My amateur archaeologist first mate has been on a dig in South Carolina all week. We are planning some time on the water in early June, an excellent time of year to go sailing in Carolina. I wanted to maximize our cruise time by having the boat completely ready to go. It takes an amazing amount of time to get a boat ready to leave the dock. She needs fuel, water and the waste tank emptied. I had several spring time chores planned and I figured it would take a full day to get everything done so I spent Saturday working on the boat.

On my last work weekend, I discovered a minor leak in the raw water pump. As I suspected, it needed attention. I asked Roger to take a look and he told me that either the seals or the bearings were worn but he would be able to rebuild it for a fraction of the cost of a new pump. We don't have a very good track record with water pumps. Last year we had to completely replace the circulating water pump. Hopefully we are in good shape to pump water now, at least for a while. I asked Roger to take a look at the stuffing box which was leaking a little too much. He tightened the packing nut and stopped the leak. He also installed a cover over the stuffing box made of large fuel hose. This will keep the shaft from slinging salt water all over the engine compartment when it does leak. I also asked him to take a look at the compression release cable or "kill switch". Since a diesel engine has no ignition system, you can only stop it by preventing the engine from compressing the fuel mixture. The lever that releases the compression is connected to a pull handle on the engine control panel. Ours had become so hard to pull that I could barely pull hard enough to stop the engine and it was impossible for Judy to stop it. Roger used some recycled parts and installed a nice "tee" handle to make it easier to grip.

Friday May 22, 2009
I left home immediately after work. Traffic was unusually heavy due, I suspect, to the holiday weekend. It seemed that I could have walked around Raleigh as fast as I drove. I never saw any evidence of an accident, just slow rush hour leftovers. I made stops for gas, ice and fast food (not necessarily in that order). The traffic was heavy all the way but it was manageable and I arrived a little after 10pm. The weather forecast was for a nice weekend and I was surprised to find only one other car in the lot.

Saturday May 23, 2009
The first order of business was breakfast. I drove over to Oriental for coffee and a bagel. When I returned I replaced the boat's cranking battery with the new one I had brought from home. The battery was not giving any real trouble but I had noticed that it discharged very quickly under a moderate continuous load, like when we forgot to turn off the electric cooler. This and the fact that the battery was the one that came with the boat when we bought her in 2002 was enough to warrant a replacement. Next I tackled a clogged screen filter on the output of the house water pump. I had tried to clean it last time but could not get the two plastic halves apart. This time I soaked it in some vinegar for about an hour after which it came apart with a little pressure and I was able to clean the screen. While the filter was soaking, I pumped the stale water out of the aft water tank with a small shop-vac that I brought from home. With the stale water, I was able to extract a small amount of sediment that had collected.

Nick stopped by and I asked if the diver had been by to clean boat bottoms. He said that he worked around our dock for a couple of days. Judging from the clean condition of my rudder, I suspect the diver's bill is in the mail. I am glad he got around to us before we left on our trip. A clean bottom will add almost a knot to our speed with the same throttle setting. That doesn't sound like much but when your maximum speed is 6 knots, it's a lot.

I acquired a small electric pressure washer a few months ago. I was anxious to find out if it would be useful around the boat. I started by cleaning the bilge. For some reason it seems that a bilge always needs cleaning. I had cleaned it thoroughly on my last trip but a quick inspection revealed black stinky water. I didn't see any oil residue but with all the oil and fuel filter changes last time I would not be surprised if there was some residue. I used some strong bilge cleaning soap and to pressure wash the bilge and used the shop-vac to extract the water. The pressure washer worked surprisingly well. Richard had warned me that any small bits of sediment in the dock's water lines would quickly clog the machine so I used a Lowe's sediment filter between the faucet and the water hose. I used the same filter when I filled the water tanks.

After lunch, I tackled washing the decks. The deck had obviously not been cleaned since last fall. The deck and bulkheads tend to collect a scattering of tiny black mildew spots that are really hard to get off. In the past I had used brushes, soap and a bleach solution. The pressure washer was able to physically remove the stains mostly without soap or bleach. It took a while but the process was fairly easy. I think the decks are cleaner than the have ever been.

More dock mates arrived about mid afternoon. Stefan, Marita and our youngest WYTC member Sebastian Wolfgang Ufer arrived first. I had been looking forward to meeting this young man since I learned of his birth last December. Chuck and Tish arrived a little later. I had not seen them since before Christmas. It was good to see our friends again and I hope we will see them more this summer. Gary, Joan and family are relatively new to our dock. They had arrived a little before noon.

I had bought 15 gallons of fresh, clean diesel fuel from a truck stop near home earlier in the week. 15 gallons is a LOT of fuel for our little boat. I was able to get about 14 gallons into our 18 gallon tank. I did not want to take a chance on getting any fuel spilled in the water so I was very careful and stopped when I started hearing the fuel rise in the filler tube. By this time of day, the old computer jockey was beginning the get tired. I had one more task which was my least favorite. I pumped out the waste tank.

I took a shower, and then went to town for ice and something to eat. I had a very bad fish sandwich at a local eatery. When I returned the rest of the evening was spent with dock mates in the cockpit. Sebastian decided he would rather go to bed instead of hanging out with the old people but I enjoyed the visit. It seemed like old times and I stayed up too late.

Sunday May, 24, 2009
I was up early but I decided against going to town for breakfast. I put the covers back on the boat, packed up and said my goodbyes. I was really hungry when I left so I stopped at Charlie's in Bayboro for a western omelet. It was pretty good. The rest of the trip home was uneventful.