Work and Rest
31 July 2019 | Marina Taina
William Ennis | Hot, again
Our rest day, and with some luck, the last Wednesday in Marina Taina. How can I say that?
The engine is in place, bolted to the stringers and angle steel. Most of the connections to the engine are in place: raw water, exhaust, fuel (both return and supply), and some electrical. We need to connect the blower to the conduit so that the engine receives some ventilation, but we've got the missing flex hose and the fan. The bilge pump is in place and functioning. Conni and I bought the engine/transmission oil (they both use the same, as I said), and the coolant. We've done a lot.
Adrian will be on vacation next week, so we've got to be done this week. We're now under his gun on scheduling. We've got to get everything connected and working by Friday, a sea trial done, and then Adrian will start our warranty work and sign off on our installation.
I realize that I've been dark a few times, but as someone mentioned, my blogs are a bit unfiltered. Lest one think that all has been bleak, when Conni and I sit on-deck for cocktail hour, and we always have a cocktail hour, we gaze at Moorea in the fading sun and realize where we are. Days can be hot, but uncommonly are night so. Every time I look downward off the boat or the dock, I see these tiny coral communities going about their lives. We've made a host of new friends and have been introduced to a marina community of cruisers who know each other very well and who spend weeks to months here. We've got all the electricity that we want, showers (albeit cold), good and plentiful water, a side tie dock so we can step off the boat, and so much more. We like it so much that we're contemplating spending a few weeks here next season. We've got to have Adrian do some scheduled maintenance anyway, so we're thinking of several weeks here...but by choice.
Our return fuel manifold has failed so i've removed it and will take it home for re-working or replacement. Since we're using only the port fuel tank, I just connected the return fuel hose to the port tank return and we're in business. I also traced and labeled every loose wire that was cut and hanging after the engine removal process. After 3 days of effort, we finally loosened a turnbuckle on the forward port shroud. Conni can work on the rig tuning, now.
If we can complete our remaining tasks, and i think that we can, we'll motor.sail to Moorea, the neighboring island, stay the night, and then sail to Huahine for a week or so. After that respite, we've got to get the boat out of the water and decommission her. Of course, we stay in the Pension Tiare Nui, so we'll be in AC at night, have a car, and have hot showers. It's a world away.
Take heart.