where the throttle cable connects....will know more tomorrow.
For anyone interested here is a pretty exhaustive equipment report:

Island Planet Sails - we got a new main while we were out. It was beyond perfection and the performance is out of this world...our plan is to eventually upgrade all of our sails to Island Planet's. The fit is perfect the service is excellent and the quality is far beyond expectations for the money.

Kiss wind generator - We rated this one 5 stars! Ran like a dream...very quiet...not bad considering winds are not a big thing here in the PNW. When the wind did blow...we could run the lights, computers, and refer with just the wind generator wizzing above. Our's is mounted ¾ the way up our mizzen mast...we do get some vibration at night during high winds because the mizzen is over the aft berth....but never enough to keep us awake. It survived 50 knott winds...and anytime we wish we can just flip a switch and it shuts down completely. Winds higher than 50 they recommend you either tie off the blades or remove them. We didn't find it necessary...but maybe we were just lucky.

Kyrocera solar panels - absolutely the best!...even in moderate sunshine. I've mounted ours on the port and starboard stern rails and they can be tilted 90 degrees up or down. These are the 135 watt models I got from a Northern Arizona company...figured out the mountings myself.
The panels are just awesome...quiet, efficient, and above all ..they really work!...their power output really surprised me. Even on a semi-sunny day we got full battery charge...enough to run the refer, electronics in the cockpit, and the computers below.

WE run Navionics charts through a Lowrance combination depthfinder, radar, and chartplotter. All excellent and worked flawlessly. There was a pretty steep learning curve with the plotter...the radar I'm still learning new stuff, and Lowrance is famous for their depthfinders and fishfinders. NMEA 2000 hooks everything together. Navionics charts??? For $199 to cover all of the West coast including Puget Sound, Washington, Oregon, California, Mexico, the Baha, and Hawaii...in details I'll never use! What can I say? I think they have the best bang for the buck.

Radio's: ICOM IXM-34 submersible handheld portable, a Standard Horizon's digital base radio...and a two addition older model Standard Horizon's plus a Kenwood TS440 Ham/SSB transceiver...everything worked excellently except problems with antenna's. This is one of our major issues during our repair/replacement time. We also have a Miltech AIS...that...after I figured out how to hook it up is one of our most valuable devices aboard.

Village Marine watermaker...beyond awesome...30 gal per hour off the generator! This is the "no frills" model...meaning it's scattered throughout the boat and you'd never know it was here. Wife loves the water it makes...we use a MOEN final filtering system that helps guarantee every drop is flawless.

Kobata Apollo 4KW genset. This came with the boat...I replace a valve in it when I first got it, then had to replace the raw water pump...from then on it's ran flawlessly...sometimes hour after hour here in the northwest with no sun or wind for days. It's amazingly quiet and runs on pints per hour!

Manson Supreme - We got a new 60# Manson Supreme anchor before we left, and up graded our chain from 5/16 to 3/8 HT. We sleep well at night...but a caution to any who might be reading...do not add a swivel to the chain set up...it gave our Manson fits...other than that...when the Manson goes down it stays down...and the boat stays put!

Dell computers - two brand new laptops before we left...no regrets so far they have run perfectly. Navionics allows us to run our charts on the computers at the same time as the chartplotter at the helm...so we have triple reduncency at an affordable price. We do have paper charts...but mostly only those areas we feel are most important.

Aqua Pro Inflatable and 2 - Tohatsu outboards (one 5 hp and one 9.9 hp). Actually the outboards ran great...most of the problems we've had (and we've had our share) are operator errors...and bad repairs (like leaving the main carb gasket off...duh! ) other than that, they are all pretty good pieces of equipment. The Aqua Pro will probable only last a season in Mexico because of it's age already...and they outboards?...they just keep on running...and running...and running.

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