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.
Jeff says that it tracks well, but has more drag than his very new, very pretty inflatable.mov_0819 mov_1268
Ours came with a sailing rig and oars.
Dehumidifier may catch fire
Yeah, that got our attention as well.
Derek and Maria came to visit the weekend before last. Before Derek was leaving I asked him to check the water level in our bilge. It was up to the floor boards. He bailed it for us – our automatic bilge pump sensor has stopped working. I was left to ponder why so much water.
One possibility is the water that comes down the inside of our mast when its rains. A design ‘‘feature’’ that allows the engine to breath through the mast.
The second is that the drain hose for the dehumidifier was no longer in the sink but instead was draining into the cabin. Neither is a worry. Other sources are. (The bilge is only about eight liters.)
However, diverting my attention was a notice from Amazon, where we bought the dehumidifier: there was a recall on it. There’s a chance it will catch fire.
We managed to catch Derek as he was leaving for the plane. He unplugged the dehumidifier for us.
The next step is to get a picture of the label that has the serial number. Then, drop the serial number into the form on the recall website. If it is one of the recalled units, cut off the cord, send a picture of the cut cord with the unit, and they will send a replacement.
Derek’s in Astoria, OR.
Harrison has said he will do it for us.
Even when a boat is at dock things break… and catch fire.
The pudgy has been registered. Does anyone know why a boat this small would be registered? Does it need to be in Washington State?
LOL And here I thought a mast was only used to hang sails and pennants from! Who knew it was an air conduit for the engine.
Yeah. The engine is under the table in the main cabin. This has two advantages: (1) it places the weight of the engine over the keel. By putting as much of the weight as you can over the center of the boat, the boat has less tendency to pitch (hobby horse). Ted Brewer wrote a great series of articles, with the math, about this. (2) It means that the engine is easily accessible. When the engine is tucked away under the cockpit, oftentimes many jobs are done either by feel or with a mirror. Pulling the engine is very difficult. One some boats the cockpit sole is removable to give access to the engine. In some, they just cut away the sole and replace it, if the engine needs to be pulled. What you might find amusing is that in many boats the engine is put in place before the boat is assembled.
The deal with breathing through the mast was that closed in under the table, the engine needed access to air. People I have spoken with, who tell me they have closed over the hole through the deck, say that the engine breaths fine. I’ll be going off shore, so I’ll be providing ways to close all the ways that water could get below, so the engine may not breath so well after I do that, if it does not breath through the mast. I’ll be giving that some thought.
John,
From the Washing state list of boats that are exempt from registration requirement:
•Vessels less than 16 feet long with a motor of 10 horsepower or less, if used on non-federal waters only.
•Canoes, kayaks, or vessels that don’t have a motor or sail (strictly human powered).
In other words, if it has any kind of a motor, you gotta pay
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Hope you will make it to January 3rd Friday. In the meantime, have a lovely Christmas.
XO to you, Jennifer and Hilary,
Judie
The dinghy is finally registered here… The previous owner sent the wrong paperwork and the place we’ve used in Ballard would not respond to e-mail or voice messages. After our return to PT, we registered the dinghy at the court house.