As planned, Nancy left early Wednesday, morning (6:15) for the Fort Myers airport where she is catching a flight to
Dallas for a business meeting. She will
be returning on Sunday afternoon and we will depart Monday, April 4 at first
light in any weather less than a full gale.
We have been just having fun, but this is a work week for me. My first project was to get this blog caught
up then change the engine oil in Dubhe.
Other activities for the week included varnishing the rail, cleaning the
dingy bottom, filling water tanks, laundry, buying groceries, and many more
mundane tasks that need to be done on a boat or just for living in
general.
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| Bachelor supper. Actually I am a pretty good cook but lazy when Nancy is gone. |
When I went to change the engine
oil, I noticed a red drip on top of the oil filter…uh oh. It was a coolant leak in a cast aluminum pipe
about 8 inches long that runs from the heat exchanger to the thermostat
housing. I had a faint wiff of coolant
(antifreeze) the last few times I had shut down the engine, and had
investigated but could not see anything, and the reservoir level was holding,
so I had attributed the smell to the cap venting. It turns out that the pipe is highly corroded
and actually has a pinhole (maybe 2).
Failure of this part would stop us in our tracks so fixing it would be
my first priority. (As a side note, this
pipe is connected via a short rubber section that looks original. I considered replacing it before our trip but
the job would be so difficult, I put it off. I am a little embarrassed to show the picture, because anything that looks that bad should have been replaced before now. ) First order of business was to get
a new pipe ordered so I could get it installed before our planned
departure. Nope…Perkins strikes
again. According to my regular sources, the
part is not stocked and would have to be shipped from England, AND it would
cost $1,160! Replacement of the part would also require major effort including
partial disassembly of the heat exchanger (the reason I haven't done it before now).
After much research and analysis, I decided to reinforce the pipe with
high temperature epoxy that I found in the local hardware store, and a special
high temp tape that I had on board for emergencies. Dubhe always runs cool so I will also leave
the heat exchanger cap loose to keep the system from pressurizing. We will press on and keep an eye on it.
The best way to clean the dingy
bottom is to go to a beach and turn it upside down.
So, I grabbed a couple of beers and headed to the beach on the north end
of the island. A few minutes out, my
outboard quit pushing. It was running
but the propeller was not turning. After
much fiddling and cussing I decided that I had better start rowing since the
current was taking me ever further from Dubhe.
I made it back and got some exercise along the way. My 3½ Nissan outboard is old and has been
reliable, but for some reason decided not to go into gear. I put it up and will deal with that
later. Meanwhile, I was able to pull the
dingy “Little Dipper” up onto a dock for cleaning. A trip to Publix on the bus and we are ready to go.
Although busy, I was able to
make a couple of trips to the beach and the Dixie Fish Company bar during the
week.
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| So Long Fort Myers Beach |
I am writing this Sunday before we leave so I can get it posted before we leave. It may be a while before I have a chance to post again but if something does not go as planned, I will update.
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