Can you identify the location of this scene? If yes, then you must be a cruiser.
Friday, January 05, 2007
A Family Visit
Vero Beach
Yesterday we had a nice visit from my brother Ed, his wife Sally and Kristy, his daughter. They live near by near Melbourne.
Kristy is almost finished with her studies to become a kindergarten school teacher. The kids will love her I'm sure.
The five of us went out to Panera Bread for some brunch, then we went for a walk on the beach. It was a lovely day and a nice visit.
In the background of this picture is a restaurant that Ed says was a favorite of my Aunt Gracie and my mother Helen. I'll be darned. I never would have known that.
Thanks Ed for the visit.
Later in the afternoon I had this rude encounter with a bird of paradise.
Yesterday we had a nice visit from my brother Ed, his wife Sally and Kristy, his daughter. They live near by near Melbourne.
Kristy is almost finished with her studies to become a kindergarten school teacher. The kids will love her I'm sure.
The five of us went out to Panera Bread for some brunch, then we went for a walk on the beach. It was a lovely day and a nice visit.
In the background of this picture is a restaurant that Ed says was a favorite of my Aunt Gracie and my mother Helen. I'll be darned. I never would have known that.
Thanks Ed for the visit.
Later in the afternoon I had this rude encounter with a bird of paradise.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Florida Is Nice
Vero Beach
I found myself scratching a mosquito bite today. Then it occurred to me, this is the first bite I can remember getting in Florida. Ah, it's so easy to forget that the natural state of Florida is infested with lots of flying insect. The unnatural state is man-made and involves lots of spraying.
It's hard to overstate how nice Florida is for us cruisers. I had the chance to move here 40 years ago. On the other hand, living here in a house is not like visiting here on a boat. The traffic is terrible and gets worse every year. The crime is terrible and gets worse every year. If I lived here I'd probably complain about everything.
Still, the climate is delightful and the nature is wonderful. Especially when there are no mosquitoes around and no hurricanes on the way.
p.s. I picked up an engineering magazine in the sailor's lounge today. It was about design and factory automation. If I were starting again as a young engineer today, I think that factory automation would be a very fun field. The kinds of gadgets and the methods used today are 99% the same as they were in the 1970s. However, the gadgets are so much better, and so much easier to use and so well supported by software and by CAD tools that it would be a pleasure to do the work today.
I found myself scratching a mosquito bite today. Then it occurred to me, this is the first bite I can remember getting in Florida. Ah, it's so easy to forget that the natural state of Florida is infested with lots of flying insect. The unnatural state is man-made and involves lots of spraying.
It's hard to overstate how nice Florida is for us cruisers. I had the chance to move here 40 years ago. On the other hand, living here in a house is not like visiting here on a boat. The traffic is terrible and gets worse every year. The crime is terrible and gets worse every year. If I lived here I'd probably complain about everything.
Still, the climate is delightful and the nature is wonderful. Especially when there are no mosquitoes around and no hurricanes on the way.
p.s. I picked up an engineering magazine in the sailor's lounge today. It was about design and factory automation. If I were starting again as a young engineer today, I think that factory automation would be a very fun field. The kinds of gadgets and the methods used today are 99% the same as they were in the 1970s. However, the gadgets are so much better, and so much easier to use and so well supported by software and by CAD tools that it would be a pleasure to do the work today.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
On Board Film Library
Vero Beach, N 27.66247 -80.37239
I'm trying an experiment. Click on the word Vero Beach above. It should take you to a satellite view of where I am. If this works well, I'll make it a standard feature.
Once in a while, we enjoy putting a DVD movie in to the PC and watching a movie. Being Scotch by nature, we do not buy movies except when they're on sale for $4.50 at Wal Mart, or unless it is a very special movie that we would like to watch over and over again without limit. It reminds me of our son John in the late 1970s. We took him to see the premier of Star Wars, and after that he saw it again 17 times in the theater. I'd hate to ask him today how many times he's seen it to date.
Anyhow, with that criterion, our list for an on board film library is rather short. You can see it below. From that list, you can deduce our taste trends. Do you have any nominations that you think we should add to our list? If so, please send an email.
- Brazil
- O Brother Where Art Thou
- Young Frakenstein
- Little Shop of Horrors
- It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
- How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
- Doctor Strangelove
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- A Fish Called Wanda
- The Blues Brothers
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Fawlty Towers (the series)
Monday, January 01, 2007
Finally, a Problem Fixed
Vero Beach
About a year ago our head (toilet) started leaking clean salt water. The head has a lever to operate a piston for flushing, and a foot pedal to step on to admit salt water for flushing. The first year we were on Tarwathie it worked fine. Then a year ago it started letting in salt water even when not stepping on the pedal.
The problem is quite serious because the head is below the water line. If the leak had started when we were away from the boat it could have sunk her. It would let water in continuously, overflow the head into the bilge, and the bilge pump would pump it out until the battery was drained. That's why when leaving the boat we always close the sea cocks. Every thru-hull fitting has a sea cock.
Fortuantely, there is another shutoff butterfly valve for the head, positioned near the floor behind the head. (Yes there are three valves, the sea cock, the butterfly valve, and the foot pedal valve. We were able to open and close this every time we used the toilet in lieu of the foot pedal working. However it was unpleasant for us and even more unpleasant for all guests we had on board in the past year. My apologies to all guests who had to put up with it.
I tried to fix it several times before. For each try I have to take the head apart and carry it up to the cockpit where I can see it in daylight. It weighs almost 100 pounds so the job was difficult. Thank God the design of our head is such that I could do that without having to touch black water. It is a Wilcox and Crittenden Skipper head, very expensive, but very solid and well designed.
Well designed or not, I had no success in fixing the leak. There is a rubber valve that controls the salt water. It has two rubber flappers with metal buttons riveted into the center of each. There are two metal fingers attached to the foot pedal that push on the metal buttons.
My first attempt was to remove sald and/or lime scale from everything. No effect. Then I replaced the valve with a new one. No effect. Then, because the valve appears symmetrical, it can be inserted in any of four orientations. I tried all four. No effect.
Today, I tried once again. I took it apart once again and just stared at the mechnism. I worked the pedal back and forth many times. I tried to build up a 3D mental model of how the valve worked. I'm not good at that. Even though I'm an engineer by training, I'm not a mechanical engineer. I've always had trouble seeing the relationship between the function of gadgets and their shape. Even things I helped design I had trouble recognizing when I see them. This time however, I just kept at it long enough to finally succeed.
I decided that the metal fingers weren't pushing on the buttons hard enough when the foot pedal was released. I cleaned them off with a wire brush, then I applied a dab of J-B Weld to the end of each making them about 3mm longer. I let the J-B Weld (the quick formula) dry for a couple of hours and put it all back together. Success! The seal appears to be tight. We can go back to using just the foot pedal and forget the butterfly valve. Hooray!
I should also thank J-B Weld. It is the most remarkable product. Over the years I've used it to repair many things. I don't know if they sell it outside the USA. I think every handyman should have J-B Weld in his/her toolbox.
About a year ago our head (toilet) started leaking clean salt water. The head has a lever to operate a piston for flushing, and a foot pedal to step on to admit salt water for flushing. The first year we were on Tarwathie it worked fine. Then a year ago it started letting in salt water even when not stepping on the pedal.
The problem is quite serious because the head is below the water line. If the leak had started when we were away from the boat it could have sunk her. It would let water in continuously, overflow the head into the bilge, and the bilge pump would pump it out until the battery was drained. That's why when leaving the boat we always close the sea cocks. Every thru-hull fitting has a sea cock.
Fortuantely, there is another shutoff butterfly valve for the head, positioned near the floor behind the head. (Yes there are three valves, the sea cock, the butterfly valve, and the foot pedal valve. We were able to open and close this every time we used the toilet in lieu of the foot pedal working. However it was unpleasant for us and even more unpleasant for all guests we had on board in the past year. My apologies to all guests who had to put up with it.
I tried to fix it several times before. For each try I have to take the head apart and carry it up to the cockpit where I can see it in daylight. It weighs almost 100 pounds so the job was difficult. Thank God the design of our head is such that I could do that without having to touch black water. It is a Wilcox and Crittenden Skipper head, very expensive, but very solid and well designed.
Well designed or not, I had no success in fixing the leak. There is a rubber valve that controls the salt water. It has two rubber flappers with metal buttons riveted into the center of each. There are two metal fingers attached to the foot pedal that push on the metal buttons.
My first attempt was to remove sald and/or lime scale from everything. No effect. Then I replaced the valve with a new one. No effect. Then, because the valve appears symmetrical, it can be inserted in any of four orientations. I tried all four. No effect.
Today, I tried once again. I took it apart once again and just stared at the mechnism. I worked the pedal back and forth many times. I tried to build up a 3D mental model of how the valve worked. I'm not good at that. Even though I'm an engineer by training, I'm not a mechanical engineer. I've always had trouble seeing the relationship between the function of gadgets and their shape. Even things I helped design I had trouble recognizing when I see them. This time however, I just kept at it long enough to finally succeed.
I decided that the metal fingers weren't pushing on the buttons hard enough when the foot pedal was released. I cleaned them off with a wire brush, then I applied a dab of J-B Weld to the end of each making them about 3mm longer. I let the J-B Weld (the quick formula) dry for a couple of hours and put it all back together. Success! The seal appears to be tight. We can go back to using just the foot pedal and forget the butterfly valve. Hooray!
I should also thank J-B Weld. It is the most remarkable product. Over the years I've used it to repair many things. I don't know if they sell it outside the USA. I think every handyman should have J-B Weld in his/her toolbox.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
