Thursday 17 September 2015 - I returned to the motorhome last night to find that the propane had run out, so I had yogurt for dinner. Yum! This morning I had cereal for breakfast without my usual scrambled egg with Rotel Tomatoes to accompany it, then headed over to get my propane tank filled. Then, when I'd returned to the parking lot at the marina, I had my scrambled egg. The stove, of course, lit right up, but it took about an hour and a half to get the air purged from the refrigerator's system and running again.

Friday 18 September 2015 - I finally finished off the 50 lb. of walnuts that I started out with. I had the last ones on my cereal this morning. I'll miss them dearly, but will probably not be buying replacements in the stores for $8/lb. anytime soon. They sure were good for the last 20 years that we were able to harvest them at the house in SLC.
                On a brighter note, I filled the motorhome with gas this morning for less that $2/gallon for the first time in many years. I'd been holding off refilling the tank for a couple of weeks as the price hovered just above $2. I hope it stays down for awhile.
                I'd been hearing what I'd thought was water lapping against the hull for a couple of days and had wondered why I hadn't heard it before. Today I got down into the port side of the engine room to try to loosen one of the seacocks and cover some exposed positive electrical terminals, and the noise was much louder. I realized that it was actually water running into the water tank, but how could this be happening? There were no water pumps running that I could hear and besides, water should be flowing out of the water tank, not into it, shouldn't it? So I started turning things off at the master control panel. The third item I turned off was the refrigeration unit that runs on direct electrical current and the water stopped running. Aha! That's it. That refrigerator cools with R-134 freon, but dissipates the heat via the water in the main water tank. It made me realize that, since the water was pouring into the tank, I must be very low on water. That made me fear that the pump might run out of water and burn up, so I decided to get out the potable water hose and fill the tank. It holds 200 gallons. Well, as usual, I couldn't find the hose. Actually, I did, but it took an hour. I looked it the aft anchor locker, all levels of all the lazarettes, and everywhere else I thought it might be. Then it dawned on me. The dock box. Not on the boat. I really didn't think it was there. I'd been in there recently and didn't remember seeing it. Of course, I was wrong. Sitting right there in all it's beauty. I'd better move that hose onboard before I fill the space I need for it with something else. Actually, I may be too late! Any way, after just a few minutes of filling, the hose blew out of the filler tube and water spewed everywhere. The filler tube isn't much bigger than the hose connector, so air couldn't escape and pressure had built up creating my boat's own little geyser. I turned the pressure down at the spigot and everything went well from there on. Not only that, but now the boat has quit listing to starboard. Two hundred gallons of water at 8lb./gal. is 1600 lb. added to the port water tank. A significant weight, I'd say.
              I got the terminals on the alternator and starter covered, but I still need to get two seacocks loose. One leaks if you loosen it enough to turn, which signifies that it needs lubricating, and the other is frozen up altogether. Another, right beside the one that is frozen up, works as smooth as can be and doesn't drip at all. I do wonder why that might happen. I assume that they were last serviced at the same time, but that certainly may be untrue.

Saturday, 19 September - Tracking hoses, marking lines. Looking at manuals.

Sunday, 20 September - I spent all day working on four seacocks. Two that were loose, as they should be, and were easy to lubricate. Another that was totally frozen up and in a very tight spot, and the fourth that was very tight, but moveable.

Monday, 21 September - I finished up all the seacocks. One that needed no service because it is a newer ball cock. Another that was totally frozen up and on which one of the two drain plugs broke off (not a huge deal). And a third that I'd forgotten about, but rediscovered, and already had one drain plug broken off up inside the threaded portion of the valve body, but I was still able to lubricate it.

Tuesday, 22 September - I sorted items out of my good steel Craftsman "Automotive" tool box, some that I'll never need (Brake Parts, Windshield Wipers, etc.), some that I will (Lube Guns, etc.), and some that I MAY need (Vacuum Gauge, Hoses, etc.), and put them into a smaller, plastic tool box. Unfortunately, my steel boxes are all already starting to rust up, but I haven't really found good substitutes for the steel three drawer boxes. I seem to have two choices: organization and rust, or jumbled messes where the tool I need is buried under everything else. I haven't decided which is worst.

Wednesday Morning, 23 September - I spent this morning cleaning up and restoring a good Snap-On flashlight that had gotten quite corroded and the rubber gasket over the switch had turned to "goo."
                I guess I'd better get this posted.

            Until next time,
                        Dream BIG, or Live Bored.

                                          Rick