Boat Maintenance

I arrived back to the boat after work earlier this week and my wife greeted mw with the news that there was water in the engine room and that there was no pressure at the galley sink faucet.  I checked out the water pressure elsewhere in the boat (faucets at the sinks in both heads) to find all was fine, so it was not the pressure pump.

We had some difficulty once before with the sprayer on the faucet.  The rubber hose was protected by the spiral wind of a metal cover and I found a split in the rubber hose and water leaking down to the engine room beneath.

This time around, it turned out to be the OTHER end of the hose and that was much more difficult.  Nothing in the documentation of the boat gave me any hint of how to get to the water and drain connections to the sink.  As it turns out, there is a plywood cover box that houses the entire sink and drain area and that box is covered with acoustic protection.   This was deduced after a lot of investigation.

So here is the chaos:

Faucet Sprayer Removed and Top of Faucet

A Bit Fuzzy, This is the View in the Engine Room.  

Bottom of the Sinks on the Upper Left,

the "Box" that Encloses the Sink and Fittings

from the Rest of the Engine Room

New Faucet in Place

A Month Gone By

A whole month flashes by.  I had promised myself I'd be more diligent in posting and tracking our life aboard our yacht.  We have been really busy with some interesting projects in the office.  We were relatively slow for 2015, but things have become very busy lately.  (And we certainly hope it stays that way for a while).

Portage College Proposed Heavy Equipment Trades Building

Farewell John. We'll Miss You

When we first came to this marina, we met Dr. John Faulkner.  He had the boat in front of ours.  He had lived in this marina for 25 years on his boat Tjaldur.  In 2011, he lost his son Chris.  It was a sad and sobering reality to face.  In 2013, he moved to Bowen Island.  The marina there had services close by and was much more convenient for him.

We heard today that John passed away a few days ago on his boat.  Dear John, we will miss you.  May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.  Farewell.

  

Dr. John Faulkner Aboard Tjaldur

John and Crew Preparing to Depart for Bowen Island

Happy New Year 2016

I have been remiss in my blogging of our life on the water.  Truth be told, we have been really busy with a new architectural practice, our son's emerging new stage in his life, and with myriad little things that seem to have eaten up so much time.  We will try to do much better keeping the "Captain's Log" on what's happening on Terratima.  Projects for the New Year include enclosing the cockpit and doubling our solar panels pray to get more power to ensure the batteries are recharged when we are at anchor and it's sunny.  We are also planning our departure and routing into the Pacific when time and circumstance allow us to set out.  

To all of you sailors and sailors-to-be, a Very Happy New Year from the skipper and crew of Terratima - Island Packet 465 in the Pacific Northwest.  

Balancing Work and Sailing

It has been over 5 years since we moved out to the coast, bought Terratima and began living aboard.  Last summer (Summer 2014), Carolyn went to Edmonton and we sold or gave away to charity and family 5/6 of what we had in storage.  We simply did not miss any of it.  We still have a few cherished items we will keep in storage.

The issue now is the way forward.  The plan is very simple, retire and head south into the Pacific Ocean.  That said, we need to ensure we have some modest income and that we can continue sailing as long as our health holds up.  So how much is enough?  Our needs are not great, but we have an Autistic son and the issue is how he will move forward into adulthood.  He is so loving and wonderful, yet we worry so much.  There are no easy answers, but we continue to feel each day out as it happens - and we pray.  

Hymn to the Fallen - John Williams

For all those who fought and died for our freedom.

Enclosure for the Bimini

We've decided to make enclosures for our Bimini.  That means ordering vinyl window material, Sunbrella material, YKK No 10 zippers, binding and the required tools to do the job.  Then I need to look at the YouTube video and pick up a few shortcuts.

The ever-present YouTube Video on Enclosures