Renne' and I made an executive decision this afternoon - we ain't going no place this afternoon. this morning at 0800, I was picked up by Renne's nephew, Fletcher, and we went exploring for replacement parts for the genset. We found the NextGeneration Power Engineering company, the manufacturer of this particular unit. As I talked to the guys in the front office, I discovered I probably should replace the zinc sacrificial rod and get a few more spare parts, especially as we are leaving the country. So $450 later, I walked out with a cruising kit, including several new belts, some electrical parts more fuel filters, another oil filter, some socks, pants, and other things they could throw in the bag!!! Holy crow! Now Renne' would have killed me if I had originally bought those items without needing them, but now that we do, she was accepting of the expense. So to work I went on replacing the items.
Actually the impeller went in very nicely. I found the centering slot with not problem, then I tackled the zinc. I unscrewed the old one and tried to insert the new one, but no-go. So I got an awl out to figure what to do, stuck it in to the old slot and voile' discovered a bunch of junk from the old zinc and the remains of the old impeller right there. Got my handy dandy forceps out (you can tell I was in the medical business) and removed all of the junk in there. Promptly inserted the zinc and it didn't seat very well. Another call to NextGen and found out I had to cut the zinc shorter. So out came the saw and I tackled that one. Started the unit and it worked fine for about 20 minutes. As it shut down, I realized I hadn't turned the electric pump on, so after several aborted tries to start it again, I had to re-bleed the genset. With that and a total of three hours of labor, we had the genset working.
While we recharged the batteries, the laptops, the internet point, got the refrigerator to look like it had ice on it again, recharged the camera battery and turned on the A/C to dry out this place, I undertook launching the dinghy. It has been sitting on the foredeck for a couple of weeks, so I had to wrestle it out from under the staysail boom, rotate it on it's side, and using the foot pump, inflated it so it wouldn't sink when I got it over the side. By now we had 4-5 onlookers who were interested in how I was going to get this 10' dinghy in the water. So, using the spare halyard, I attached one end to the dinghy and the other to the electric windlass, and voile' again, was able to hoist it up over the lifelines and into the water.
Then the final test of the new weld modification was performed. I attached the dinghy to the davits, and wouldn't you know, we were able to lift the dinghy all of the way into the slot, we were able to insert the locking bolts, and put the tie-down straps on, without cursing/yelling/screaming at the boat/dinghy/Renne'/and the general audience. In all, it actually appeared to the audience that we knew what we were doing. Which in reality, we have found it is a guess and a bit of luck every time we do some of these things.
Anyway, by the time we were done and ready to go - 1430 (2:30pm) the current had turned and I was too tired to get underway. So Renne' made the executive decision to stay one more night - FREE - and start out in the morning fresh - about 0600.
So Hooter's is right across the dock from us. We will enjoy a beer and some chicken wings tonite. So come join us for Sundowner's before we go over - let's say meet us about 1700 (5:00pm).
JonNe'
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