Second Trip to the San Juan Islands
This summer got off to a slow start. Anyone from the PNW can tell you the weather was rotten till early July. And I made the mistake
Marilyn
Adding a Fuel Polisher
A few months ago, we had our fuel tank professionally cleaned. We vowed to keep the fuel clean so we are not stranded by our trusty Perkins when we need it most.
A Week in the San Juan Islands
We’re just back from 8 days of sailing in the San Juan Islands. It was a fantastic voyage, and full of ‘firsts’! Okay, okay, the weather just stunk. Heavy rain, grey skies, 50ish F. What happened to that nice weather of a couple weeks ago?
Adding a Maintenance Bilge Pump
This posting is about good ideas and bad ideas. Or maybe I should say good ideas with bad and good implementations.
Yamaha 8 HP Outboard Thermostat
We have a Yamaha 8 HP 2-stroke outboard for our dinghy (1999 model 8SMHX). I reported earlier about how to change its water pump impeller (here). We did that because the telltale wasn’t flowing water, and it still wasn’t after we serviced the water pump. So we took off the head cover to look at the thermostat.
Yamaha 8HP Outboard Water Pump Service
Our dinghy came with a Yamaha 8 HP 2-stroke outboard (1999 model 8MSHX). We we started it up for the first time, there wasn’t any water coming out the telltale hole so we decided it was time to service the water pump.
Our first overnight trip
Finally – the weather was right, we had time to go, and the boat was ready. And it wasn’t a Friday – you know it’s bad luck to start a trip on a Friday, as we found out when we tried an overnight a while back and our alternator failed. So this time we left on a Saturday.
Some day there will be some good wind…
We are really keen to take Rainshadow out for a good sail. Today looked promising, after a few days of grey drizzle.
Now the Primary Winches Go Click, Click, Click
Winches on boats need servicing occasionally – yearly according to the manufacturers. They’ve got a lot of bearings in them, and gears if they are two-speed winches, all of which do much better with some nice clean waterproof marine grease. When you don’t service them for a while, the grease becomes like sticky tar. Then the winches are too hard to turn, and the pawls inside go thunk, thunk, thunk.
Ready to go… maybe not
Yesterday, we were all set for our first overnight cruise. The engine was running, Van was ready to cast off the docking lines. He was telling me the plan, but I was preoccupied. “Are you listening to me?” he asked.