CAR PROBLEMS!

27 mar. 2017
1000 Local
Position: 07° 20.28 N 134°27.07 E
Moored, Palau

Three posts in a row, I guess catching up blog's is a lot more fun than the days plan which was starting on our income tax info for dear old Uncle Sam.
So you ask what kind of a car problem can we have when it was back in 2004 that we sold our last automobile. Well to those of us who live aboard full time our dinghy's are considered our cars as they provide the transportation back and forth to shore, visiting other yachts, fishing trips or perhaps just a leisurely boat ride. Our dinghy, a Caribe rigid hull inflatable, purchased in Venezuela back in 2001 is still in fair shape though it does need to have some air added daily. It was our Nissan outboard of pre 1990's vintage that has a experienced problem. The tiller steering arm has sheared off! This has made steering a bit of an adventure as the tiller arm also has the speed control. We have mastered a technique that works. I now sit atop the engine and use a pair of vice grips on the throttle rod for speed control. Kathy stands amidship and by leaning left or right controls our direction of travel. I have even managed to perform the operation without Kathy aboard. We had recently been discussing the possibility of buying a new outboard and Kathy had if fact stopped at a local Yamaha dealer to question the cost and availability of one. It was later that same day the tiller arm broke. We have now ordered a new outboard and thankfully here we are able to still get a two-stroke one but the expected delivery is not till May. Meantime I managed to order a new tiller arm from a store in the States which still supplies vintage parts. Our friend Connie has managed to send it along to us and soon we ought to be able to steer properly again.

WHERE THE TILLER BELONGS

JUST OLD AND TIRED

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JUST A MINOR PROBLEM

27 Mar. 2017
0930 Local
Position: 07° 20.28 N 134° 27.07 E
Moored, Palau

I guess having had a day of fun has inspired me to do a bit of updating for you faithful followers of my writing. Previously I had mentioned a minor difficulty with Miss Perky on her re-installation. It began with a leaky fitting on the mixing elbow of the exhaust system. On a marine engine salt water is used to cool the coolant in the heat exchanger, a radiator on a car. This water is then mixed in an elbow with the exhaust gases and passed out through the back of the boat. Miss Perky's exhaust elbow was cast aluminum with brass fittings for the hose, not the best in a saltwater environment but the way it had been for years. I removed the leaking fitting and after applying new pipe joint compound it was reattached. A new leak had developed!! A crack had opened up in the mixing elbow and we had a steady drip. As a temporary fix I sanded the area and applied a coat of Marine-Tex epoxy repair putty but this could only be for the short term. Replacement parts for Miss Perky are difficult to source but I did find a possible one in the states. My other thought was that possibly that our mechanic, Jim, could perhaps fabricate a replacement. Jim came to the boat to look and yes he could come up with a suitable replacement using an stainless elbow from a Northern Lights generator and having a new flange made up to connect to our exhaust manifold. It took a short time but I got it installed in time for our day of sailing.

NOT AN INTENDED SELFI BUT TO SHOW THE CRACK

NEW MIXING ELBOW AND FLANGE

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A DAY OF FUN!!!

27 Mar. 2017
0900 Local
Position: 07° 20.28 N 134° 27.07 E
Moored, Palau

It seems as there has been nothing but work aboard Po oino Roa since Connie was here to visit last November. Prior to that I'm not sure when the last FUN days were. That ended last Saturday as we got to get off the mooring for a short motor to check Miss Perky's performance and then go SAILING. Sam, of Sam's Tours and Commodore of the Royal Belau Yacht Club, had organized a regatta and raft-up day. The weather cooperated with sunshine and 12 knots of breeze from the northeast. We had four boats participate on an out and back reaching course of 2 miles for each of four legs. After a delightful sail the raft-up fun took place in Seahorse cove just inside of what is known here as the Pincher's. Several additional boats joined in the raft-up fun.

S/V PACIFIC HIGHWAY 

S/V PACIFIC HIGHWAY

CAPTAIN  KATHY CREW ALLIE AND BRIAN

PO SAILING WITH S/V JOY BEHIND

A PALAUAN MERMAID

FUN

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MISS PERKY IS BACK

10 Mar. 2017
1600 Local
Position: 07° 20.28 N 137° 27.07 E
Moored, Palau

While Miss perky got to enjoy her time at the spa there was work to be done on the boat. With the engine out it was an opportunity to clean what had become a very messy engine room. Being on a mooring in the pristine clean waters of Palau I could not just spray degreaser about then rinse it to the bilge to be pumped overboard. Instead it was wiping on the degreaser, Kathy recommended floor stripper, using a scrubby pad then using paper towels to wipe clean. This was followed by wiping with a damp cloth and then a dry one This took several applications lots of paper towel and rags but allowed the area to be cleaned without pumping oily sludge overboard.

Jim, the mechanic, was busy working on Miss Perky. As she was running fine we mainly wanted to fix the oil leaks from the rear main seal along with a number of others. It was also a chance to replace the oil line hoses with new. Jim recommended a new paint scheme of all white, better to track down oil leaks in the future. Miss Perky is no longer Perkins blue but Detroit white along with a white engine room the area is brightened up considerably. After new seals, gaskets, hoses and paint Jim test ran her several times in his shop and finding no leaks it was time to put her back in the boat. A big problem was the very rainy weather that we were experiencing here in Palau. Friday March 3 was our hoped for day and somehow we managed to have three hours that morning without rain and got the installation done, just the reverse of the engine removal. Shortly thereafter the sky's opened up again.

CLEAN AND BRIGHT

With the engine back in my work continued with the job of hooking everything back up and getting Miss Perky running in the boat, that is still continuing today. There have been several small problems that we are managing to solve but progress is being made. More on those with the next addition.

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