Small project becomes a big project
20 October 2006
Richard
Those of you who are boaters will understand how a small 2 hr project becomes an expensive and involved 3 day project.
The vent to the head's holding tank got clogged and I was planning on adding a gauge to detect when the tank was filling up (which would help prevent the vent tube from clogging in the 1st place). Unclogging the vent hole by spraying a water hose into it didn't work.
Anyway, it was a smelly job, but I had to pull the access plate on the holding tank, cleaning the vent tube, and drill the hole for the gauge.
Well upon inspection we found a huge buildup of something that looked like calcium in all of the hoses and the inside of the tank. Now it became a very dirty job of cleaning the tank and the hoses, but I've done it before I can do it again. We really needed to run some Muratic Acid through the system from time to time. However, Muratic Acid is so corrosive that I really didn't want to expose my boat to that, but after a couple of years of exposure to dirty salt water, it built up.
We had dinner with Jim and Laura last night. Jim fixed an amazing steak burger. I'm not sure what spices that he put in that meat, but it was great. Anyway, Jim helped me clean one of the heavily coated elbow joints with Muratic Acid. It bubbled and foamed and promptly cleaned up. The picture above is Jim and Laura in Green Turtle Cay Bahamas.
Some of the hoses could not be salvaged and had to be replaced. Upon further inspection, our Y valve was broken. It has been locked over to the holding tank, but since we were going cruising, we wanted to be able to switch it directly overboard and back as needed.
So, as we removed hoses, the head had to be inspected. The head had calcium build up so I disassembled and cleaned it. And, I made a few adjustments since it was sticking more than we would like.
However, since we had the head out... the wood work around it was clearly in need of a cleaning and a new coat of varnish. We don't often remove the head, so Nicki started cleaning, sanding, and varnishing. Nicki's brushwork is exceptional. Anyone who has seen the boat in person will notice how exceptional our awlgrip looks. Yes the boat has been painted by Nicki from bow to stern, boot stripe to mast head.
Yes, we have been without a toilet for two days now. Thankfully, we're still in the marina and we can use their facilities. But, we are anxious to get our head working again and get this mess of parts cleaned up. Normally, our boat seems big enough for comfort, but when we are in the middle of a big project, the whole boat becomes a mess quickly. We're currently waiting on the second coat of varnish to dry.
The system checkouts become important. The boat was sitting for such a long time in the Florida heat without maintenance. I have listed below what was found broken:
- Flat Panel TV stopped working (we got a new Haier and wired direct to 12 volt house circuit)
- The holding tank vent tube was clogged.
- Y Valve handle.
- Solar panel regulator. (I carry a spare)
- Refrigerator stopped working due to a poor connection. It lacked sufficient voltage to kick on.
I've been pleased that most of my checkouts have gone smoothly. I have a few more checkouts to do before leaving, let's hope that we don't have any more small projects become big projects. But, we all know that boating is simply the act of performing repairs in exotic and beautiful locations. So, we'll take our challenges as they come.
Love you Robyn.