Forcible eviction

Ft. Lauderdale Air Show. No U.S. military this
year due to budget cuts but we had great seats.

Matt replaced the tank selection valve in the fuel line, which solved the air leak issue. Since nothing is ever straightforward, he had to go to several different locations all over Ft. Lauderdale to find the proper fittings that could convert the new American valve to be used with the old metric fittings and lines. All of this was on foot, over the course of 4 hours in the heat and humidity, while dragging around a couple of boat friends that didn't realize what they were getting into. So after the Bataan death march concluded, we have finally have two working engines.

We discovered that one of the diesel tanks has water and algae in it. I will spare you the picture of the slimy protoplasm that we (by "we" I mean Matt) extracted from the bottom of the tank. The engine won't even run on the fuel at all, which makes us wonder just how old it is. We think that the diesel itself may have gone bad. There are services that will test the fuel, "polish" it, and clean your tank.  So we will look into that.

I will however publish this picture of the bits of the creature that was blocking the water line for our freezer. Some sort of sea slug or other slimy little critter decided that our thru-hull opening was a perfect little cave in which to set up a home, which it probably was until it got smooshed up by Matt with the drain unclogging stick.  Of course, the non-functioning water line was discovered right at bed time, and the freezer couldn't wait until morning, so there was nothing to do but to get to it and start the repair. Add that to the list of things you don't have to worry about when you live on land. Sorry, I know it's gross but it had to be done.

Probably would have made great bait....

 

 

 



After we get our fuel tank cleaned and holding tank fixed (it was installed with the pump out valve in the wrong spot), we just need to wait for a weather window to head back to the Bahamas. In the meantime, we are enjoying the weather and having fun with great boat friends.