Pump Repair - A Seriously Disgusting Aspect of Being a Liveaboard

Since you've been avidly reading my blog, you know I bought a 30' Sea Ray motorboat and am living on it in lieu of paying exorbitant rent in the Great Boston Area.  All is coming together nicely and I love, love, LOVE my two minute commute.  I'm actually living like a human being instead of an animal, especially after replacing the aerator in the head (bathroom) in order to make use of the hand held shower. This was, of course, after I got the new hot water heater installed.  Later, in the middle of washing dishes, the water slowed to a trickle and then just died.

Naturally, the location of the water pump was not part of my discovery period.  Since I could hear it run, when it ran, I knew it was on the port (left) side, close to the stern/aft (rear).  Exploration begins. Checked the lazarettes (storage areas) in the cockpit, but only found hoses. Then remembered a panel under the berth (bed) in the cuddy with about a hundred screws holding it down. Luckily, my husband had bought a drill when he visited and I was able to remove the screws fairly quickly. It took longer to pull out the junk that I had decided to store in the place (including a new toilet waiting to be installed) and find a place for all the cushions.

Well. I found the pump and the water tank. Yay! However...

When I bought the boat, the boatyard had left the doors open and the cabin was full of water in various storage areas.  The pump compartment was no exception. Trust me. That area is not supposed to be full of gross, sludgy water. Especially since the wires to the pump were submerged in it.

And, when I inspected the wires, I found the same level of abysmal hookup that I had encountered when I fixed the bilge pump. Even if you're not an electrician, you should know the following realities:

1.  Butt connectors should NEVER leave exposed wire (the insulation is what the heat shrink portion bites onto, leaving no bare wire subject to corrosion), 
2. Although tempting, never, ever, EVER twist two wires together and insulate them with electrical tape
3. Wire nuts are not meant to be used in a marine environment - THEY ARE NOT WATERPROOF! And humidity is water. Even if they're in a place where water is not typically found, it happens.  Don't use them!

Unfortunately, all three of these no-no's were used to hook up the pump. And the compartment was flooded, submerging the wires. Bad, very, very bad.  So I cut out the offending wiring and replaced it with professional level connections. And the pump ran!

For about a day...  And then it died while I was washing dishes.

Back to the cuddy, pull out all the junk, including the toilet and the cushions (luckily I hadn't screwed down the panel) and checked the wiring. It was good. Beat on the pump with a hammer. And it started! for about an hour. Died once again as I was rinsing dishes. Back to the cuddy.


The clear mushroom looking thing is a filter. From over a decade of being a liveaboard, I know that ~80% of all issues can be tracked back to filters. Removed the filter and - oh gross! This is the single worst filter I've ever encountered. And yes, I think those little squirmy things are maggots. GROSS!!!





I scrubbed it off, soaked it in hydrogen peroxide (the bleach was in a lazarette covered with cushions and a toilet) and reinstalled it. And the pump ran! Yay! For about an hour. No dishes this time; the filter was so gross I may never eat again.


This time, air was leaking into the pipes and causing air bubbles. After several trips to West Marine and Home Depot (three different types/sizes of plumbing connections), I replaced the semi-rigid pipe with flexible hose and fewer connections. And the pump ran! Yay! For about a day. And then, while washing dishes, it died.

Nothing revived it this time. No wiggling wires, no shaking out air bubbles, filter is clean. Notice the wiring is cleaner as well as the compartment is now dry.

Sooo... I bought a new water pump which will arrive in a couple of weeks. On our other boat, we went through a lot of ShurFlo pumps, which use as their quality control an admonition to buy the extended warranty and just replace them WHEN they fail. That's not an acceptable solution at the best of times, an absolutely horrible solution when blue water cruising. Sooo...  Enter a new type of pump that's a fraction of the cost, a Diaphragm Pump from Five Oceans. Wish me luck!


 And, I think I'm giving up on washing dishes.  The Inn at Bay Pointe delivers :) And this lovely restaurant ensures Lost at Sea is my new favorite rum punch and not my situation, pumps aside.

Living the Dream - in spite of bad pumps :)

Fried Plantains Filled with Pulled Pork and a Habanero BBQ Sauce
served with Lost at Sea (AMAZING  rum drink)

Memorial Day Weekend in Boston, 2016

Forecast for Memorial Day Weekend was warm and sunny. And Saturday was actually HOT and sunny. 95 degrees. For Northerners and even this transplanted Floridian, it could be compared to at least one level of hell. Especially as I don't have air conditioning. 30' Sea Ray, remember? Some of them have air conditioners, this one does not. And yes, that's how I survive in Florida, just like people in the North survive the winters with furnaces. Technology. Gotta love it...

Anyway, today, Sunday, I woke up to low 50's. Forty degree shift in one 24 hour period.  Yup. That's New England.  Not a problem. I closed all the windows, made a cup of coffee and started breakfast.

Aaaannnnd...

The power went out. Checked the breakers - installed a new hot water heater, running the stove, could've exceeded power input. Nope. Breakers fine. Put on my neon green, velour track suit and head outside. Main breaker is fine, shore power cord secure, remembered that boat next to me had a problem with the pedestal. About to swap my cable to the other pedestal when, much like moles, people begin to pop out of the other boats. All missing power. Trundling a cart along is a gentleman who has a boat at the end of the dock. He offers to check his power and give a thumbs up if he's live.

At the end of the dock, he shouts back. "Yep, I've got power and so does my neighbor. You should check your BREA-KER (enunciated carefully so I understand) - it's a SWITCH inside the pedestal. Also, your power cord may have come loose."

Duh. Electrical engineer, remember?  Not worth the effort, so I assure him I had checked all these things. He bustles down the dock and opens my pedestal to check the BREA-KER and the shore power connection, all the while pointing out each one so that in the future I can do this myself. Or ask him or my husband if I'm not up to it.

Yeah...

Meanwhile, it filters through the marina that power is out all over Quincy Point, including our marina. So, Mr. Breaker had power?  He may know what a breaker is, but I suspect he doesn't know the difference between 110 A/C and 12 V D/C. Maybe I should check it for him...

Finally, power returns and I finish cooking my interrupted steak and eggs. Yummy! Crosses my mind that I do have an alcohol option on the stove. Should really check that out to stave off starvation and hypothermia.

Short aside: The stove is pretty cool. It has a ceramic cover to expand the counter space when it's not being used. Open it up and there are two burners inside, electrical coils with alcohol ports in the center. I did have to discover that there's an interlock switch on the rear to ensure that if the cover is closed, the power is cut to the burners. You don't have to be an Electrical Engineer to live on a boat, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

  

Living the Dream even when it's cold and gray and dreary...

New Boat, New Home, New Friends, Old Job

Since it's been over a year from the last post, I figure it's time. Not sure an annual blog would be that popular, so I'll try to do better...

After taking the Triumph from Boston to Fort Lauderdale a year and a half ago, my favorite company to work for made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I packed up the stuff necessary to live comfortably (who knew I had / needed that many purses???) and headed back to Boston.

A gracious friend gave me a place to crash until I sorted out my temporary permanent place, unfortunately he lives on the North Shore and I work on the South Shore. BRUTAL commute, but it's just for a short time and there's a lot of choices. Extended Stay, Short Term Lease, maybe even a roommate situation off Roommates.com or Craigslist. How hard can it be to find a place to stay???

Pretty frickin' hard...

Not only is it expensive, but I'm just too ornery to deal with the rules. When I brought up my husband coming to visit, one potential roommate nearly had a stroke. A friend offered "My girlfriend had the same problem - we just sneaked up to her room when no one was around. Oh, and you probably can't have food in your room. Sneak it in too..."

Seriously???  I wasn't good at that in college and I haven't gotten any better...

Back to the commute - I can make this work! Nope.  School bus turned sideways in the tunnel, garbage truck caught fire in another tunnel, one too many three hour commutes and I'm back to checking out alternatives.

Hmmm...  I live on a boat in Fort Lauderale, I lived on several different boats in Boston Harbor, maybe I should get another boat.


Off to Mendon and Certified Sales. There were a few other boats, but that's a story for another post. The pictures posted of Hypnautic on their website looked like a marine version of the house from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was great because no one else bought it or even wanted it.  I bought it, brought it to Quincy and now I have a summer home. After buying the boat, paying for the Marina and taking care of minimal utilities, I'll pay less than I would have for half the time in an extended stay apartment setup.

The boat, a Sea Ray Sundancer 300, will be renamed Lady's Choice and improvements continue, but for now I'm four blocks from work and happy as a clam in, well, water.

Continuing to Live the Dream

Home Remedies and Natural Cures - Healthy or Hogwash?

Before I begin, I have to make a confession.

I hate doctors, hospitals, surgery, prescriptions and even lab tests.  My own personal opinion is that the health care industry is primarily driven by the health insurance industry, to the detriment of individuals' quality of life.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe health care practitioners are bad people and that they don't care about their patients.  Sadly, I feel that they are being boxed into tighter and tighter constraints due to unrealistic requirements and fear of lawsuits and liabilities.

Additionally, living on a boat makes me want to avoid being tied to a specific health care network.  When cruising the islands, you don't want to have to look for a Mayo or Cleveland Clinic for every little thing.

When you combine this with my dislike of seeking professional care, I tend to do a lot of research and try natural remedies before heading to Urgent Care.  And what do you know?  There's quite a few natural cures that actually work!  Even better and faster than prescription drugs, the latter of which may have severe side effects.  Below, I've listed my favorites that I've sworn by for decades.

Since I have to put a disclaimer, here it is.

1. I am not a doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, practitioner's assistant or any other health professional.
2. USE COMMON SENSE when trying these remedies.  If you're allergic to one of these items, don't use it.
3. DO NOT think that if two tablespoons is good, a cup is 8 times better.
4. Try a remedy.  If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. 
5. Don't put off going to the doctor if you experience severe discomfort, especially anything that lasts for longer than a few days.

Anyway, here they are...

  

1. Malady: Digestive discomfort, even as severe as colitis.  Remedy:  Aloe Vera juice.  Not the gross pulpy stuff you'd get by blending up the plant, but the filtered, tasteless juice you can buy at Whole Foods or other grocer.  There's even a brand with a happy road runner on the label.  Two ounces in the morning, two at lunch, mixed with juice, if you'd like.  Should see relief in a few days.  
2. Malady: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).  Remedy: Cranberry capsules.  I used to contract a lot of UTI's; so many that I've had to be dilated (VERY painful) to reduce scar tissue.  After reading that cranberries kept the bacteria from adhering to the urinary tract walls and not having much luck with cranberry juice (too diluted), I bought cranberry capsules.  These are just capsules of crushed up cranberries.  At the first symptom of a UTI, I take a handful of capsules, probably about twelve.  This is repeated every couple of hours along with a glassfuls of water.  Since I've been attacking the attacks with this, I haven't had a UTI last more than about three hours.  Keep in mind that since the dose is extreme, make sure there are no other additives to the capsules such as calcium or other minerals.
3. Malady: Acid Reflux.  Remedy: Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).  I know, I know, it's counter intuitive.  But think about it this way.  The primary duty of our stomach is to digest food.  How does it do this?  By producing acid.  What do the acid reflux drugs do?  They neutralize acid.  When the acid level goes down, what does the stomach do?  Produce acid.  The idea behind the apple cider vinegar is to rebalance the stomach acid.  I personally know of a person who suffered so badly from acid reflux that they couldn't sleep at night due to the coughing.  The prescription drugs weren't working and sleep was impossible.  After taking two ounces of ACV in the morning and two at midday for about a week, the coughing went away completely and the person was able to stop taking the prescription drugs.  Why apple cider vinegar specifically?  I dunno...  Please see the disclaimer.  I'm an engineer, not a doctor, Captain...  If you don't want to take the vinegar straight, mix it with apple cider - it just tastes a little more tart.
4. Malady: Gall bladder pain.  Remedy: Apple Cider Vinegar.  Redundant?  Possibly.  But this stuff is great.  Same treatment as for Acid Reflux until the pain subsides.  I've had severe gall bladder pain that subsided in a couple of hours after taking the ACV.  DO NOT drink mass quantities - you will get sick... 
5. Malady: Burns.  Remedy: Olive Oil.  I learned this trick from a guy who worked in a pizza parlor.  Pour the oil (must be olive oil, not vegetable, canola, butter or any other kind.  Why?  I dunno...) over the affected area and keep applying until the heat goes away.  I've seen it remove the pain and keep a burn from blistering even if the burn came from a glowing ember (from a barbecue grill) or grabbing a hot pan.  This works even better than Aloe.  Sorry, but it does.   
6. Malady: Pollen Allergies.  Remedy: Local Raw Honey.  A tablespoon in the morning will relieve symptoms in a few days.  If you can't get true local honey, try to get some from the area that's similar to what is causing your woes.  A few years ago, the pollen count in Boston was so high that my black car was coated with a fine layer of yellow every morning.  I wanted to pull my eyes out of their sockets and wash them, they itched so badly.  I went to a farmers' market and found a vendor selling golden rod honey from upstate New York.  Sorry, all you Red Sox fans, but I was desperate.  The honey was almost gritty, it had so much pollen in it.  Tasted great.  After three days, the itching had completely subsided.  And, how horrible is it to start your day with a tablespoon of honey???
7. Malady: Vaginal Yeast Infection.  Remedy: Plain Yogurt with Active Bacteria Cultures.  Gross topic, I agree, but anyone who's ever contracted one of these knows how awful it can be.  And the various treatments have never worked well for me.  Just take a big scoop and slather it on the affected area.  Stuff it right up there.  Relief is almost immediate, especially if it's cool from the refrigerator, and it knocks the infection in the head right away.  This is where common sense comes in.  Apply it before you take your shower, wipe away excess, whatever, but don't go wandering around with it dripping.  More confession time - one time I was in agony and the store didn't have plain.  Strawberry worked just as well, but I'd advise getting the cheap brands without whole fruit...

These are my top favorites.  There are probably more and, as I think of them, I'll add them in.  Good luck and good health!

Reviewing More Products, Books, Restaurants, And So On

Since almost everyone trying to accomplish anything are living and dying by reviews, I've decided to be more pro-active and reviewing at least a few items a day.  Good, bad and indifferent, you guys get my opinion!!!  Here's one:

Originally submitted at Sharper Image

Good Response to Motion but too Dim

By TheLadyEv from Fort Lauderdale, FL on 2/12/2015

 

3out of 5

Pros: Attractive Design, Easy Controls, Lightweight, Compact

Best Uses: Home, Office

Describe Yourself: Enthusiast

Was this a gift?: No

The unit was compact, ergonomically pleasing and reacted as described to motion. Unfortunately, it was not bright enough for our purpose. Sent it back and received a refund right away.

(legalese)

Mash Stories - Shortlisted for January's Competition, "Gray" by E. Sabbag

Obviously, I'm a masochist.  After my last rant about contests and agent queries and traditional publishing, I've entered another writing contest.  This one appears to be pretty cool and I've been shortlisted for my story "Gray."  As part of the voting process, I'm supposed to garner votes, i.e. Kudos.

Please check out my entry and, if it seems to have what it takes to be a winner, please click on <Kudo>.  The winner isn't only selected by votes, but it doesn't hurt!

"Gray" by E. Sabbag 

As an interesting aside, the main critique was that the story ended on a trivial note. Since most of you know that this is slightly autobiographical (slightly? Hah!), I can attest that this was a really weird phenomenon. That is, while I was fighting for my life in the Atlantic Ocean, my thoughts were not grandiose and socially innovative, but trivial and focused on minutiae. The only thing I could come up with for an analysis is that when your brain is faced with the incomprehensible, it focuses on the trivial.

The Writer's Life: Agent Queries, Writing Contests and Other Depressing Topics

My writing life parallels all other aspects of my life.  I have skills, experiential knowledge and a level of confidence.  As a result, I believe I have something to say that people want to hear with a unique voice that only I possess.

Hmmm...

Self-publishing is, therefore, a god send.  It allows me to be me and say what I want to say.  It's satisfying, has the potential to be lucrative and, above all, is fun.  I have three books on Amazon, two in the creative pipeline and three others blocked out awaiting the creative hand.  There's even a workshop on self-publishing that I provide, Come Write Aboard(c)

Why do I still send out queries to agents and enter writing contests?  Even more, why do I feel devastated, crushed and depressed when I get rejected?  Again?

Backing up a little, with every "Thank you for your submission.  At this time we've decided to pass on publishing your manuscript,"  there's also a "Your writing is crisp, well-crafted with characters that are entertaining and believable.  But..."

It's the "But..." and the "...decided to pass..." that I focus on and obsess about.

Why?

Even with the personal satisfaction I experience upon viewing my creations, and the great feedback I receive from my readers ( and no, not everyone who gives me a great review is related or a friend), there's a part of me that still craves the validation that comes from a person in the industry who wants to represent me.  That agent and/or editor who believes in my abilities enough to want to invest time and money in me.

Me.

And so I keep submitting and hoping and dreaming and crying and repeating.

However.

Within this loop I've noticed an interesting facet.

At times I open my wallet, clear my calendar and attend conferences to meet with representatives face to face.  Over the years, the price has gone up.  Not that long ago, I paid $40 for a half hour with an agent.  Most recently, I paid $35 for 10 minutes.  Some meetings go well, some not so well.  The ones that go well are exciting and motivating and inspire me to polish up my manuscript and whip it off.  Memories of the 'connection' and the feelings of hope buoy me to continue working on current projects while daring to believe that this may be the one.

Until I receive the cookie cutter, terse reply that they've decided to pass.

And I'm devastated and crushed and crying.  And ready to try again.

After letting the wound heal a little, I re-read the rejection.  Just after the criticism, I notice an offer.  Sometimes a few offers.

"Check out our latest book on improving your characters..."

"For $xxx/ hour, our experts can show you how to bring your writing to a world class level..."

"Attend our writing boot camp for 10% off.  We guarantee you'll increase your potential to get noticed by an agent..."

Are the chummy conversations merely a well-honed sales pitch to get me to buy their products?  Similarly, are the tough love criticisms a way to break me down, make me more susceptible to the expertise they're offering?

Don't misunderstand.  I'm not saying their products are necessarily junk.  I've attended workshops, bought books and otherwise taken advantage of services that I've felt could improve my skills.  But is it being taken too far?  Has the industry all but given up on marketing books and is now focused on selling the tools and services required to make the books?  Here's an example:

Critique from a writing contest:
The writing and voice are extremely well crafted. The set up is great and introduces your reader to the storyline effortlessly. The setting is captured vividly and the character comes alive off the page. The real essence of your story is done remarkably. 

Recommendation from the same writing contest:
Track 2. We recommend you get a copyedit
Track 2 is for those SWP authors whose manuscript requires something heavier than a proofread. Issues that might qualify a manuscript for a copyedit include overuse of certain turns of phrase, redundant word choices, or small inconsistencies in character, plot, or structure. We will offer a brief assessment of your work in order to point you to the places in your manuscript that have deemed it in need of a copyedit. We do not require that you get your copyedit done by Xxx Xxxxxx Xxxxx, though we recommend it.  We offer copyediting at a flat hourly rate of $60/hour. We employ a strong stable of copyeditors who are proficient in Chicago Manual of Style (the style guide of choice for book publishing).

How does "extremely well crafted" and "done remarkably" translate into "recommend... a copyedit... at $60/hour"

Since I'm neither desperate nor stupid, I'll spend the $60/hour on hiring an artist for my cover art.

Thanks for the offer, though.