A Far Better Day

I can see why satire is so effective; no, I did not sleep well, but I woke up in a far better mood and the simple fact is I am tied to the dock, so any problem is fixable.  Getting across an ocean helps the perspective.

Larry, my Alaskan friend, along with his wife, Karla, is also here to help.

I had decided that I still needed to finish installing the controller and tablet dispenser for the Purasan, leak or no leak.

Another thing that happened yesterday was the forward bilge pump, while running, was not pumping any water out.  So Bucket Head came to the rescue again and we could at least get the inch of water in the bilge out.

Having a leaking sanitation system into the bilge without the bilge pump working was a very unpleasant prospect, so I awoke this morning with a plan the first, I would deal with the bilge pump.

By 9:00 a.m. I had gotten the courage to take up the floor hatch covers and drive into the depths to do battle again.  The bilge pump ran, but no pumping.  I disconnected it from its bracket and then took off the short hose.

I put the pump into the shower sump and as I lifted the float sensor, the pump sprayed water all over the place.  Well. At least one problem was partially solved.  I took off the one way valve, water poured out of the hose, but blowing thru the valve showed it worked as it was supposed to (I was days past caring about where my lips were).

Putting it all back together, I once again used the hose to see if it was working and wonder of wonders, it was.  I’m guessing that the day before, we may have been spraying down the bilge and I have has instances where when I do that to the shower pump, it can lose its prime.  At that point, if it is running, it runs, but does not pump.  Only turning it off and letting it rest, while presumably, the water for the out flow flows back into the pump, thus priming it.  So when powered up again it works fine.

The bilge pump could not do that, since the one way valve is on the outtake side.

Knowing we had a working bilge pump made tackling the treatment tank far easier, as least now we could keep the forward bilge relatively clean.

So now we carefully dried the top of the processing unit and over the course of an hour, watched carefully as we flushed toilets.  No leaks that I could find.

Then, within minutes I get a call from the States, it’s Raritan.  I had called yesterday and left a message with the Senior Engineer, who I had talked with previously.  So Brian was returning the call and I told him exactly what had happened yesterday and then today.

I was sorry I had cried “wolf”, but it was clearly not leaking now, while yesterday, I watched the fast drip of water with every flush.

Brian also helped me with a few other issues, including the solution to the one push pad issue.  I had also woken this morning with a plan if only using one push pad.  Brian confirmed my idea and also explained how I could set it up as before with one touch on either toilet.

This conversation led me to understand that the instructions for the second toilet which called for the two toilet option were written for people who did not have Raritan toilets already.  So, now Raritan’s only crime is a poorly written installation manual, and nowadays everyone is guilty of that.

I still must calibrate the system, but at least I will be able to enjoy my dinner tonight.

And Monday, the Wallas heater install will commence.  I wonder how their instructions, which I have already read many times, will work in actual execution?

Author: Richard on Dauntless

I’m an eclectic person, who grew up in New York, lived overseas for many years and have a boat, Dauntless, a 42 foot Kadey Krogen trawler yacht. Dauntless enables me to not only live in many different parts of the world, but to do it in a way that is interesting, affordable, with the added spice of a challenge. Dauntless also allows me to be in touch with nature. As the boat glides through the ocean, you have a sense of being part of a living organism. When dolphins come to frolic, they stay longer if you are out there talking to them, watching them. Birds come by, sometimes looking for a handout; sometimes grateful to find a respite from their long journey. I grew up on the New York waterfront, in the West Village, when everything west of Hudson St. was related to shipping and cargo from around the world. For a kid, it was an exciting place of warehouses, trucks, and working boats of all kinds: tugs and the barges and ships, cargo and passenger, they were pushing around. My father was an electrical engineer, my mother an intellectual, I fell in between. I have always been attracted to Earth’s natural processes, the physical sciences. I was in 8th grade when I decided to be a Meteorologist. After my career in meteorology, my natural interest in earth sciences: geology, astronomy, geography, earth history, made it a natural for me to become a science teacher in New York City, when I moved back to the Big Apple. Teaching led to becoming a high school principal to have the power to truly help kids learn and to be successful not only in school but in life. Dauntless is in western Europe now. In May and June, I will be wrapping up the last two years in northern Europe, heading south to spend the rest of the year in Spain & Portugal. Long term, I’m planning on returning to North American in the fall of 2017 and from there continuing to head west until we’re in Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, where we will settle for a bit. But now, my future lies not in NY or even Europe, but back to the water, where at night, when the winds die down, there is no noise, only the silence of the universe. I feel like I am at home, finally. View all posts by Richard on Dauntless