Some work and some play today.
29 November 2015 | Richards Bay, SA
Bill/ Cloudy
We got at it again today as we wanted to get more projects done before we took the afternoon off. While we got the faucet installed on Friday, we still had the pretty soap dispenser to install and that again, required us to take out the old one. Going back twenty some years, they used lots of metal in the fitting to attach faucets and this was no exception. Everything came out from under the sink and in we went, with one of us up top and the other sometimes wedged inside the cabinet as while we could sometimes see where we needed to put the wrench, we had to use a mirror to see it. Tracy stuck her head and shoulders inside the cabinet to get to the fittings as I just couldn't bend my body to do it. I took a set of pliers(after we had striped at much of the extra pieces off) and slowly turned the fitting up on the top of the counter. While I couldn't get a good hold of the in the cabinet fittings, Tracy could and slowly, it came unscrewed. Once out, we found that the hole in the formica top hadn't been cut to the actual size of the hole in the top of the cabinet so out came a heavy duty round file and off came the extra formica. Now the new dispenser would fit the hole. The fittings on it are all made of plastic so should we ever need to take it out, it should not be a problem. Once we tightened the nuts on it, we installed the soap tank and the pump handle and it was done. Off to the next project.
Back when we were berthed in Jahor Bahru at the Putri Marina in Malaysia, we heard that Thailand was requiring all foreign boats to have AIS(Automatic Identification Systems) install on their boats. I'd brought one back with me from the US on my last trip. A nice unit with lots of features from Si-Tex. I'd installed it while we were still Malaysia. Well, it worked until some time in either the Seychelles or the Maldives. We don't know when it crashed as we can't see our own signature. These AIS units tell the boat name and lots of information about us. It's a very nice safety feature that other boats can see us on their screens and can call us if need be. I'd contacted Si-Tex and they would either repair or replace the unit under the warranty. Tracy took it back with her when she went and brought it back when she came back. It was time to reinstall it. When I took it out, I reinstalled our old AIS unit that just read peoples transmissions. It had to come out first before I could reinstall the "new" Si-Tex". Out it came and into a bag just incase we should ever need it again. Then back in when the replacement unit and I turned it on. On came the required lights that show it working. We were good to go. I radioed one of our friends to see if he could "see" our signal. His answer was "No". OK, it could be any number of reasons why but we needed to get to the mall as we wanted to see Spectre, the new James Bond thriller. We called a cab and off we went. I got a text message later that our transmission was new being received by our friends boat so in the end, all was well and the transceiver is working just fine. Yea!! Another important job done.
While we were at the mall, we wanted to see if we could get Tracy phone unlocked so she could use it here. Well, while the store would sell us the Sim card, they couldn't or wouldn't unlock the phone. With the Sim card in hand we headed back to the boat as it was now well after 1700. As we drove back, we talked to our driver and she know of a place here in town that would unlock our phone. We'll be heading there on Monday to see if he has better luck with it. Tracy has really come to like her new phone.
On Friday night as Tracy was cooking dinner, we ran out of propane. Our primary tank had run dry. It's been a while since we had it filled so it was time. Monday, we will be off to get it filled as well as getting the phone unlocked. It's going to be a busy day.
Today, it's time to open the inspection ports on the fuel tanks and stick the hose from my new filtration system down to the bottom of the tanks and suck out what might be lurking there. We get black sediment in the bottom our our Racor filter as diesel fuel goes through it so it's time to go to the source of the fuel and do a good cleaning of what might be there. We'll stick the hose to the bottom of the tank and pump some fuel into jerry cans till we are satisfied we got all the ooze out. I'd rather get it out now while we are safely at the marina than have it clog up our engines filtration system and stall out the engine We've seen it happen to several boats in our travels. We always filter our fuel but bacteria tend to grow in diesel fuel and while be put in special chemicals to kill them, well they still leave their dead bodies at the bottom of the tanks. It's time to get them out. The last time we had the fuel "polished" was in Mexico. This is a biggie on our list of things to get done. I'll let you know how it works out.