Still in Richmond Hill, GA (and Little River SC)

 July 29, 2023

Had a few people ask for an update since there's been no blog posts for awhile.  Seemed like a good time as I'm sitting on the boat on a rainy day looking for something to do.  We've had the boat here at Lightkeepers Marina in Little River, SC. (really nice folks here) for 2 months while we completed the dirt house move to Richmond Hill and hoped to get cruising again by the end of July.  Not happening yet, so we paid for another month's slip rental.  We are pretty well unpacked and set up in the condo but all those associated things with moving are taking time. New drivers licenses. new car registration, new Dr. appointments (dentist, eye, primary), fighting with the post office to learn why we've only received 2 pieces of forwarded mail after 2 months (new system where ALL forwarded mail goes through a central location in Tampa that apparently IS NOT working yet). All that said we have made a couple trips to the boat just to spend a few days on it and do an occasional project when I can tolerate the summer heat. 

Some projects are relatively easy.  Purchased an additional kayak rack and installed it on the side of the boat.  Matches the one on the other side and we've now got kayaks on board for both of us to use.

Second rack and kayak installed.  Matches the one on port side

Some projects became a bit more time consuming.  When I had a small fuel leak on the generator repaired in the spring our mechanic noted the sound proofing on the soundshield covers was coming off and it would be best to correct that before the foam started disintegrating and compromising things. The soundproofing is heavy because it's lead lined, and the glue used simply doesn't hold up long term.  So I devised a system using some thin aluminum strips thru bolted to the covers to hold everything in place.  Seems to be working so far.

One of the completed soundshield covers, 

Last big project was replacing the water heater. It had been leaking small amounts intermittently.   Rust around the base wasn't a good sign and waking up several times in the middle of the night hearing the water pump repressurizing the system told me it was time to replace.  It was a nice high end 20 gallon Torrid brand marine heater original to the boat. Figured if it lasted 23 years probably worth just getting the same unit again.  Also, figured all the fitting including the extras for the heat exchanger from the engine would be in the same locations making for a relatively easy swap.  These heaters are American made out in Washington with just one east coast distributor down in south Florida.  Rather than chancing it getting damaged in transit we drove down, picked it up and returned home.  That ended a long first day of the project.  Next day was the removal of the heater.  Thankfully the unit sits pretty accessible towards the rear of the engine compartment. It still required a lot of contortions to drain the tank and get all the fittings disconnected as they were on the back side.  Next was the task of getting it through the doorway between the engine room and lazarette and then up through the lazarette hatch and finally off the boat and onto the truck for later disposal.  Did I mention it was sweltering hot with no airflow in the engine room? Day 2 done.  Next up, clean the area, unpack the new heater, drop it down the hatch and through the engine room door and get it positioned.  Only then to discover the fittings on the new tank were general but not exact same locations.  So, time to make a shopping list of what might be needed.  Double and triple think through my ideas and call Day 3 done. 

Fittings for the heat exchanger were most notably in different locations.
The 2 yellow fixed copper pipes from the engine need to hook to the tank - somehow,

.

Day 4 spent entirely sourcing parts.  ACE hardware, hydraulic shop, plumbing supply house, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.  Stopped at boat with available parts then modify ideas and part lists. Back out sourcing more parts. Frustrating day but finally have enough assorted parts to make it work.   Day 5 back to sweating in the engine room as all parts are dry fitted and then final assembly.   Did I mention this required contorting myself over the top of the heater for several hours to get to all the fittings? Water test of course showed a leak on the incoming water fitting.  Drain, tighten, refill - all good.   Now to test the heat exchanger system.   This requires running the main engine up to temp (because I'm not sweating badly enough at this point and need to make the engine room even hotter!!).   Good news that all is working properly with the heat exchanger system.   Call it a done project. Pop the top on a cool beverage to celebrate followed by an Aleve for my aching back and then finally a much needed warm water shower!!

Engine room eye candy - the new stainless steel water heater installed and functioning.  
Note the door size the old and new units had to go through.

Plan is still to get moving before the end of August and spend Sept/Oct on the Chesapeake.  Will post again once we firm things up and get ready to shove off the dock.