Engine Week

Last week was Engine Week. On Sunday we left in pea soup fog for the 4 hour trip to Downeast Diesel in Southwest Harbor. 6 hours later their dock emerged from the fog. The mechanic, Bernie, spent all day Monday in the engine room - new belts, adjusted valves, new idler pulleys, new thermostats, a thorough going over and both engines were declared ready. We love Downeast Diesel. They're excellent mechanics and charge fair prices. The owner, John, has even talked us through some problems via phone. If you're in Maine and need diesel work, they're the only place we'd suggest.

While all this was going on we attacked our projects list and made quite a dent. About 20 projects came off the list making us feel more relaxed about our take-off date. The lazarrette is cleaned and organized, a new switch was installed for the new chargers, the engine room spares have been sorted and cataloged, etc., etc.

It was also a very successful trip for Dyna and Dylan. Both successfully manage the "poop deck" while lots of treats were dispensed. They made friends with the two boatyard dogs, Tank and Rocko. And of course were right there to supervise all activities.

We returned to Castine on Tuesday a perfect boating day that made us long to turn west and keep on going!

We have worked the rest of the week on cleaning the engine room - there was lots of mold and mildew from all our wet weather - and brushing and sanding the engines in preparation for painting next week. Jeff likes to paint the engines every couple of years. I must admit that the first time he proposed this to me I thought he had really gone over the deep end about the boat. But having a "spotless" - more or less - engine room has made it much easier to notice and track down problems we have encountered. It's a pain to do but adds to the peace of mind factor so it's worth it.

I have started the provisioning process in earnest and hope to blog about it soon as several people have ask how I do it. I can give you a hint, it involves lots of lists.

She Fits!

We loaded the new anchor into the car, drove to the Castine Town Dock, and lugged it down the gangway to the dinghy. Of course, several “friends” felt the need to comment on its dimensions while no one offered to help carry it. We didn't care. We know we'll be sleeping better. Our little Whaler had a bit of a time getting onto plane – I'm pretty sure I heard her saying, “I think I can, I think I can.” Once at the boat I lowered the Bruce down to Jeff in the dinghy. He disconnected the old anchor, attached the new anchor, and we pulled her up. She fit like a dream. I think she looks rather stately. We're off to Southwest Harbor for routine engine maintenance at our favorite John Deere mechanic – Downeast Diesel. The owner, John Spofford, is the best and has watched over our engines for the last 6 years. He's always been there when we had a question or needed help in any way.

We hope to do several anchor tests starting next week. It'll be a good chance for a shake down cruise and will give our crew some more experience before we leave on the 9 month adventure.