Preparing to launch

Alan

We have been really enjoying a real home made Florida Key Lime pie. With just the two of us it has lasted for a couple of days :~) Thanks Tom.Yesterday we tried to finish the last of the antifouling. I asked the yard crew early in the morning  to move the tripod pads. This would allow us to paint underneath the pads. They came late, at four o’clock. A line squall came to further slow us up. I finally got on one coat at six o’clock.  Jamey came a little early than expected to clean the fuel tanks. This is done by filtering the fuel through a series of filters. A wand is put into the tanks and the fuel is sucked up and circulated through  the filters in the machine and back in through the  fuel fill pipe. The tank was a lot cleaner than expected with no water. I had drawn fuel from the bottom of the tank earlier. It was dirty with water. I guess I had done a good job.

Today before breakfast I painted the last of the antifouling.

We can now go in the water. We have to just wait for a couple of hours for the paint to cure.  Felicity had to go back and clean off the reside from the cheap masking tape. We only left it on for less than a day and never got it wet. Lesson for today … expensive tape is worth the money.

It really blew today. We decided that it was best to get the engine running. I discovered the starting battery was weak. I took it to the shop for them to look at it. Bob, the mechanic, looked at it. The bulging sides do not look so good.  I took the battery used for the anchor windlass and put it in place of the engine one. It had 12,5 volts after sitting for 8 months. The old engine one was 7.6 volts.

I worked on the fuel filter system. I took the fuel filter bowl apart to clean it up. The drain plug was plugged with gunk. The glass bowl was covered with grime. I cleaned it all up. I put it all back together. I borrowed some diesel fuel to prime the filter. Now to prime the engine. I hand primed the secondary filter. Felicity then turned over the engine to purge the air out of the slackened nuts on the injectors. Good job. Now to start the engine. I checked the engine oil, the transmission oil and the coolant. All go. OK Felicity, lets start her. The engine turned over a brisk rate. Must be the good battery. No start. Sigh…. What could be wrong? Always check the obvious. I pulled aside the steering pedestal cover. Yep, I had left the shut off pulled out! I set the cold start. The engine started five seconds later. It is a good day. 

We decided to postpone the launch to Monday. Later, I discovered the launch area was taken up by a tent for the “Hoe  Down”. This is a country themed party and supper. We get VIP tickets. I will bring my harmonica.