Not all sun and Tahiti!
28 April 2011 | Petersburg, AK
Bill in the sun!
What a day! Conni arrived last night so there was a bit of homecoming for us: it's been more than a week since I've seen her. To celebrate, and because there was no food on the boat, we went out to a Chinese restaurant that served the best burgers in town.
This morning we begin work on the last few projects. I had disassembled the MaxProp, our folding prop (when not providing propulsion, the blades "feather" or move to a least-resistance configuration, greatly reducing drag), last night and cleaned it. Even though it took much longer than expected (and on a boat project, what doesn't?), I got it completed: new grease, new zinc. Conni installed another shaft zinc.
Our forward and main head (toilet) got clogged before we left the boat last year and we knew it would be a heinous job to clear it, the first and most disgusting job being to empty the holding tank without being in the water where we could just dump the effluvium overboard. Never the less, we diligently bought a large garbage can to hold said effluvium. I was to be outside, directing the spillage into the can, Conni would control the flow with the seacock handle. The seacock is the "faucet" or valve that opens and closes the holding tank effluent path into the water. It's important that it be strong and dependable since it not only allows sewage out, but doesn't allow seawater in.
The seacock handle wouldn't budge for Conni! I took a hand at the task, and damn if the seacock shaft didn't break in my hand! Oh, no! I can't even begin to replace the broken seacock without having a replacement in hand, and Petersburg is no place to find one. We were looking at a long trip with no toilet facilities unless we could unplug the smaller aft head.
So, we went to that task. Again, Conni was at the seacock and the pump that pumps sewage from the small holding tank for this head. I stayed outside and tried to control the spray.
In a few strokes, she had the effluvium coming from the through-hull. In the next stroke, a massive toilet paper "rocket" flew outward from the through-hull, landing inches from my open-toed Crocs! It did not miss me, though, and I was thoroughly moistened by the spray. We did finally get the holding tank empty and the head, our one and only, now works.
For the past week, I've reeked of diesel since that's been the result of my work in replacing the diesel fuel lines. The reek of aged sewage quickly replaced the diesel, to our regret. I decided that diesel odor trumped sewage for unpleasantness!
We provisioned this evening, buying a lot of foodstuffs from a local and well-stocked Hammer and Wikens grocery store here in P'burg. Tomorrow, we'll start moving sails and other gear back onto the boat. I have to adjust the valves tomorrow, putting the boat back in "project mode" as we call it: a total wreck inside.