Things are turning around

This morning's chore, after coffee and internet, was getting the generator running. I only lost one nut of the 4 on the pump, while getting it back on. But it is running perfectly again. Then, I decided to be more proactive with the wet laptop issue. The other day I took the battery out, and the hard drive, and opened the only other part of the case I could to let everything air out and maybe dry. So with the genny making 110 volts AC, I dug out the heat gun - what, no blow dryer aboard, you ask, Paul? and blasted the hard drive with the heat gun and got it warm - almost hot to the touch and put it under the work bench like Wes had suggested, with the fridge compressor putting out heat and blowing air. Now, I have just re-assembled it and I am typing on it again. No apparent damage. That is good news, so things are progressing, in a positive way and forward for a change -not backwards. Well, mostly anyway. Will discuss the outboard motor propeller trouble later.

I also went back and put some turns on the rudder post nut. The top nut was turning by hand, so the trip and all the big seas really worked on it pretty good, or I guess it is possible that Wes re-packed it with Charmin. Who knows? You know Baltimore marine technicians. The nut requires an 18 inch pipe wrench, it is so large, and I am not sure if I have done enough to actually stop the water, but will check it later again. It was pretty wet, and became even more wet with my playing around with the nut. I really would like to stop hearing the bilge pump come on, that's for sure. Not exactly sure what I am doing there and like so many things, it is something else to learn. Oh, and by the way, just because a pipe wrench says aluminum, the JAWS are still steel and rust!

I have cleaned up the aft cabin some, and laid out all I need to start the hydraulic job. And I still have to close up the stuff I was working on peripheral to the generator, but will leave the sound proofing covers off for now, so it can run a bit cooler, with the port in the engine room opened for a bit of breeze and heat exhaust. (It sounds kinda scary with the port open when I go topside. I am not used to hearing anything coming out of the side of the boat like that) I ran it until I had 13.5 volts on batteries and the charge rate was down in the low teens amperage - AND the freezer is showing 20 degrees, but that will change fast, as things re-freeze, so I think I will run it an hour tonight after dark.

I am not sure if it is proper to discuss this publicly, but I will anyway, since most who read this know me pretty well. I am scared to death of things that live in the ocean, just below the boat, big fish, like sharks, and sea monsters, and octopi, and baracuda's. (When my GF visited me in Key Biscayne, in the marina, late at night, when the water looks like black ink reflecting the stars and moon, we often would take a quick skinny dip before bed. Everytime we headed back to the boat, it would creep into the back of my mind - Is something just behind me, ready to clamp down on my leg?) I have scuba dived several times and loved it, and snorkeled a lot, and own this thing called a hookah, which is a 12 volt compressor with air lines, and regulators, so you can 'scuba or snorkel' down to 60 ft, without having to wear a tank of compressed air. I bought it primarily to be able to go beneath the boat and work, should something happen that required it, or to scrub the growth off the bottom. Or, to just go out and enjoy a reef, and sight see below. Work or pleasure. Well, the other day, I had to dive on the bottom to see if I could see or pull out whatever was lodged in the generator's cooling line thru hull. Didn't need anything but a bathing suit and face mask. You would have laughed at me, standing on the ladder just above the waterline, diving mask on, big fat butt hanging, holding on to the line I always hang down into the water ( so I can pull my fat butt up the ladder, and also to grab should AF start going away, or the current takes me away - 2 MORE fears.) So, there I am, hanging, paused, cussing myself silently for being a chicken, and scared to death to drop into the water (temp 72, I just heard) because I am afraid of the things that live down there. You know, one of them could come up and bite me! What a mess. I told my friend Wes and the exchanges sort of got out of hand, with his last effort saying that he had just seen on Discovery Channel, that at this time of year, all the world's baracuda's migrate to Bermuda for mating, and how hungry they are when they arrive. He attached a 16 minute segment of Diver Dan from 1961 when he captured Baron Baracuda. He asked if I had put anything UP the thru hull hole to clean it, and I replied that I had put a finger tip in each, but not for long, in case there was something in there waiting to bite my finger tip off! What a child I am, sometimes. How the heck am I ever going to live on a boat successfully with these kind of childish fears?

I have asked my friend and mentor, Paul, in Guatemala to start looking at weather for a possible departure next week, possibly late. I have to extend my stay with Immigration before Saturday, and they will give me a week more, I believe. And, if I buy my fuel as I depart, it will be duty-free. A little trivia - the hardware store guy said he went away for a few days, and when he returned, they had sold 60 - 5 gallon diesel cans to all the sailors who had to come in. What does that tell you? I would like to order some duty free smokes and rum, I guess, too. They deliver to Customs House and they hold it until your final check out., when they also give back your flare guns, firearms, and spear guns - I hope.

Since the food had thawed because of the freezer not running, I have brought out a bag of pasta, boiled water, and heated some thawed sauce that had been frozen, and now, have had my fill of Rotini and meat sauce. And my Thanksgiving meal tomorrow will be Italian-American leftovers, I guess. I have made my version of a dark and stormy - rum and ginger ale, and put on some of what I have on the computer as "Lady H Music" and will find a book, and read til I fall asleep. But to all of you back in the US, have a great day, good food, football on TV, and enjoy your families. Eat a piece of pie for me. And try to remember why they give you the day off, in the first place.