GroupWBench

We are settling in to the new boat quite nicely. After a couple of weekends of living on her, we are very happy. We've been doing a bit of nesting. Ivy is making new curtains and we have tried to organize where everything goes. I guess there is always a big LIST OF THINGS TO DO on any boat. We've spent time building the list and knocking a few items off of it.

We have updated the boat opening and closing checklists, replaced batteries, and done a clean up. Ivy has also made some nice little stickers identifying through-hull locations and the direction the little handle should go to close the valves.

You ask why the stickers? Well…hmmm…I must reluctantly admit to a colossal mistake. The two through-hull valves we use the most are the one for the air conditioning and the one for the engine. When we start up the air conditioning we have to move the valve handle so that it is perpendicular to the flow of water through the valve in order to open it. The engine through hull is the opposite of that. We fired up the engine after replacing the batteries and it started like a champ. I sat there thinking I was king of the world for a moment, and then heard a piercing screeching sound from the buzzer on the engine controls. We shut down the engine and engaged our brains. Not only was the engine cooling through hull openeing closed but I was so tickled that it started up so nice that I hadn't doublechecked to ensure that water was pumping out. It wasn't. When I looked and saw the through hull valve handle in the perpendicular position it took me a while to realize that this one is the opposite from the air conditioning. We weren't cooling the engine. The alarm was the overheating alarm. The result was:

That is a picture of the impeller that pulls in water and pumps it thorugh the system to cool the engine. Without water, the rubber flanges die and no water moves.

Ok, that was kind of a rookie mistake, but it isn't the end of the world. Changing an impeller shouldn't take more than a few minutes and should be done. Yeah, right!

One of the three little brass screws that holde the impeller cover in place is behind the drive pulley for the alternator belt. There is absolutely no way to get to it with a screwdriver without loosening the belt and taking off the drive pulley – a major operation. I managed to reach in from the side with a pair of needle nose vise grips and take the screw out without dismantling the front of the engine. It was almost surgical. Woo Hoo! Not so bad, after all. Yeah, right! I replaced the impeller and the little paper gasket. Then I managed to get the screw back into its little hidden hole behind the pulley. Ivy opened the seacock so we could start the engine and…we had a little leak from the water pump behind the impeller. Sigh..we are still working our way through that one.

We haven't been able to take the boat out yet. Other than that, we love it. It is very cozy, the air conditioning keeps the Texas heat out, we have room to stand and move around, all in all a nice getaway place on the lake.