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Water pump hell
&nbps;&nbps;&nbps;&nbps; Another day another $1000. So I was awakened again this morning with the water not working at 2:30 am. At least it hadn't run into the bilge, but the pump simply was not working so we had no sink water or toilet flush water. I just love single points of failure. Of course the bilge pump was still not working. After determining that the fresh water pump was getting power and was from 2006, I decided to replace it. While I was at it we did bilge pump at the same time. The old bilge pump was an excellent simple design from 1970, but the choice of repair or replace came into the replace category this time. So two pumps and $750.00 later I got back to the boat to start putting them in. Of course there were hose mismatch issues, bad fittings, old broken threads on the grey water pump, moving and re-routing hoses, running out of proper hose clamps and re-routing wires. The fresh water pump went in first followed by the new bilge pump. Oh, by the way, we found out why the old bilge pump was not working. There was a small sliver of wood stuck in one of the valves and it wouldn't suck. Also one of the other internal seals was cracked between the two halves of the pump. We were at first going to repair the old pump, but we decided that after 50 years it had had a good life and should be retired. I started at about 4am diagnosing the problems and planning and finished both pumps by about sunset. Of course I spent the entire day curled up inside the two lazerettes bumping knees and knuckles and head all day long. But now we have a working fresh water pump and a new bilge pump. It seems that every day it is something else. It would be really nice to have a day when we could just go out and sail rather than repair the boat. But we knew this going in. A 50 year old boat is NEVER sail away ready upon purchase. This boat was the height of luxury in 1970 with hot water heater, electric stove, 10kw generater, air-conditioning and electric heads, but it had no manual backups, no foot pumps, no propane stove, and no diesel or wood heater. We will have to make sure there are backups for the backups. If you don't like repairing things DO NOT BUY a boat unless you're just ready to burn hundred dollar bills daily. Fortunately I don't mind fixing things. It's what I do.On a lighter side the cat is starting to get used to the boat and left the V-berth for the first time. She is looking for any little cubby hole to crawl into. We have already caught her behind the shoes and drawers inside the cabinets. I'm sure at some point we will find her under the floor boards soaked in bilge and oil.
