Replacing Fuel Injectors

When we returned from our trip last fall, the engine had low power after we arrived at Port Ludlow, before we crossed Puget Sound through the canals and home.

I figured and, after speaking with our marina mate, Nate, decided that we had injector problem.

In late February of this year, I spoke with Rick at Seattle Injectors, the company that Nate suggested. They would have time to do our injectors the day after I dropped them off. Continue reading “Replacing Fuel Injectors”

Hemorrhaging money and getting back to Port Townsend

Today is the day we really start hemorrhaging money.

I ordered the copper coat: seven kits at $120 per kit are necessary to coat  CaroBabbo. It is a four-day process, however, this should be the last time I put a bottom on CaroBabbo. Continue reading “Hemorrhaging money and getting back to Port Townsend”

The demise of the Taylors Stove?

‘‘ Jet A is nothing but kerosene,’’ was a statement that we received over and over again from pump jockeys on our Alaska trip. On the web all the sites I found before we left concurred, JET-A is nothing but kerosene.

[15-DEC-2019 – We eventually tracked all of the stove problems to using the wrong fuel. One MUST use 1-k Kerosene. Nothing else will work. Marine stores carry it, as do most home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes.]

However, all three burners on the stove had pretty much stopped working by the time we returned to Lake Union. John Gardner, from whom I bought the stove, had suggested that we not clean the burners as  suggested at the websites, and we did not. I came to believe that was the problem.

Continue reading “The demise of the Taylors Stove?”

There are no sailing seasons in the PNW, but there is sure a lot to buy before springtime arrives.

I don’t like to think of sailing as seasonal. Being seasonal is what I think of as differentiating east coast sailors from west coast sailor – 3000 miles, notwithstanding. We keep Caro Babbo in the water 12-months a year and enjoy winter sailing.

This year and last we decamped to Phoenix to work on a house there, making sailing seasonal, even if that was not our intent. Three months prepping a house, only to return to Seattle to spend months prepping the boat, delineates boating seasons as much as I would rather have sailed continuously. Continue reading “There are no sailing seasons in the PNW, but there is sure a lot to buy before springtime arrives.”

2017 Seattle Boat Show – Water Maker and Sailmaker

The boat show was very different for me this year. It was Hilary and me alone. I went to learn about water makers, to see my sail maker, and to meet with Jesús and Zoë, who are friends from the newspaper industry who are planning on calling it quits and move onto a trawler.

Hilary and I are staying full time in the Port Townsend house. It has been very cold (to my PNW/South-of-the-Mason-Dixon-Line self): Highs in the low forties, lows around freezing. It is also 2-1/2 hours from Port Townsend to Seattle. Continue reading “2017 Seattle Boat Show – Water Maker and Sailmaker”

We’re back in the PNW

We’re back in the Pacific Northwest. Well, at the moment, ‘we’ refers to Hilary and me.

Hilary, Jennifer and I spent from October 5th through January 7th in Phoenix working on a house Jennifer owns. It was a time to get fit as Jennifer and I worked 6 to 7 days a week from sun up until we needed to stop.

Some of the gravel I moved about

I got in shape by moving approximately 25 tons of gravel with a wheelbarrow and a shovel. It feels good to carry muscle again. The trick is how to keep it; I don’t belong to a gym anymore.

Continue reading “We’re back in the PNW”

Humidifier isn’t on recall, scheduling boat pull and worries

Derek was nice enough to send me a picture of the label on the dehumidifier. Given the serial number it is not a recalled unit.

The label on the dehumidifier that freed us from the recall hassle.
The label on the dehumidifier that freed us from the recall hassle.

I’ve asked Derek to plug it back in, turn it on and make sure the drain hose is in the sink.

Continue reading “Humidifier isn’t on recall, scheduling boat pull and worries”

Pudgy Comes Homes, Dehumidifier is a fire hazard

Last week, our friends Jeff Storm and Kimberly Lindberg towed our Pudgy home for us.

Their trip was not uneventful with an engine overheating, and a very long wait for the locks in both directions.

But, they brought the Pudgy to our slip, where it is safe and sound.

Continue reading “Pudgy Comes Homes, Dehumidifier is a fire hazard”

We buy a Portland Pudgy

Yesterday afternoon my Google Alert found a Portland Pudgy for sale in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, very near Seattle. It had been posted 33 minutes before. It was listed at $3400, is in new condition and came with a Bermuda sailing rig. I contacted the seller and bought it.

Continue reading “We buy a Portland Pudgy”

Status, statistics, and did anything not break?

1-OCT-2016 – It’s easiest to answer the last item first. Yes, a number of things did not break. None of the standing rigging had any sort of failure (the standing rigging is what holds up the mast). After that it becomes a little more difficult to think of something, None of us, personally, were injured or became ill, nor did any of our guests, so the human factor held up well. Continue reading “Status, statistics, and did anything not break?”