It's now Sunday evening and the work and some play continues. As you read earlier about the repairs to the black water tank and the fact that we still had "stuff" inside the tank, it now became a priority to get what was left out any way we could. Thursday was going to be a busy day.
We tried rotating the tank, over and over. We shook the tank. We did sudden turns from one side the the other, each time hearing "stuff" inside shift. Then came the water. We poured bucket after bucket into the end of the tank and then stood the tank up on end and splashed the water inside, back and forth. Lots more "stuff" came out but there was one piece that made a very audible "clunk" and the tank was shifted. We hoped that shaking the tank just might break it up but each time we tried, it seemed that what it was doing was just knocking other pieces of sediment off the inside. Over and over we did this, standing by the lifelines until a big piece finally made it's way out. It was curved like it had been attached to the interior tube that's used for pumping out. The next time we rotated the tank, there was no more "clunk" inside. We'd finally gotten it out!!! It felt good getting it out as we knew there was always the chance it might shift later and block the pipe on the bottom that the "stuff" comes out of.
We inspected the outside of the tank looking for holes as we wanted to make sure there were no leaks. We found sections that didn't have holes in them that now did. The heat of the welding had misshapen the steel enough that seams had split. We pulled out our tubes of J B Weld, and mixed up numerous batches as we worked our way around the tank. In the end, I'd guess a good 30 hole, some as small as the head of a pin to those much bigger got patched. It then has to dry for 24 hours so we didn't start in on the tank again till Friday morning when we started putting it back inside the space it fits in inside.
To do the fitting, we lowered the tank inside the stern stateroom and slowly wrestled it into the head above the commode making different connections along the way. The air vent needed attaching as did the tube for the deck pump out all those being on the top. Then we had to lift the tank(not losing the connections we'd made) and get it inside it's cavity and up high enough that we could screw it in. We used books and a platform and longer pieces of wood for a fulcrum to lift the tank. Then big screw drivers to more it from side to side till we could at least get one of two screws in. WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS!!! To say we were sweating was an understatement!!! By the time we finally got it in, we were a MESS! Our clothes were soaked. You could wring sweat out of the head band and neck bands I wear. GROSS! Once we had ten screws in, it was lunch time(started work at 0730) and we had social engagements set up for the rest of the day. Getting together with friends is an important part of the cruising lifestyle.
Friday, I had to go to town to get Digicel to put about 9 gigs of data availability back on our account. They routinely snatch chunks of data from our plan with no one being able to give us a good explanation. Once I got to town, I found that the normal store I go to for service was now closed as it was being remodeled. I had to go to a new store they had taken over till the remodel was done. Once I was finished there, I hiked out to the "Anchor Permit" office to renew our anchor permit for staying here in Spanish Waters. Ended up finding I was one form short of what I needed(Immigration form)but with their office right below where I was, the wonderful folks understood my problem and made copies for me so I could get the permit reissued. Strangely, they charge $10US for the permit even though the normal currency here is the Dutch Guilder.
I was on my way back on the 1100 bus having gone to town on the 0800 bus.
Once back on Zephyr, we had a quick lunch and we were off to another boat for a game of Mexican Train and once we had done that we had an invite to have "Sundowners" with Roy and Ann on Serenity getting there about 1800 for a wonderful evening. Ann even made great small pizzas! In our discussions we all decided to dinghy over to "Santa Barbara Beach" on Saturday afternoon for some fun in the sun. Santa Barbara Beach is right at the entrance to Spanish Waters were we are anchored so it was an easy trip. They've made an enclosed section right at the waterline with a long dock running about 75 feet off shore and running parallel to the shore giving us an nice calm enclosed swimming area. Lots of local were there and even a wedding was going on out on the pier. There was even a drone flying overhead with people playing in the water and working on their tans. It was really nice to just wade in the calm water letting the time go by. Yes, there were the occasional screaming kid but on a beach, it's the norm.
Today, Sunday we had another bout of Mexican Train where I'm proud to announce I actually WON! I had a lucky day. Tomorrow, I'm off to the chiropractors office again and we still have to finish the tank installation but the weather has really worsened so we are stuck here for at least the next week. Big winds and big seas. No fun, at least that's the forecast as of now but we all know how that goes, don't we?