Day 3 and day 4.

Yesterday we tore out the hot water heater that was not working.

Ouch.

One would think a little five gallon can would be a fairly easy to remove. That would assume a magician had not installed it!

I ended up rigging block and tackle as there was no way to drain the water and no way in heck to get hands under it.

Then all the piping had to be removed using a very small pipe wrench, and cutting off the old hoses. The hoses were shot anyway as they had been lying in the oily bilge for who knows how long…

It only took two and a half hours to get the sucker out at the cost of half the skin on my arms. I did notice I bleed much easier and bruise now – like my Dad.

The tank was full of very rusty water because some moron had used galvinzed steel fittings which had badly corroded.

Then it was off for parts search to Savannah. Yuk. 3 hours later, we have new fittings ($55), new hot water heater hose to the engine ($30) and muriatic acid to flush the tank. (We get hot water when we run the engine as well as 110 volt.)

While I was gone Ryan got the fun job of wire brushing everything he could reach, and cleaning rusted bits of steel, nasty bilge stuff etc. he made a good start bu there is much left to be done before the capt is satisfied. It is crucial to have your mechanical gear clean and in great working order so when something does happen (and it ALWAYS does) you are able to see what you are doing. For instance we noticed pretty quickly that the forward motor mounts for the generator are just holding on with the rubber mounts as all the steel is gone!

We ended the day with hot water so all is well.

Today was aft head. The cabinet was poorly designed and had leaked in the past causing some wood rot that needed attention.

I can't say the first mate is exactly happy with the day's work, but in my defense for lumber I was limited to pieces of teak scavenged from old hatch covers. It is never fun trying to build something to the materials you have instead of to the situation at hand.

In addition, attempting to do finish work with a skill saw, no files, no sander, router, or any other finishing tools is a challenge at best.

This is what the space looked like after everything was torn out and below the (semi) finished product.

Plus today we finally got the DSL canceled at the old house. Three times we tried on the AT&T website, then finally found a number to call today. 45 minutes on the phone , transferred 4 times and finally got it canceled. Another yuk.

But life is good on the water. I feel a bit of pressure to get these big projects completed while we still have decent weather. Next is more engine work. Replace all filters, change oils, etc. Check hoses and clamps, bilge pump and clean bilges. Then we get take her out for a shakedown cruise!

Can't wait!

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