It doesn't take much of a reason for me to travel to the coast for the weekend. We are planning a week on the water in late May so I wanted to make sure the vessel is as ready as she can be. On the last few trips I have noticed that the engine temperature was lower than it should be. The thermostat is the device that controls engine temperature. Replacing a thermostat could be compared to replacing brakes on an automobile. It wears out, and you replace it. On the surface the task seems fairly simple. The device is located inside a cast metal housing right on the top, front of the engine. Remove two bolts, remove the old thermostat, clean the surfaces, reverse the process and go sailing, right? I like doing as much of the boat maintenance as possible. I have done several jobs that many boat owners would not even consider. Mechanics is not a strong point for me but I figured I could always call a professional if I couldn't handle it.

Friday May 11, 2007
My first mate was participating in an archeological dig in South Carolina. This is something she really enjoys and she has been doing it for seven years. I was on my own for the whole week. I left as for the coast soon as I finished work, and arrived at about 9:30 pm. I was surprised to see how few of our dock mates were present. Mine was the only car in the parking lot. After an hour or so, I noticed headlights and soon saw my friend George walking down the dock. We hadn't seen each other for a really long time. We had a nice chat and made plans to go to breakfast on Saturday morning.

Saturday May 12, 2007
I woke up early and got ready for breakfast. I wanted to get started on my project so I uncovered the engine and broke out the tool bag. That's not all I broke. I started to remove the thermostat housing. Even with a good overnight penetrating oil soaking I managed to break not one but both of the thermostat housing bolts before George came by to go to breakfast.

After breakfast, George had chores to do at his place next-door and I returned to the mess I had made. I did a little prying and a little tapping. Fortunately, the bolts broke in the thermostat housing and there was no damage to the holes they came from. After an hour or so, I still hadn't made any progress and I still hadn't broken anything. Cutting my losses was in order. I called Roger, an excellent mechanic who has helped me out before. He does excellent work and I trust him. I gave him a laundry list of "while you're at it" things to do and he agreed to get started next week.

I did accomplish a few things. I cleaned the engine compartment and bilge, scrubbed the entire cabin sole and fixed the head fixture. I cleaned and polished the steering pedestal and cleaned out the aft cockpit locker and loaded the spare anchor and rode. We always double tie the boat during hurricane season. We have already had an early season tropical storm so I applied the second set of dock lines. George's first mate was absent too, so we drove to Oriental for dinner at the Toucan Grille. It started raining as we drove back I remembered that my forward hatch had been left open. Fortunately the rain was light and my bed didn't get soaked.

Sunday May 13, 2007
It rained off and on all night and it was still raining when I woke up. It stopped long enough for me to pour 10 gallons of fuel in the tank and get my gear from the boat to the car. I took an alternate route home. I traveled to Greenville, NC then west to Raleigh. It may save a little time but at least it's an alternate route and it takes no longer. I got home in time for Judy and I to visit both our Mothers on Mother's day.

This trip will be classified as "It could have gone better", but no real damage was done to the vessel and only a little to the crew's ego.