Rob took the BART to Richmond then boarded the No. 74 bus for the marina where I was waiting for him at the bus stop at about noon. It was great to see him again. Even though I had been around him only a few weeks more than 10 months ago he seemed so familiar that I felt that I had known him most my life. We walked directly from the bus stop to the restaurant in the nearby old Ford assembly plant building at Ford Point and had a pleasant lunch. I had a yummy Reuben sandwich which Klaus had introduced me to in Honolulu. We then walked back to the boat along the waterfront walkway and spent several hours discussing various things. We went over the potential stops in our sail to San Diego, many of which Rob had visited personally, and got a better feel how to go about the trip. At about 4 PM we walked to the bus stop and I saw him off well in time to get on the BART train before dark. Walking back to the boat I didn't feel too sad because Rob said that he would visit us with a friend whom I am looking forward to meeting because he has taken such an interest in this blog, after Arnold and I arrive back in Richmond on 4 January .
I still wasn't over my cold (and Rob seemed to be just getting over one of his own) so I had a quiet night and watched a movie "The Siege" with the little fan heater going the whole time. I retired at 9 PM with my latest bedding configuration: one wool blanket and fluffy sheet below me; one sheet, three wool blankets, and one spread out sleeping bag above me. Since the cold weather arrived and I developed this cold I have been looking at Pachuca as my igloo: buttoned up, kept as warm as possible, protecting me from the cold, wind, and rain outside. Well, maybe it hasn't been That bad. True, it certainly is cold, even in the middle of the day, but he wind varies but does not get too strong. Today we've had fog, drizzle, and light rain starting at mid afternoon.
This morning, after 10 hours in the sack, I decided to dedicate the day to sorting out the engine starting problem that I had encountered a few days previously - where I got the engine to start only after repeated hard pushes of the "start" button. Mark from Shoreline Marine Diesel in Port Townsend had inspired me to action with an email describing how to go about fixing the problem, and after some reflection I had realized that to do nothing was irresponsible, subjecting me to risk of loss of Pachuca if I could not start the engine at a crucial time. I decided to dedicate the entire day to working on this starter button problem. I dedicated this much time because I know from past experience that I do this sort of work to a schedule, with an anxiety-driven urge to cut corners, I will totally screw it up.
The first task was to slowly and methodically take everything out of the port quarter berth, including its mattress. Only then could I get enough room to have a chance of working on the switch in that cramped area. I then took photographs of the backs of the instruments and their wiring in the quarter berth area, drew a diagram of the instruments as they presented themselves in the cockpit, and drew a diagram of the wires attached to the two poles of the starter switch (thick green wire on one pole, a whopping four wires on the other pole: black, two brown, one orange). The hard part was unscrewing the two bolts that held the wires to the poles. The screws had been undisturbed for a long time and corrosion had taken its toll.
I removed the switch and hit the road on my now-indispensable bicycle. I visited Whale Point hardware and picked up my 2010 Nautical Almanac. I also pick up some crimp-on electrical connectors that were to come in very handy later. I then bicycled to KMMI and presented the switch asking if they could supply a replacement. The fellow at the counter asked what it was from and I replied that it was the starter switch for a SABB diesel. At that he said that he could not supply it. I told him "It is just a switch.", reading from its side not "SABB" but "Assembled in Mexico". He could not help me but was kind enough to give me the name of a fried who might be able to help me. I then peddled to West Marine and found a switch. I asked the man to compare the diameter of the thread of the new switch with my old one and he produced an adjustable wrench as a caliper. I purchased the switch for $28 and returned to the boat. On the way back I stopped at Burger King and got my two Junior Whoppers at $2 for lunch.
At the boat it didn't take me long to realize that fixing four round wire terminals with the short screw would not work, so I made an extension where the four wires were joined to the extension with one bolt and then only one terminal would be fitted to the switch. This worked fine. The engine started with very little pressure on the new starter switch, which indicated to me that the old switch had probably been badly corroded inside. (Lord knows how old it was.)
Anyway, I had installed a new starter switch, the engine was starting beautifully, and I was feeling better about Pachuca and myself.
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1 comment:
Well done Robert! You are on to it..cold or not!
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