Transmission Oil Change, Water Test

If you look at the comment of yesterday's blog about the engine oil change you'll see some three very timely and useful suggestions from Mark. 

He recommended changing the engine oil and filter every 100 hours of running - 200 maximum - instead of the prescribed 500 hours.  Bob Carroll and I had been surprised at the 500 hours recommendation in the owners manual and I remember mumbling that I'd change it more frequently, maybe every 250 hours.  Mark's advice seals it.  My policy will be to change the oil and filter every 200 hours or 12 months, whichever comes first.

I plead mea culpa for not having changed the transmission oil and the policy will be to change the transmission oil whenever I change the engine oil.  This will agree nicely with the book's recommendation of every 200 hours for the transmission oil change.

To that end I changed the transmission oil this morning.  My big problem was that I had no working extraction pump and I was not about to trouble Bob for his pump in order to extract a measely 0.56 liters of ATF (automatic transmission fluid).  Besides, with the new more frequent change regime it was important that I have my own oil extraction resources for the return to Australia.

Fynspray Extraction Pump

There is nothing like quiet desperation for concentrating the mind.  I dug out the Fynspray pump for another look. I removed the plunger and had a look at the leather seal. ("Leather bucket" we would have called it during my brief time of windmill maintenance in Marble Bar.)  The seal looked a bit ragged on the edges but it was neither torn nor scored.  In fact, it looked pretty good.  I went round and round flaring out the seal with my fingers.  I then reinserted the plunger and soon learned the secret: instead of pumping up and down at the speed of a madman, push the plunger down, give the seal a half a second to seat itself, then pull the plunger back, bringing up the oil.  Fortunately I had kept the thin tube that had come with that cheap pump that I had thrown away.  I fitted it to the pump hose and before long I was hearing sucking sounds out of the transmission,  just like a drinking straw when the cup is empty.  At the bodega I found a new container of Quaker State ATF/3 and soon had the ATF up the mark on the dipstick.

In the photo you can see the pump setup, black hose for inlet, red hose for discharge. The brass fitting interfaces the thick hose with the thin one, and that worked well.  My next task is to interface the thick hose with another hose that will fit over the engine dipstick tube for fast extraction, as Mark suggested.  I'll need hose of 20mm ID to fit over the flare of the tube, and supple enough to clamp around the tube.

This oil change has been at 73 engine hours.  I will do the next one at 200 hours, so that in future I can work with multiples of 200.

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After the oil change cleanup I tested my epoxy filling work of yesterday by playing a heavy stream of water on the companionway step or about 5 minutes.  I then went down below and meticulously inspected the floor, walls, and ceiling with a workshop light and my hand.  The entire area was bone dry, and it looked like another #%^*# leak had been eliminated.  YES!

Fire Extinguishers and Companionway

Pachuca's 3 fire extinguishers have been serviced and recharged.

The are three extinguishers, all powder type (Ammonium Phosphate base).  The largest one (2.3 kg) is mounted in the hanging closet, the smallest one (1.0 kg) is mounted next to the companionway, and the middle one (1.3 kg) is mounted between the quarter berths.  They were on the boat since I purchased her (in 2005, I think).  Once in a while I would invert them and check their pressure gauges but did nothing else until now.  Jak and I had discussed replacing them and I got prodded two weeks ago when I noticed that the pressure in one of the smaller ones had dropped.

Last week I asked Bob Carroll if he could suggest a place where I could purchase new fire extinguishers and he suggested getting the current ones serviced.  His recollection was that I could simply drop them off at the marina office and it would be done.  I visited the office and Cytia said that yes, there was a fireman who would pick them up, service them, and return them sooner or later.  I dropped them off that afternoon and today I picked them up.  The total cost was 500 pesos. 

I'll keep an eye on the pressures until my departure.  If thinks work out OK I would have saved not just money but also the time and effort of mounting the new brackets.

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Today I filled in all 60 holes at the entrance of the companionway where the teak used to be.  I used one of those marvelous sticks of epoxy where you slice off what you need then knead it until the color is consistent.  You wind up with a thick putty that is excellent for filling and repairing.  Jak had suggested taking with me epoxy that can be used under water, and he may have been referring to this, because it can be used under water.

For each hole I had to poke the material in with the butt of a drill then go below and cut off any excess that was dangling from the hole.  Both sides of the hole then had to be finished off appropriately.  I started the work at 7.45 AM and didn't think that I'd be able to finish before the sun heated up the work area, but I got lucky.  Progress was faster than I had expected and the morning partial cloud cover lasted just long enough for me to finish the work at 11.15 AM.  By noon the sun was blazing on the companionway but I had the work nicely protected by a couple of sheets.

I expect to discuss the possibility of covering the area with teak with Reggie on Monday morning, but it is likely that I will simply paint the area, as it was originally intended to be.

First Oil Change

We made the first engine oil change yesterday, about 12 months after the installation of the engine and with 73 hours of running.  (The specification calls for a change at 12 months or 500 engine hours, whichever comes first.)

I allocated the entire day for the job, determined to work deliberately and methodically with plenty of time to deal with snags.  It's just as well I did, too, and just as well that I did it on a weekday when all of the shops were open.

I started off by running the engine for 20 minutes - long enough to warm the oil but not long enough to make the engine too hot for my work.  Then I put together a cheap plastic pump that I had purchased for the job and inserted the thin flexible tube down the dip stick pipe.  But try as I might I couldn't get the pump to work.  I pumped so hard that it got hot.  I soon confirmed that the problem lay in the pump and not leaky hosing.  By then the plastic handle on the plastic pump had cracked and I knew that I had a cheap piece of junk in my hands.  All I had asked for was one oil extraction to see me through to Australia, but it couldn't even do that.

I then dug out the sturdy all-metal Fynspray pump that had done such a good job in evacuating the Sabb's engine oil and went to Seamar to find something to reduce the Fynspray's hose diameter to take the thin plastic hose that goes down the dip stick pipe.  Roberto worked hard and found something, and for 43 pesos I got the part along with 100 pesos worth of his time.  Unfortunately this pump failed too.  I took it apart and established that the check valve is working fine but it needs a new seal.  By then the site was getting messy due to oil dripping from the various hoses.

I changed clothes and was about to leave the boat to buy another pump somewhere when Bob Carroll once again displayed his knack of showing up at just the right time.  He had come to show me his new controller for his solar panels.  Bob then made a special trip to his boat anchored at the Mogote and returned with his "oil boy", which looks like one of those garden sprays with a built-in tank but sucks in rather than sprays out.  Bob connected it up, I shoved the thin hose down the dip stick pipe, then gave the unit 5 or 6 pumping strokes as he directed.  Like magic oil started to flow from the engine sump into the unit's holding tank.  We extracted 4.4 liters of oil, which was unexpectedly low because the engine takes a total of 6.5 liters.  True, the filter holds some oil, and the oil level had fallen to between the dip stick marks during my earlier abortive attempts.

I then put a few pads under the engine and managed to remove the oil filter without too much trouble, though it was tighter than the prescribed half turn past snug and I was forced to use a tool.

We put in about 6 liters of Chevron Delo 400LE SAE 15W-40 (standard API CJ-4), taking our time about sneaking up the the top mark and running the engine to charge up the oil filter. 

Afterwards we had a pleasant light lunch at the restaurant over two non-alcololic beers.  It was close to 4 PM when we finished our lunch.  I had cost Bob the better part of his day but I was very grateful for his help. 

I then walked over to Arjona and purchase two 1-gallon container (7.5 liters) of Delo 400LE oil for my sail to Australia.

In Australia I'll set myself up with one of those pumps.

Teak Work on Companionway

I've stumbled my way into a project that I wasn't going to do until after my return to Australia.

Beginning

A few weeks ago I discovered another source of water into the bilge.  I washed down the boat and by chance the floor board in the section between the quarter berths was not in position.  After the washdown I noticed about 3 cupfuls of water pooled along a stringer near the bilge.  Normally I wouldn't notice this since the water would run to the edge of the flooring then disappear.  To have this much water leak in after only a brief play of the hose over the companionway entrance meant that in a rough seaway serious amounts of water would be shipped over time.  By then the leak had settled to a drip, but that drip persisted for hours, telling me that water that had accumulated in and under the teak facing on the companionway step was working its way to that drain point.

Note how screws break and peel away

This morning I started to look at that teak with the intention of re-caulking the gaps between the boards in the hopes of stopping the percolation of water to the underlying fiberglass.  The more I looked the worse the situation appeared.  The teak boards were thin and brittle, most of them were loose, and the heads of many of the screws holding them down were missing due to corrosion. It was all too far gone for a patch up.  I started to gingerly probe the wood with a screw driver and soon I was fully committed to removing all of the teak.

Teak removed, exposing years of grime

My big worry - and what had been holding me back - was removal of the many screws that held the wood down.  I needn't have worried because the brass or bronze screws had degenerated to the point that they actually crumbled at the slightest force.  I found that many of the screws simply broke when I lifted up the wood.  In the end there remained a set of screws which I had sheared off at deck level with a screw driver, and the material was soft enough for me to drill a pilot hole with a 1/16" bit then follow that up with a full diameter drill.  After an hour of work all screws had been either removed or drilled out, leaving holes clean through the fiberglass.

In center is tiny pilot hole drilled through top of screw shaft

Then the cleanup started: years of grime and remnants of caulking which must be teased out of the rough anti skid surface.

Clean surface, but more cleaning to be done

I considered contacting Reggie for a quotation for replacing the teak but after discussions with Bob and later with Rick I agreed that the best solution is to fill in the holes with epoxy then paint the area, which was never intended to be lined with teak in the first place and has a rough non-skid surface.

PS The dental work went OK.  Three big roots, one after the other.

Spanish Lessons, FM3, and Other Things

I've finished the 25-day computer course on the Spanish language, and for me at this stage of my visit it was hugely beneficial.  After more than a year immersed in the Mexican culture I felt ripe for some structured learning.  The course involved written instruction followed by audio sessions where I would be asked to say things in Spanish then I would hear it spoken.  My alarm goes off at 5 AM and by 5.30 AM I would be going through the next lesson until 7 AM.  This forced me to work on the boat in the hotter part of the day, but I though it important to get the study out of the way first thing, while my mind was relatively fresh and clear.

I'm already reaping benefits in the real world.  This week the dentist discovered me in the reception area 25 minutes before my appointment.  "Soy temprano" ("I am early") rolled easily off my tongue, something I would not have been able to say a week earlier.  At the Immigration counter I had learned enough to say the polite "Me gustaria renovar mi visa FM3" ("I would like ...") instead of the harder "Quiero ..." ("I want ...").

I don't plan to let up with the effort. I am presently working through some supplementary exercises in the course, then will look at David's Spanish course which I can download from the Club Cruceros site.  I'll also troll through the internet for other material.  The idea is to have as much autonomous material on board for my long cruise back to Australia.

I spent an afternoon washing and drying all of the wet weather gear and PFD's, which are inflatable life jackets with built in harnesses. That was very satisfying: I'll setting off with clean, supple, salt free equipment.  There are three PFD's on board - for Brenda, Arnold, and myself.  In the vest of mine is a small Personal Locator Beacon EPIRB-type of device which I purchased in Hawaii.  I tested it and found it to be working OK.

Yesterday morning I visited the Immigration office and got the information and material that I needed in order to renew my FM3 resident visa, which expires on 27 July.  Fortunately Bob Carroll visited the boat later that morning and pointed me to a great description of the FM3 procedures on the Club Cruceros web site.  With that as a guide I was able to log into the Immigration web site and produce the required document in which I supplied all sorts of information.  I then filled in the "basic" paper form using an English version which I noticed had been produced by Al, as a guide.  After that I then went to the bank and paid my fee (1290 pesos), strolled over to the photographer for the required photos (120 pesos), but got back to the Immigration office after their 1 PM closing time.  This morning I was the second person in and was relieved to learn that all was in order.  I am to return in 10 days to pick up my new FM3 card - and my US passport!

Musto wet weather trousers clean, repaired, ready for duty

After 67 years on the planet I've done my first sewing job.  One of the wet weather trousers had a 10" tear in the inner lining, which appears to be nylon.  If it was not repaired it was likely that sooner or later I would put a foot into the tear and ruin the trousers.  Fortunately I had found Brenda's sewing kit in the bodega and after quick instructions from her on whether to butt join or overlap the fabric (ans: overlap) and how to start and finish the threading (ans: overtitch 3 times) I had a go at it this morning and was extremely pleased with the result. There are two independent threads, one spiraling up and the other down.  Every 2 inches I would put in a few back stitches in an attempt to make each section independent.  The result may not look pretty (though it doesn't look bad to me), but it certainly looks strong and should hold up until my return to Australia.  I think that Arnold would agree that those two sets of Musto wet weather trousers were some of the most effective items of equipment that we had on board.  They kept us dry during those long, cold, and very wet winter crossings of the Australian Bight, Bass Strait, and the Tasman Sea, with its well deserved infamy.  Had they not worked as advertised we would have been in very serious trouble.

Labels for the Sail Bags

I've always had a bit of a problem with durable labeling of the various sail bags.  I finally came up with the idea of using those plastic tags used for keys.  The actual cardboard labels are protected structurally and from moisture by the plastic cases, and they can be easily replaced if circumstances change.  The photo shows 8 labels, with a 9th label in the navigation table drawer awaiting the arrival of the storm jib which I will bring back from Kingston.  This morning I added a tenth, for the parachute sea anchor that currently resides in the port sail locker.

Today at 4 PM I visit the dentist to lose one real tooth and gain one false one.  I'm down to 23 real teeth, but it looks like this set of chompers will see me out.

Dental Work

I ask the indulgence of the readers regarding this entry on my dental problems, but after all this is a blog and I am trying to document this adventure as comprehensively as I can.

I visited Dr. De Castillo this morning and the session was short and sweet, as they say.  He discussed the two options: root canal and crown vs tooth extraction and bridge.  I tried to steer him to the crown option, telling him that saving a bit of money wasn't as important as picking the best solution.  In the end he convinced me that tooth extraction will give me a better result because with a crown there would be the problem of anchoring the plate to that new crown, resulting in slippage and movement of the plate.  He told me that it would be more profitable for him to give me the root canal and crown, but that would not be in my best interest.

So on Monday morning I'll visit for an impression of my upper teeth and the removal of my plate.  He expressed concern that I would be without the plate for a day and I told him that it's no problem because these days I'm neither working nor chasing women.  Using the impression the dental technician will be able to replace the existing tooth on the plate and add a second tooth to replace the molar to be extracted.

On Tuesday afternoon I will visit again for the extraction and fitting of the "new" plate.  Pretty fast work, I think.

The all up cost will be 4950 pesos, or about $400 Aussie dollars.

I asked him about my teeth getting darker and darker.   He attributes it to aging.  Yea, maybe there is an element of aging in it, but I have a twin brother with much whiter teeth.  I've been drinking a LOT of black tea lately, so just in case that's the problem I have switched to green tea hoping that it won't turn my teeth green.

I'm thinking of painting the fronts of my teeth with two coats of that super durable white Imron paint that I've been using on the boat.  (Just kidding.)

One bit of good news is that the pain in my lower jaw was not due to a broken filling, but rather to material getting jammed in my gum line, which was fixed by the cleaning effort of two days ago.  This explains why it suddenly hurt big time during bus trip of Mexico but then steadily calmed down over time.  He has seen no other dental problem, but I'll ask him to have a close check again.

8, 101.7, and 7000

Now that the painting is behind me I'm started to reload the boat from the bodega.

This phase began yesterday when I moved the kedging anchor rode from the foredeck to the port quarter berth.  The 55 meters of 15mm rope provides a soft foundation that protects sections of wiring and one of the few lines that passes through the area.  On top of that rope is the 7 meters of 12 mm chain, representing a transfer of 17.5 kg (38 lb) from the forepeak to the stern.  On top of that is the dismantled Swarbrick 50 lb anchor.   However, I placed the Danforth kedging anchor (which I estimate to weigh about 30 lb) back in its original location where it stores very well.  Removing that rode from the compartment between the V berths has opened up terrific opportunities for secure and handy storage of important items.

While I was handling the anchor rode it occurred to me that it and the even longer working deep water rode up front on the upper shelf of the anchor well would make excellent trailing drogues in an emergency because they are very long and have lots of chain at the end.  Arnold and I could have used one when we had to work very very hard at the wheel all night running before a gale in Bass Strait.  Pachuca has a very "squirrely" rear end in those conditions.

9 sails and parachute sea anchor (red bag on top)

Today I moved the sails from the bodega into Pachuca's sail storage lockers.  There are 8 sails, yielding a total inventory of 11 sails if we include the jib and mainsail that are in use as well as the storm trysail waiting for me in Kingston.

I split up the relatively heavy spare headsails, putting one in each locker with the trim of the boat in mind.  The sails that I am most likely to use, in particular the staysail and trysail, are in the port locker, and so is the 18' parachute sea anchor.  On the starboard side I managed to also stow the beautiful new emergency tiller, broken down to two pieces - tiller and shaft - to rest in gleaming splendor in the soft comfort of the MPS spinnaker.  The stock is too long to fit in the quarter berth locker, and in any event it's too classy a creation to reside in the rough neighborhood of chains and anchors.

I picked a hot day in which to do the transfer.  At the time of this writing, 2.20 PM, the cabin temperature is 101.7 F, so it must be over 100 F outside.

The reason why I have found myself working in the heat of the day is that I had a dental appointment at 10 AM with Dr. De Castillo, Bob Carrol's dentist.  Dr. De Castillo works alone but he has a modern and well equipped facility.  He speaks better English than I had expected. Repair work on that large filling that disintegrated in an upper left molar will not be as simple as I had hoped.  Dr. De Castillo says that there is a problem between that tooth and a partial plate that anchors in that area.  He talked about either a root canal and post (and crown, I presume) or, if I understood correctly, removing the tooth and extending the partial plate.

In today's session he cleaned my gum area with some sort of ultrasound jet.  He wants me back on Saturday to see how the gum settles down before discussing the next step.  I'll vote for the root canal.  He told me that the ballpark cost figure is 7000 pesos, which represents about 560 Aussie dollars.  Dr. De Castillo's brief includes fixing another pain area in my lower left jaw and doing a complete check to prepare me for the long voyage back to Australia.