Some Place In Between....

We did manage a little together time to go for a walk in the woods....

Let me tell you a little secret about life once the cruise count down move to under one year. It is HARD. Not hard in a "oh my there are so many things to do" kind of hard. That can be daunting, but every completed project ticked off the list comes with a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Its not hard in an "oh my we are going to be leaving bay and forth sailing and heading out into the ocean and it kinda freaks me out" way. Anytime I start to feel a little nervous about sailing far from land, I have the assurances of friends who have done it remind me that you are safer far from the coast than closer to it. Being a little nervous and therefore respectful of the power of the ocean is a good thing and that respect is what is going to keep Ceol Mor safely sailing. No, its hard existing in this bizarre half life of waiting.

Mark just finished is official last day of work. He might have a few days of consult work here and there, but the next 10 months or so are going to be dedicated to finishing up projects and getting the boat ready to go. Its more than a little scary to be looking at a year with no income but its part of the plan. I think perhaps it was not the brightest idea to end full time employment the month of Christmas. We do not go crazy at all, but any kind of Christmas is going to be an outlay of cash and now its time to remember fun today means less fun tomorrow. Because Murphy lives in our house, of course this was the month Kitty decided to clean my laptop thoroughly with Mrs Meyers. I will say that Mrs. Meyers makes the smoke pouring forth from a dying laptop smell all lemony fresh. Not exactly a great month for the budget, but we will be okay its just a little nerve racking.

Then there are the kids and this is one of the really tough things. I want them to really enjoy all that land life has to offer them for these last 10 months. With Mark pouring his heart and soul into Ceol Mor and me running kids to and fro, this means we have a lot of "divide and conquer" going on. I keep telling myself that we are counting down to possibly more togetherness than either of us want (ha!) but it can be a little lonely trying to play Mighty Mom Of Suburbia on your own.

Mark gets to feel chuffed when he redoes, say the plumbing on the boat. Anyone who has owned a boat applauds his Herculean efforts on the boat and every project he completes is met with a  "WOW! Awesome work!" from the folks who see his work. Any mom trying to be full on Super Mom knows that no matter how good a job you do, nobody gives you high fives. I know the girls are doing well so that is thanks enough but it does contribute to making this final countdown feel a bit tough at times.The kids are doing great and are engaged, busy and happy but I have this weird 'in flux ' feeling going on. I am not really connected with everything going on in suburbia because we are leaving. Its this really bizarre feeling of being here, but at the same time NOT being here. It is existing some place in between,

Its not a place of sadness. Nor is it a place of disappointment or anxiety. Its just this really strange place to be. In all of the writings I have read, I've never seen anyone discuss how weird it is to be neither here nor there in the last year. In one on one conversation, it seems that EVERYONE has this feeling. They just never talk about it. Not certain exactly why, but there it is.

So we are rolling into 2014. 2014, the year that we will no longer be living in the in between but will be actively cruising. I am looking forward to it more than I can say. Not just because we have been actively pursuing this for over 4 years now but because it will mean that I will be living a little more in the here and now. And that is the whole point of this adventure.

What was that sound? That was October whizzing by...

If you want to, you can find beauty anywhere. Even in a rainy rush hour drive home...

I knew months ago that October was going to be crazy. I just maybe did not appreciate how absolutely insane things could get.

My October has been chock full of me juggling. About 16 balls at once. There has been very little boat action on my part this month but there has been me being homeroom craft leader for Kitty's class, getting Maura to after school activities literally every.single.day.Kitty has taken up dance and sadly, can not yet drive. Maura is deeply involved in her singing and volunteer work and again, another non-driver so its up to me to get her where she needs to be. My vocal student load has doubled, I agreed to play photographer for a birth (for a professional photographer. Talk about pressure!) and I spent days feverishly editing away, had one wedding that I had on the books a year ago that was a solid week of crazy. I'm hitting the gym in an attempt to up my strength so hoisting those sails is a bit easier. Keeping up the house and yard and planning my work schedule to get it ready to go on the market, getting rid of clutter and stuff to get ready to cruise, got sick for a dew days in there and oh, I got to be a single parent for a week while Mark was in France on business. Phew.

 Now you see why it's been quiet on the blog front. I really need about 2 hours of undisturbed time to myself to write and it just has not happened. I am committed to at least one blog post a month until the school year is out, but I'm not promising more. Come July when we are at the boat full time I will blather on more regularly about such exciting topics as deck hardware, refrigeration systems and anchors.

The kids and house are keeping me seriously busy. Its just insane right now and will be until July when we move away from the suburbs and to the boat for the last 6 month push to get ready to leave. In order to make this work for the kids, I agreed to let them soak up everything land based life in the US has to offer so that they do not feel they missed out on anything. It is exhausting, but we are trading time right now. Its their time now, when we finally leave they will still be my first priority but we are carving out  bit more time for Mark and I to accomplish our goals. They are going to love it and will be richly rewarded by the experiences, but the teen is a little reticent to leave what she knows. Reminding her when the time comes how we helped her accomplish her goals should go a long way towards allowing us to sail as a family with minimal grumbling.

While I have been juggling, Mark has been kicking butt. That week in France slowed his roll a bit but we FINALLY have a functioning generator. This has turned out to be the Mother Of All Projects but at long last, its done.

Mark being the meticulous, spread sheet loving man that he is of course writes everything down. When you look at the list, it looks so , so simple and easy.
Replumbed the seawater cooling plumbing to the common manifold with the main engine Mark designed.
Replumbed the fuel lines to the common manifold  with the main engine
Modified fresh water cooling circuit to include take off ports for connection to the hot water tank heating coil
Replaced impeller
Refurbished and installed injectors
Replaced glow plugs
Replaced fuel solenoid
Added cooling water bottle to take up excess expansion
Ran engine with Seafoam to reduce carbon build up.

Ok, that last item was simple and easy but that was the only part that went smoothly.

 Trying to source parts for an obsolete 30 year old generator is no small feat. Despite having the original part manual, the ordering and procuring of parts has been a bit like a scavenger hunt except instead of having a list of items you need, you have a list of items that have nothing what so ever to do with what you are actually looking for. You can either order the parts according to the number and pay a HUGE mark up (like 10 times) or you can try to find a part that is stocked absolutely no where in the world. So you get to try to find the manufacturers part numbers by hitting the online forums. This means you get to wade through page after page of posts that have nothing to do with the original question. Fast it is not but then again, we sail a monohull so speed had better not ever be a priority.

So it was a couple of months of utter pantomime. A comedy of errors if you will. Finding the parts, getting the parts, finding out the parts did not fit, removing the parts, sending them back and repeating the process. Worrying about the injectors being shot, ordering new injectors for spares and having the old ones refurbished. Installing the injectors and frying the control circuit fuses. Over and over.

Next we assume its the glow plugs, so replace those. No go. Have fun spending days trying to fault find an intermittent problem with the fuel solenoid. The trick here is to try not to cry when the fuel solenoid performs perfectly when the high pressure fuel lines are disconnected but fails when the fuel lines are hooked up in an attempt to start the engine.

And again with the crappy manual, which describes the solenoid as having 2 coils- a pull coil and a hold coil. Somewhere there is an evil technical writer laughing about this description since in reality the solenoid has a main coil and an auxiliary coil. (If you want to know why this is a problem, write Mark at Ceol underscore Mor at yahoo. Be warned, he says its very technical) and so on and so on.

So after dealing with this project for what seems like an eternity, we are pretty damned excited that we now have a functional generator and engine. I am also glad that despite what would be completely understandable circumstances, Mark did not become either completely insane or an alcoholic. It could have easily gone either way.

Also beautiful- a generator which works

Crossing an ocean sounds a heck of a lot easier and more enjoyable than the slog that was the generator refit. So, so glad that is over.

Generating some headaches...

You are on my list Mr. Generator and its not the Nice list

I like blog posts that neatly wrap up a topic into a tidy little page. I am not a fan of the "to be continued" type of storytelling. This is the reason you've not heard much lately, because the big project right now is still dragging on and on and on. Our generator is generating some serious headaches.

Our current decor theme on Ceol Mor, piles of tools every where

Our generator probably dates back to the original commissioning of Ceol Mor, most likely sometime in early 1985. Due to the fact that Ceol Mor was largely a dock queen, there are only 1200 hours on it. A well cared for diesel engine will probably outlive most people, so we thought rectifying the fact that we were dealing with sooty exhaust would probably be fairly quick and painless.

Yeah. After almost 3 years of refitting we are either eternal optimists or just really naive. Suffice it to say, that there has been a whole lot of us Cha Cha-ing with the generator. 2 steps forward, 3 steps back and not a whole heck of a lot of progress. It's annoying both Mark and I so much that I am not even going to get into all the dance steps we have taken thus far but will save it until the project comes to a conclusion. Then we will not only have a functional generator but a neatly wrapped up, tidy blog post as well. It will be like freaking Christmas.

Rather than get schmoopy about what hasn't gone right, I'm going to happily blather on about a project that has gone right. Ceol Mor now has the ability to be hooked up to a dock water hose and wonder of wonders, to have dockside water at the flick of a tap.

Never mind the construction dust, WATER!

Mark plumbed it all in, cut into the coaming (cutting any holes in the boat always freaks me out. Even ones well above the water line) and installed an outlet, plumbed some more and voila! WATER!!!

Yet more tidy plumbing

The naysayer in me would point out that we are unlikely to be tied to many docks while out on our cruise but its a function that was missing and since we are tackling the plumbing, might as well get it done. Lest you think it was all a perfect project, there were a couple of fittings that had to be removed, replaced and adjusted to rectify some leakage but all in all, a fairly straight forward project. Thank you Universe, for balancing out the stupid generator.

The fully functional, well plumbed inlet for dock water

September has come and passed and while work on the boat has been slow, the kid project has been zipping along at a blistering pace. I am just now starting to get a handle on our school year schedule and I have to say that I am really looking forward to homeschooling as it will be easier on me.

Maura's schedule literally has me ferrying her to activities every week day. She is really throwing herself into making the most of what should be her last year of public school. And while I love her enthusiasm, this would be much, much easier if she could drive herself. It's hard to complain because for the most part, she is just becoming a really helpful and grateful person so I just shut up and drive.

Kitty has started preschool. She is going 2 days a week and she absolutely adores it. Even though this means that the 2 days following school consists of her being totally and completely exhausted, its all worth it when she pipes up "I have school today! I LOVE SCHOOL!". So it makes for a bit of a challenge trying to adjust to the new schedule but its totally worth it.

Speaking of Kitty, can I just say how much fun a 3 year old is? To be sure, they are probably the most challenging age but she is just so darned fun it all balances out. Today, Kitty was deliriously happy because it actually rained. We've been in a drought for so long I think she thought rain was something that only happened in the movies. Today, it rained and she had her zebra boots to wear in the puddles, an umbrella to shelter her as she walked around saying "Tut tut! It looks like rain" while wearing her Supergirl dress. Kitty likes to dress for an event EVERY day but this Supergirl dress is currently her most favorite thing ever. She insists on wearing it every.single. day.

No matter how manky it gets ( I have to sneak it into the wash) it will always make me happy that she believes that when she puts her Super Kitty dress on every morning, it means she is going to work. To save the world. 3 year olds rock.

Jewelry Schmewlry. Hardware a girl really wants...

I know lots of women who think that nothing says 'I love you' quite like a nice piece of jewelry. I like jewelry as much as the next girl, but this week I got an even better materialistic representation of Mark's adoration of me. Houston, we have a water heater. Those of you who are living on land with access to plentiful water at the flick of a tap, dispensed immediately at your desired temperature might not understand my glee at this most recent development, but my fellow boat babes will understand. Testify my sisters! Having the ability to heat water without the use of a tea kettle and stove is pretty darned luxurious living. I can't wait until it is all plumbed in. Yes, I will still be forced to wet down, turn off the tap, lather up, then turn on the taps to shower in an effort to keep our water usage to a minimum but that little spray of water will NOT be cold. This is awesome.

 I was so excited at the prospect of getting this on the boat I did not even mind the fact that I looked like a Clampett family member transporting this huge box in the passenger side of my mom's tiny little car. (My car is in the shop in an attempt to keep the Hoopty running for just one more year....) Kitty was disappointed that such a huge box did not contain something a bit more exciting. She was convinced that such a large box must contain something really amazing and you could see the disappointment on her face when I told her that while said box did not contain a pony, it had something even better- a water heater. Maura also seemed a little dubious as to the awesomeness of said water heater. I think I will let them shower in cold water for a bit so that later they can have an appreciation for how awesome our little Iso Temp really is.

We took break from making template patterns for the forward cabin seat cushion (me, messing up my first attempt) and from redesigning the engine exhaust system (Mark) to rectify what we think are serious design flaws to kick it around the docks with the kids.

Kitty's favorite place to go in all of Kemah is Kemah Hardware. Fortunately for her, they carry so many of the copper fittings, epoxy, etc, that she is pretty much assured of regular trips. This time she was beyond excited because in addition to some copper fittings, we were going to acquire a crab net of her very own and promised to take her crabbing. Mark, thinking he knew better than I- despite never having crabbed in his life insisted that what Kitty needed was a tiny bait net. I knew it wouldn't work but I let it go because Kitty was so jazzed about having a net of her own I couldn't bear to steal her joy.

After procuring the requisite chicken legs (how is it you can no longer buy just the necks anywhere? Galveston Bay- you have changed) we went off with bucket in hand to get to crabbin'. Mark thought all this production would be a waste of time. "You will never catch a crab" he said. "Check my birth certificate" I said. "Hello..SEABROOK NATIVE. I guarantee we will catch a crab. I spent endless hours playing around this bay as a kid and while it was too murky for swimming there were crabs a plenty. Galveston Bay=crabs.I am like the crab whisperer. I'm all Deadliest Catch on Galveston Bay. Trust me." I informed him knowingly.

So off we went. We did not manage to land a crab because I timed it wrong and the tide was coming so our crabs kept getting knocked off the line before we could attempt to net them. I should add that after seeing the inadequacy of his preferred net, Mark went off and added an extension. I didn't mind because I was able to smile the satisfied smile of the correct. Of course, Mark got all Captain Perfecto on us and the extension is a bit more finely crafted than mine would have been but its all good. Kitty can not wait to go crabbing again and she really hopes to land one next time. Maura is happy just to kick it around the water and I am just happy to get to spend a little bit of time with them all wasting time in pursuit of crabs. Soon enough, I shall be able to introduce the girls to the fun of crab drag racing.

Dubious Mark

Now a believer, Mark tried to bring the crab along the dock. I told him it wouldn't work, he did not listen. The crab let go. Hello- listen to the crab whisperer next time. Pull up slowly, scoop quickly. Be one with the crab...

In High Cotton

We fired up the engine. This might seem like a non-momentous occasion until you realize that it has been over a year since it was last started. The fuel lines have been disconnected for a year as Mark began working on the big project marked "plumbing". The plumbing punch list includes not only replacing all of what you would normally consider plumbing- i.e. water lines, toilet lines, etc. but also the fuel lines which feed the engine and generator. It has been an enormous job. You don't realize how big a 42 foot boat is until you decide to totally redo the plumbing lines...or the electrical wiring.

As Mark finished hooking up the fuel lines after his massive over haul of the fuel filtration system, having just finished the seawater lines to the engine and generator, our fingers were crossed. The generator seawater impeller was replaced (more on this later), the engine flushed and the engine was primed using the new fuel pump. It was now or never.

Mark went up to the cockpit, turned the key and...it fired up the very first time. Only sailors who have previously dealt with a cantankerous old diesel engine (are there any other kind of engines?) will understand, but it turned over the first time. The exhaust was not overly smoky, the engine was not belchy, the vibration was noticeably lessened and the exhaust water was sputtering out of the stern as we had hoped. WINNING!!!

Marine diesel repair sounds so simple in the abstract but in reality, every tiny repair or modification is a giant pain in the butt. The simple sounding task of replacing the generator seawater impeller was made incredibly time consuming by just trying to find the right impeller. Our first attempt at ordering one online ended up in us having the absolute wrong one. Turns out we need an Oberdorfer impeller which as far as I can tell is made by one person who lives alone somewhere in the Alps and the parts are delivered to the post only once a month when the snows clear enough to allow the pack goats through. Also, Karl the impeller maker is getting pretty sick of making these so his production is dependent on whether he feels like it or not. So we ordered the right make and the right size, it was the bore diameter which was wrong. We managed to score one on our second attempt and you can bet that we are having Karl whip up another to carry as a spare.

Our dock neighbor Hugh stopped by. Hugh is sort of the Dock Daddy genius, experienced sailor and talented engineer of our dock. His boat, which he designed and had  custom built by Tashing is hands down the most perfect and beautiful vehicle for cruising I have ever seen. To say his boat is well thought out and absolutely beautiful would be a gross understatement. I do not covet many things, but his boat is the one thing I would give a kidney for. I say this so you understand how over the moon and chuffed Mark was when Hugh exclaimed that the fuel filtration Mark designed was the most functional, elegant, tidy and practical installation he had ever seen. What took 3 separate filters to do on Hugh's boat, Mark managed to do with only 2 and to retain every bit as much functionality as the 3 filter system Good on ya Mark. I told ya it was something to be proud of.

So now its time to take a moment to sit back and toast the work done on the engine. I say a moment because well, the generator is generating some consternation and difficulties of its own. Of course. Enough so that its going to get a post of its very own. Like I have said before- boats are really stupid.

 I have been anxiously awaiting 2 things to happen. One for late summer to get here so I could grab a photo of the local cotton crop ( I love cotton ) and 2. For something to go so well that I could use the phrase "In high cotton". I was worried these 2 requirements would not align, but this week they did.

Damned If You Do...

...damned if you don't. What is it about the internet that makes everyone an expert? Seriously, I'd like to know because I currently have plenty of internet and yet I am pretty certain I am an expert at...nothing.

Commander of the Internet Yacht Club watching...always watching....

Here's a comment left on my last post by Anonymous "Nice work, but do you guys ever actually sail your boat?"It might have been just an innocuous comment but it could just as easily have been meant to be snarky. Then. I got an email which basically accused me of wasting bandwidth on blogging the refit and could we just go sailing already. *sigh*

 At first I got annoyed because well, I am suffering a serious case of itchy feet and am ready to go NOW and I really do not need someone who is not even willing to sign their name pointing out what I already know- this refit is taking forever. Do these people even realize what we are preparing to do and with whom? Then I wondered if I really cared. I do a bit because it seems that 30 years of internet has spawned more expert sailors than thousands of years of sailing managed to do.

I was going to let it go and then one of my favorite sailing bloggers Pat, from Bumfuzzle posted about his quick trip down the coast to Mazatlan to join his family. As I read about what a craptacular trip he was having, I felt nothing but empathy for him. His trip was full of suck but he was bravely soldiering on, after having purchased a boat site unseen and subscribing to the " GO NOW!" philosophy. It bit him in the butt but fortunately, he is okay, the family is okay and the boat is still floating so as far as a score from me, he gets a win. The thing that really stuck in my craw about Pat's posting was the number of well,- pretty rude and unsympathetic comments. One in particular was pretty darned close to being of the "Neener neener I told you so" variety. Talk about kicking someone when they are down. Sheesh.

This isn't a case of thinking "our method is superior", its more a case of thinking "boats are really stupid and at some point you are going to want to take her out open up the seacocks and sink her no matter what you do". I think whether you ascribe to the Go NOW! philosophy or the Black Box Theory has everything to do with your past experiences and innate personality.

At anchor on our last sail, a year ago. The whole point of this was to determine what had to be corrected before leaving. Sitting in Mark's lap, reason number 1 we are so carefully going through a thorough refit.

The Bumfuzzles have been pretty forthright in documenting their sailing life and how they decided to sail around the world. Pat was a trader, a job that requires a heck of a lot of skill, luck, resourcefulness and a stomach for gambling. He seems to be more of the GO NOW! school and hey, it worked to get him all the way around once and I am sure it will serve him well, he will figure out the best course of action to take with his stupid boat and the Bums will be fine. That's what works for them and I am 100% behind them cheering them on.

We are more of the Black Box school. I grew up on a horse farm where there were literally 100 ways to kill yourself on a daily basis. I did some pretty audacious, dangerous stuff (which I will not recount because my Mom reads this and no need to scare the pants off of her after the fact ;) )but I did develop a pretty healthy respect for gravity, the laws of physics and the possible dangers of not heeding their risks. I am a risk taker, but a cautious one with a solid self preservation streak.

Reason number 2 for a meticulous refit, at our rainy night anchorage, same shake down.

One of Mark's first jobs was a safety inspector on rigs in the North sea. When he tells me of the time he caught some weather while on a FPSO ship in the west of Shetland (which is essentially a tanker and MUCH larger than our little boat) and watched as the waves battered dents into the heavy steel bow of the ship, I understand why he is as meticulous as he is. When he tells me of the time he was on the rig Brent Charlie in the North Atlantic which had a 4 foot steel I beam 70 feet above the sea  twisted and warped like a piece of plastic by a wave, I put aside my desire to hurry it up and say "take your time to do it right". Our boat is small. And plastic. You take your time Mark, you take your time.

Not my photo, If you think I would be snapping pics in conditions such as this we obviously have not met. Brent Charlie, where Mark really, really learned to respect the power of wind and waves.

It's all about preferences and past experiences. Our past experience makes us prefer to meticulously go through every single system. We prefer not to take our boat offshore, with kids and 30 year old hoses with suspect clamps that may or may not be in good shape. We prefer not to have a questionable electrical system. We prefer to take the time to install a fuel system which greatly reduces the likelihood of us losing the engine due to water ingress. We prefer to make sure every hose, electrical run, sea cock, through hull and bit of rigging is solid, intact and organized in such a way that when we do have a problem, we can address it as quickly as possible. Does our total and complete refit guarantee that we will never have a spate of bud luck? Not at all, but it does mean we will at least know that we have done everything we can in preparation and hopefully we have put enough into the Black Box to have a good outcome. So do we ever sail it? Soon enough, soon enough.

So that is what I find so highly amusing about internet sailors and their criticism. I would not be surprised to find that the very same people who are tsk tsking the Bums for not doing a refit before moving aboard are the same folks who like to say we aren't sailing enough and should go now. Which is it? Go now or prepare the boat meticulously? I don't think there is a right answer there is only the right answer for each person and really, everyone is doing the best the can and trying to make the best decisions for themselves.

I get it, I really do. I write and post a blog about the refit and the boat so people feel entitled to criticize. I also understand that a year of refit posts is BORING. That's the reason I don't post more frequently (no one wants to see post after post of each layer of varnish) and the biggest reason I haven't upgraded to a dedicated web site. Until we are on the move, its just not necessary. I just really wish the Internet Yacht Club would perhaps be a bit less quick to tell people what to do. I get complaints that I am not sailing enough and posting photos of Ceol Mor under sail. Pat from Bumfuzzle posts a true and accurate account of his really sucky sail, even managing to grab some stunning photos while in the midst of a poop storm of suckage and he gets admonished for not spending time with a very boring and time consuming refit before hand or even better, being told that the answer to his problems is to just throw money at it until it goes away. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Internet Yacht Club, I am beginning to suspect you have a serious case of bipolar disorder.

So what are appropriate comments on a sailing blog? If you have have a tip as to how to solve a problem, that is appreciated. If you have something that worked for you in a similar situation, also appreciated. If you want to commiserate, or offer condolences when things go badly or just to offer encouragement then your comments are not just appreciated, but GREATLY appreciated. Have nothing to say other than to offer an opinion that XYZ is wrong and we are boring, silly, not salty enough, too salty or whatever? Save it for happy hour at the Internet Yacht Club.

A little over a year to go and then I promise more sailing photos than you could want. Ten bucks says after a couple of months of photos of a boat which is on the move, I get an email saying we should do more maintenance the minute we have a failure. You know, what? I'll put 20 on that bet...

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go order yet more parts and spend a little time sending my fellow boat peeps who are in the midst of a painstaking refit, or a really crap sailing trip or  in the yard dealing with an unexpected and expensive repair or at the broker's dock getting their boat ready for sale a little good boat mojo.

Inch By Inch...

...the refit keeps moving on. We lost a full week due to Mark having to be out of town but hey, they pay him for these little jaunts so we try to take it all in stride. We like the refit to keep moving forward but a paycheck is necessary for this to happen right now so a week behind schedule? Schedules are for airlines and even they aren't capable of sticking to one. Keep on keeping on...

We've reached a point where we can start whipping the engine compartment into shape. It, like every other hidden bit of the boat was a mass of poorly routed hoses and random add ons taking up twice as much space as necessary. Since Ceol Mor is an aft cockpit boat, we do not have the luxury of a big engine compartment so making this area as tidy as we can is a priority. We have an old faithful Perkins which should out live all of us but in order to make that happen, we have to be able to tweak and coax her into chugging along with early and often maintenance. Having the engine be as accessible as possible will be appreciated the first time we have to do some engine trouble shooting and repair at sea. Notice I did not say 'if', I said 'when'. It's inevitable so it makes sense to plan ahead.

Before

So the old hoses which ran every which way, were unsupported and had mismatched hose and bar sizes have been replaced, rerouted, clamped, checked and organized. The old filter installation which compounded the clutter due to having separate sea water and fuel filters for the engine and generator have been replaced by a single seawater filter and manifold which supplies both the engine and generator.A dual fuel filter and manifold has been installed to supply the engine and generator. Mark designed and built the fuel filter assembly which includes valves for fuel polishing and online filter replacement and selection. Everything is labeled to identify valve function and position for various operating modes (no guessing!).We have installed new sound insulation through out the compartment.

After

If we ever do have to repower, it will seem like a piece of cake after all of this!

Kitty loves nothing more than helping with the boat. She is our quality control inspector.