Well we finally got a little bit of warmth up here and it was a balmy 4 degrees with the sun shining so I headed to the boat to try to get some of my projects completed.
There was still a layer of frost on the boat when I arrived at 9:00am but it melted away by about 11:am and the outside of the boat dryer up so I could sit outside and do some work in the cockpit.
I had a problem with the throttle and shift control on Cork at the very end of the sailing season and had to remedy that first. The throttle / shift lever was loose and made it difficult to shift the transmission into and out of gear. I had family and friends out for a sail ... and of course when you have an audience and the wind is blowing hard and your docking...the sailing gods pick just that moment to throw a wrench into your well oiled plans. Sooooooo the shift lever ended up malfunctioning just when I returned to the dock. I was almost to the dock and I had a bit of way on because of the wind and tried to put the boat into reverse to take some way off and low and behold the control lever just spun around, when I tried to shift.
Luckily I had my dock neighbour Paul and his wife's brother to throw lines to and they reacted quickly and got the lines around a cleat before I ran into the end of my slip. I remember hearing Paul saying "ummmm you might want to put it in reverse , you're coming in really fast". He didn't know that my shifter had failed just as I was trying to put it in reverse...I did mention it after I got the boat tied up, but he probably thought I was trying to cover up my poor docking skills and likely still thinks I'm an idiot..but he still talks to me, so that's a good thing... because I like Paul.
The throttle/ transmission control body is inside the starboard locker and is held in place by a metal ring nut outside. There is a threaded flange that protrudes off of the body through to the outside of the locker wall into the cockpit and this in turn is also where the shift lever attaches. The lever is held in place with an allen screw on the very bottom of the lever.
I removed the lever and greased all of the cables and moving parts and reassembled the throttle / transmission cables to the body and tightened it all up. Tested it after and it works great... hopefully no more problems with it this sailing season!!
My next project was removing the head and holding tank! I've never liked the heads on boats... I don't like pump outs , the smell that comes from the tank vent and the hoses, the occasional blockage and the resulting work that goes along with that particular problem... I don't like any of it!!
I removed the toilet and all the hoses and that was easy. The holding tank actually came out pretty easy as well. It fit through the opening in the v-berth after I removed the 90 degree elbow at the very bottom of the tank. There was probably 2 gallons of leftover waste that never got pumped out from the fall...another reason I don't like holding tanks is that they are never truly empty... they always have a few gallons left after the pump out. I took the tank over to the pumping station and cleaned it out before throwing the whole thing into the garbage.
My solution to the heads problem now is to use a composting toilet. I'm not purchasing an "Airhead" or a "Natures Head" because of the cost. One thousand dollars is a lot of money to spend on a toilet so I'll try making one first. I've seen some home made units in RV's and they have been getting good reviews from women ... and if a bunch of women don't have a problem with it...then I don't think I'll have a problem with it!!
I'll try to document my composting toilet install and post some pictures when I start it. I'll let you know how it works and if it will be the answer I've been looking for to the heads issue on Cork.
Until next time......
See you on the water
Tom
S/V Cork
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