Thursday and Friday, 8-9 December 2016 - While I'm waiting for my new mainsail halyard, steering solenoid, a new gasket for the fresh water pump, and mail to arrive, I've been spending way too much time on the internet trying to locate a set of gaskets for the refrigeration gauge manifold. I can't believe that something so cheap and simple to make can be so hard to locate. These are little rubber gaskets about 3/8" in diameter X 1/4" thick and probably cost about a tenth of a cent to make, but sell for about $15/package of ten...if you can find them. I can't. No hardware store, HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) supplier or anyone else here locally seems to have any. One HVAC supplier may have some, but they won't sell to me because I'm not a contractor.
                  Steve, Mark, Judy and I got together at Moss Marina's Captain's Lounge and had a good evening watching a couple of movies on Netflix, eating popcorn and having a few margaritas thanks to the largess of Steve for the booze and Judy for the popcorn and pizza. I had heard that it was good, but never seen "Caddy Shack". Pretty funny.

Saturday, 10 December - Today I finally got around to confirming something I've been afraid of for awhile. I load-tested the house batteries. They'll probably run about $1200 for the four that I need, another item that seems to be difficult to find, at least on a Saturday. The batteries weigh about 70 lb. each and are AGM (Absorbed Glass Matte) so none of the usual consumer automotive stores carry them and most of the marine suppliers are closed on Saturday and Sunday. I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels and getting nowhere.
                  Hey! I have learned something of value this week. Don't let the mayonnaise freeze. If you do, you don't have mayonnaise anymore, you have runny, oily, mayonnaise flavored sauce. I'm sure most of you already knew that, but I didn't.

Sunday, 11 December - I'm simply waiting for parts to arrive on Monday, so I spent quite a bit of the day finishing reading what I thought was a very good historical novel called "Caribbee" by Thomas Hoover, available for free on iBooks. I thought he was a very good writer. One thing that I don't really like about historical novels however, is that you don't know which parts are history and which fiction. Still, a good book, though.

Monday, 12 December - It was foggy this morning and the bay was as calm as a mirror is smooth. Well, I wasn't as prepared for today as I thought I was or should have been. I spent quite a bit of time today determining which batteries I'll be buying for the boat. I had narrowed it to three, Interstate, Trojan, and Deka. Because of the stats and the price, I've decided to buy the Deka, the brand I actually knew the least about. Prices for the same batteries varied as much as $100 each. I think I ended up finding the supplier that all the dealers are ordering from, so I'll be getting a good price.
                  There was one place that I couldn't check on via the internet and it's right on the water, so I went over there it the dinghy to check their price. They were about $50 cheaper than most of the others, but still not the best. While I was out, I went to the post office to pick up four packages that I thought should have arrived. One that I thought might not have arrived yet was there, and another, that I thought surely would be there, wasn't. I got my forwarded mail, including a birthday package from my brother, Mike, two solenoids for the hydraulic steering, and a gasket for the fresh water pump; no halyard.
                  Later, I headed to Bonita Bill's for dinner, music, and music trivia. I managed to break my two week spell of not winning a bandana tonight by knowing the answer to the question, "What kind of pillow did the Jefferson Airplane introduce us to on one of their albums? - A "Surrealistic Pillow".

Tuesday, 13 December - I installed the new solenoid/coil on the hydraulic steering quickly this morning, thinking, wow! this is the quickest and easiest repair I've ever done on the boat. It took about 10 minutes or less. Of course, that doesn't count all the prior time I spent diagnosing the problem or waiting on hold on the phone for answers. I was patting myself on the back, nevertheless. Then I turned it on...nothing. Oh, well. Time to move on to other things. No time to spend on it today. I need to get the batteries out of the boat. Steve Monaghan is going to take me across town to replace those and to get new gaskets for the hoses on the refrigeration gauge set. The batteries weigh 70 lb. each, so I can't wait till the last minute to get them out and into the dinghy. I have to remove a 2X4 crossbar that holds them in, too.
                  After running those two errands, we also hit West Marine where I buy a crimper for the ferrules on the new halyard that I should get at the post office today or tomorrow. It was supposed to be it Friday, but it's Christmas season for the delivery companies.
                  Later, Steve, Mark DesErmia and I celebrate Mark's 54th birthday with steaks, rum, tequila, and a movie at the marina lounge.

Wednesday, 14 December - I finish installing the new AGM batteries, then start on the refrigeration. To draw a vacuum on the system I have to run the generator to run the vacuum pump. It's a slow process. After getting everything ready, including the approximately one hour to replace the gaskets in the gauges, I have to run the pump for about an hour, then shut it off to make sure the system holds the vacuum. After that, I inject the refrigerant. I put in about 3 ounces, then let the system cool and add a bit more, a little at a time until it's just freezing to the top of the evaporator.
                  That done, I head to the post office to get the halyard that was supposed to be here last Friday. They tell me that they don't have it, but I can see from the UPS tracking number that is there. Finally, one of the employees gets it for me out of today's deliveries.
                  Now, it's back to the marina lounge for pork chops (and a few margaritas) to celebrate Steve's getting a new job.

Sorry, but all I've taken pictures of this week are boat parts - batteries, solenoids, halyards parts, wiring diagrams, etc., and I don't think anybody would be interested in those, so...

            Until next time.
                        "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

                                          Rick