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December 28, 2004
Another year is drawing to a close and life is good. 2004 has definitely been a year of exploration, adventure, discovery and personal growth for us. Sometimes we're surprised at how much we've learned, seen, and experienced in these twelve short months.
To bring you up-to-date, we're STILL in Monterey not in San Francisco as originally planned. One of the truths of cruisin' that we have definitely learned is “don't plan on being somewhere on a specific date!” As we were filling our water tanks about a month ago we investigated water coming out of an overflow hose in the engine room only to discover a broken engine mount bracket. This was the beginning of a month long “adventure” that fortunately has a fairly happy ending! If you have read our previous logs, you know that we've had the opportunity to do some wonderful things and go great places, well this story is “the other side of the cruisin' life”.
Gary was able to remove the broken bracket (above) from the starboard aft engine mount and the engine; fortunately there is a full service boat yard, Monterey Bay Boat Works  that was able to re-weld (notice the word “re-weld”?) the bracket for us. Upon closer examination Gary had discovered that the bracket had been broken and welded previously…this raised our concern. Being a good detective, he wondered what would cause this to happen twice . The lag bolts holding the engine mount to the stringer had apparently loosened in the past and were repaired by squirting silicon caulking into the hole and reinserting the bolts. Unfortunately this did not provide a stable base for the mount and with the engine's vibrations the bracket broke again. He decided to use hanger bolts embedded in epoxy to provide a more secure attachment point for the mount and bracket. Now this is not as easy as it may sound because to do this necessitated raising  a 1000-pound engine about 6 inches! But the boat gods were smiling on us as we were fortunate to be in a slip right next to David Winterburn, who owns yacht-expert.com and works on all types of boat systems. He graciously lent us the straps and chain hoists needed to lift the engine and provided expert advice on how to tackle the process. As with many things on a boat, there is much preparation that takes place before one can actually begin work. To rig the hoist we needed to move a 4-drawer cupboard in the galley, lift the galley floor boards to provide overhead access to the engine, wrap a strap around the pilot house roof via the side ports,  attach the chain hoist to the engine and the strap, disconnect the prop shaft coupling, loosen the exhaust, and then FINALLY raise the engine far enough to remove the mount, fill the bolt holes with epoxy, insert the bolts, and lower the engine. And then we reversed the process! It took a few days for the epoxy to fully cure and we were then ready to have the prop shaft realigned. (A prop shaft must be realigned whenever the engine has been moved.) The boat yard had recommended someone to us; he came as scheduled and attempted to do the alignment. Notice the word “attempted”? He & Gary ascertained that 4 of the 6 remaining bolts were also loose and had been “fixed” with silicon caulking; therefore the engine couldn't be aligned and the epoxy process had to be repeated. Gary spent several days kicking himself in the behind for not checking ALL of the bolts initially; he had a really hard time believing anyone would do something like that! At the same time he decided that as long as we had to deal with all of the engine mounts, they should be replaced. (Sort of like our rigging scenario…see the May log.) Of course the engine mounts were not easily attained and it took two tries before we found mounts that would work without MAJOR adaptations….all of which took time. Robert at the Quarter Deck was extremely helpful in tracking down the needed hardware.
Eventually the new mounts arrived and were identical to what we already had, so we could just switch them out. In the meantime, Gary was busy removing lag bolts, prepping the holes, and planning his strategy for the big day when we would again lift the engine! But this time, we also needed to lift the front of the engine which required another strap though the pilothouse hatch and around the mast for support along with the strap around the pilothouse roof! Luckily David came through with his equipment and expertise, enabling us to do most of the work ourselves. On December 20 we went through the entire process of removing the cupboard….etc. (see earlier paragraph!) to remove the old mounts, install the new mounts and then finesse the engine back in place so the engine brackets could be install. This required levering the engine with 2x4's and some great teamwork with Murray the Cat providing the necessary supervison. [A note to all students out there who think that physical science is boring and that you'll never use it…I can't begin to count the number of times that we have used simple machines, i.e. levers and the principles of physical science to accomplish tasks on the boat. The former-teacher part in me says that I should write a comprehensive curriculum based on living on a sailboat that would encompass biology, physical science, physics, geology, geography, creative writing, nutrition, math…any number of disciplines.] This was a two-day project and we went to bed with no floor in the galley and the engine suspended. At the end of the second day, the engine was firmly in place with new engine mounts and we were ready to have the shaft aligned again. This time we hired David to do it and he and Gary completed the job in about 3 ½ hours! We're now a boat with power again!
 On a personal note during this entire project I said several “thank you's” to my dad for teaching me the names of tools and how to use them. At the end of one day, Gary even called him and told him that it was great that I knew the difference between a wrench, ratchet, and pliers!
Because so much had been disturbed in the engine room, Gary did a thorough check of hoses, wires, and connections and determined that the hoses for the transmission were not in the best shape. Off they came and new hoses are being fabricated as I write. These should be on by the end of the week and then we can head north to a slip we have waiting for us at Emery Cove Marina in Emeryville.
I would be remiss if I did not share some of the wonderful moments we've also had this month. Gary has had a great time photographing wildlife here in the harbor. His new Canon digital camera is a godsend as he can just download the pictures and save the ones he wants…no film or processing! One day he spent several hours photographing a female otter and her offspring. It was great fun watching the youngster learning to get & eat the shellfish and how Mom checked on him whenever he “squeaked.” Waterfowl have also provided subjects and the picture of the Black Necked Stilt was taken as we drove up the coast to Santa Cruz for an enjoyable day.
 Just before Christmas we bought a used Pamlico 120 kayak for Gary to enjoy and use for photography. He had previously owned a kayak and has already become “one with the water” by paddling around the bay.
Christmas found us in California far from family and friends, but we did talk to the folks back home several times that day and have heard from other via email. We'll get our Christmas cards with our January mail delivery from our mail-forwarding service, St. Brendan's Isle. We enjoyed a walk on the beach and fresh local Dungeness crab for Christmas dinner. David & Delaine on the boat next to us prepared a delicious dinner of salmon in puffed pastry for us to celebrate the holiday season too.
We'll spend New Year's in Monterey and then head to Michigan early in January to celebrate Christmas with our families. Hopefully within days of our return we'll be casting off the dock lines and heading to our new temporary home for a few months in Emeryville.
On a closing note, I feel that I must comment on what horrible things we humans are doing to our oceans and bays. As much as we've enjoyed the Monterey area, we're very concerned about the harbor water quality and the impact humans are having on the natural world. This morning when I walked up the dock to shore I noticed that the water in the entire fairway and in each slip was covered with some type of petroleum solution. I was so glad that the mother otter and her baby were not swimming by our boat today! There is also a large amount of just plain trash in the water…plastic bags, Styrofoam, plastic bottles, cardboard, cups, shoes, and just about anything that humans discard. It is very disconcerting to realize that we are in an affluent area where people are well educated and should realize what this type of behavior is doing to our planet. Please do whatever you can to encourage your legislators and governors to pass laws, which will protect the environment, AND to FUND existing programs. Please think about where your trash will end up when it leaves your hands.
We send warm wishes for a blessed and more peace-filled New Year for each of you.
Peace & Light
Dorothy, Gary & Murray the Cat
© Copyright 2004
Last updated on
February 3, 2005
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