November 3 - 26 -- Working and Playing

Let's discuss the work first. Six days but only 17 hours, so less than three hours per day, but very productive targeted projects accomplished or started.

The aft head "spit up" when the bowl was near empty and being flushed dry. A very unpleasant experience with sewage, though now with antifreeze. We essentially had not used this head all summer, using the forward one only. But I called John of Groco, the maker of the head (Groco also made the salt water strainer for the engine). John is a font of knowledge and worth his weight in gold as far as I'm concerned, and the best reason to use Groco products. When I said "spitting up," he said "Oh yes; just replace parts 6-11 of the expanded diagram". I had the diagram but could have viewed on line if I had needed to. He said he could sell this little assembly to me but I had one in the head repair kit (though I should buy another set to replace the parts that are now in use). I made several calls to John before the job was done. There is a rubber piece backed up by hard plastic piece at the bottom of the bowl which is depressed downward by the suction of the flushing action and then springs back up into place again because of a spring that pushes it back up. That spring was not pushing up anymore so water that was flushed down came back spitting up. To replace the pieces the big ceramic toilet bowl which is held in place atop the pumping mechanism by four bolts, and the rubber gasket preventing leaks between the ceramic bowl and the metal pump had to be removed. Then the flapper is screwed to the bottom of a flat brass "washer-like" piece of 3/8 inch cast brass, almost three inches in diameter that sits atop the pump. I could not pull it up and out with my rubber glove cased fingers as John suggested. What to do? I got out a bolt from the parts box that was longer than the inside diameter of the "washer" but shorter that the inside diameter of the cylinder it sat atop. I tied a line around the middle of the bolt, securely, because I did not want the bolt to fall off into the cylinder, and tied the other end of the line around a piece of metal pipe. Then I crouched with my hands on the pipe near my knees and used the strong muscles of my thighs to yank it up. It worked!  Next "problem" was a nut in the repair kit that held the pieces 6-11 together in their correct order. (A) I could not see where it went on the exploded diagram. (B) The bolt was not long enough for it. (C) It was not on the old parts I had pulled out. What am I missing here?, I asked John. Not to worry, he replied, it is just in the spares kit to hold the pieces together in the correct position relative to each other and can be discarded. Come spring, when the boat is back in the water and the seacocks opened, we will see if I have been successful. Now you know more about the Groco head than you ever wanted to know.

I called our rigger, Jeff Lazar, to check out the starboard coach roof winch which is used primarily to trim the small jib. I had taken it apart and serviced it last winter and the self tailing feature was not working consistently. I thought I had put it back together again incorrectly, and after three seconds, Jeff saw that this was so, but not involving the interior mechanism as I had feared. No, the self tailing feature is created by two rubber jaws at the top and they have ridges on their surfaces that face each other and grab and hold the line. One had been inserted upside down -- no ridges on the inside. Jeff also suggested using a soft shackle to hold the turning block for the genoa furling line to a more solid part of the aft cockpit rail. I asked him to return in the spring, when the cover is off to conduct a full inspection of the rigging, the first such professional job since the fall of 2010.

I reinstalled one of the two new Perko latches which hold down sections of the cabin sole.

I removed the second handle from the door between the forward head and the sleeping compartment. The mechanism was corroded and "stuck" which prevented the door from closing. Once removed, the door fits well into the frame and now it is up to me to clean, shine, lubricate and reinstall the brass hardware and this door should work again.

I took off and measured the "D" shackle that attaches the main sheet block to the traveler and with accurate dimensions was able to order a new Wichard "High Resistance" one, about 50 percent greater breaking strength so that hopefully it will not break again as it did in Hyannis last summer. Including shipping this was $50.00 for a very small, but essential part!  And I'm chasing down the Permateak installer to get a more attractive surface for the swim platform.

The three new pencil zincs used in the refrigerator condenser arrived and I put one of them in and stored the other two.

I unscrewed and removed the wooden shelves on which the salon bench cushions sit to expose the two fresh water tanks. Each tank has two "viewing ports" namely six inch diameter 3/16th inch aluminum disks, each held in place over a blue rubber gasket with six metal screws to cover a hole in the tops of the tanks.

Then the manual dinghy pumpout pump could be inserted into the tanks and about eight gallons of water pumped out, and the last half inch sponged out, leaving only dampness. Once the two tanks dry, their interiors with lots of oxidation, can be scraped, vacuumed out and washed (last rinse an alcohol wash with cheap vodka), before the whole thing can be put back together. The only other time I did this was in 2010, so I suppose the tanks will be due for another such clean out in 2022. And John, see next paragraph, suggested I use real rubber gaskets and save a lot of labor in scraping the blue liquid gasket material from the bottom of the plates and the top of the tanks.

I can't say enough about John, who came up from Maryland's eastern shore for a few days and brought along his very expensive German "Fostner" drill bits for my work on the cabin sole.

He created a jig or tool to make for a smooth cut, consisting of a piece of plywood with holes cut through it for the size of the various bits. We drilled out four "dings"

and we even inserted glue and a bung into one of them. The next step was chiseling off the top of the bung and sanding it flush. My chisel was very dull so John sharpened it with my Dremel tool, metal file and 400 grit sandpaper. I took two of the many panels of one inch thick plywood that comprise the cabin sole home and next day sanded one down and acquired the polyurethane and brush to apply it. Lots of progress on all fronts. When I get the rest of the dings drilled or sanded out I will carefully wrap and box the bits and send them back to John.

And it was not all work: Three boating related play days:
Dinner at an Indian restaurant followed by dramatic readings of plays by a young award winning playwright at the New York Arts Club with Rhoda and Lloyd, of "Jazzsail."
I attended a very pleasant and efficient business meeting at the Harlem YC. With the depression ending, things are looking up for our Club with cost reductions, increased membership and plans to attract younger members with new programs for smaller boats and running in the black for the last two years.  After the meeting came Brazil Night, an all-Brazilian special menu (Hearts of palm salad, Feijoada and Flan with two glasses of wine and coffee for only $40, tax and tip and a performance by a troupe of that unique Brazilian martial art/acrobatic/dancing art, all for only $40.)
And we celebrated Thanksgiving at our home with a five course dinner for nine that I cooked -- six family and three friends, and all except two of them having sailed with us, including John, who had come up from Maryland.