May 22, 2010.

The Veranda sits safely moored in her tiny little slip just off Back Creek here in Annapolis. We’ve enjoyed visits by both the girls in the last couple of days but its time to get down to brass tacks.

I resumed working on Monday and had a challenging week. My first 2 days were spent on a 60 foot power vessel that had to be ready for a charter on Wednesday. Both engines were leaking water and running hot. By Monday afternoon the port side engine was in a serious state of disassembly. The same guy has owned the boat for several years and has never changed any zincs or the transmission fluid for that matter.

He needed new raw water impellers in both engines, a new fresh water pump on the port engine and the installation of the pump was precluded by a ridiculous amount of engine disassembly. We also found the heat exchangers to be almost completely clogged in both engines. We ran some Barnacle Buster through the raw water side of the engines and the difference was truly amazing. Barnacle Buster is as expensive as hell but it really does a remarkable job. After the new pump was installed and all the peripheral bullshit was put back together we fired both engines up.

The starboard engine ran at a normal temperature and a few turns here and there stopped the few leaking hose clamps. The port side was a different story. It was leaking from EVERYWHERE. Water was actually weeping through the hoses not at the fittings. So we had to tear everything apart, run to the store and purchase new hoses and clamps and then put it all back together again. A couple of the old hoses were so dry rotted that I could actually tear them with my bare hands. We walked off the boat just after 2100 hours on Tuesday evening and the guy was happy as hell he was going to be able to keep his charter. Trust me, there’s more work to be done in his immediate future.

Yesterday I had to remove and replace both engine water seacock’s in a large power vessel. They were in a tight spot and were only accessible by removing the batteries from their battery boxes. Of course the batteries were 8D’s that weigh in at about 165 pounds apiece. Couple that with the fact that the headroom is such that I couldn’t quite stand upright, let’s just say I’m really glad the weekend is here.

We have been doing a lot of walking in our spare time. While walking along Ego Alley we came upon a powerboat that was tied to the wall. I hope you can appreciate one of the knots that he used to secure his boat as much as I do. Sore muscles and a tired body are all forgotten when something as simple as this can make me laugh.