We knew we had to fix some things when we got back so I ordered a kit for the outboard carb, and new dinghy oarlocks (with metal pins duh why didn’t they do that in the first place???), and I wanted to flip the solar panels around so they aren’t shaded by the bimini. So this morning when I got up to work on these things the fridge decided to quit working.

We took all the perishable food out and threw it in our Iceco portable fridge and I thought about it while working on other things. We have had issues with this fridge. It’s a Frigoboat with a keel cooler. When we first got the boat the broker told me the fridge didn’t work and I was okay with that, it wasn’t going to stop me from buying the boat. Upon inspecting the compressor it was obvious that someone had cut all the wires. Why would you cut all the wires? I hooked them all back up and it started working but intermittently. I called Maureen at Coastal Climate Control and told her what was going on. She is a wizard about this stuff and suggested a line dryer. I installed one and it started working very consistently. I do like this fridge setup, it uses very little energy and is super quiet. If it stopped working I would buy the same thing again. Most of our issues stem from it being old and previously maintained by inebriated primates. This year we had a couple of times where it would quit cooling but the compreessor indicator showed it was running. Turns out the port replicator that allows all the control unit to tell the compressor what to do was a little ‘funny’. I unplugged it and replugged it making a mental note to look at it and then taking that mental note and filing it way down at the bottom. Today it decided to float to the top. I pulled it off, tightened the spade connectors and plugged it back in – no go. I pulled it off and realized one of the connectors was just every so slightly bent and wasn’t making contact with the connector on the compressor. Fixing that, it fired right up and the evaporator is frosting up properly. I can always fix these issues but there’s always a little part of me that panics and starts seeing price tags that I can’t afford. That internal voice is the voice of Rex the T-Rex in Toy Story.

I rebuilt the carb and replaced all the seals. Hopefully this will fix it. We need to get the dinghy back from the dinghy ninja lady who is taking care of those 2 leaks before I can test run it but it was fairly straightforward so I hope it’ll be okay. Of course, it was straightforward last time too and it was barfing gas out. We’ll see.

We flipped the solar panels around and got everything tied back up properly. Now they’re moved aft just a few inches so the back of the bimini won’t shade them as much and hopefully we can get a few more watts out of them. I’d like more solar panels but I either need to buy a very expensive arch to mount them on or creatively mount flexible ones on the bimini and I haven’t figured that out yet, or haven’t gotten annoyed enough to make it a priority, but 3 200w solar panels would probably mean I almost never have to run the generator so maybe next year I will see what I can figure out.

Next is conquering the fuel issue in the generator. In the manual it says not to tee into the main engine line because it’ll cause fuel starvation and guess what? It does! I wish the installer had shown just a little more perspicacity in his work so that I wouldn’t be dealing with these problems now. I’m reminded of that scene in Smokey and the Bandit when Sheriff Buford T. Justice, disappointed with his son, says, “Son, when we get home I am gonna punch your momma in the mouth.” That installer…

That was yesterday, today we tackled the generator fuel line and unlike any other boat project before in the history of mankind, it went really easily. First I had to run the hose through the bowels of the boat so I figured out where it had to go and shoved it through with the passage where the other hoses were and … it just went through? What is this, opposite day? We fed it through there and then ran the ends to where they were going to be connected and it took 15 minutes. I was budgeting 4 hours. I am confused, I thought this was a boat.

My wife suggested we move the fuel filter for the generator to a more usable location instead of behind the case for the genset and damn that was a good idea, so we did. We plumbed everything in, dribbling only a little fuel but we had some absorbent pads down and did a great job containing the mess. Everything screwed together correctly, no problems. I kept waiting for something to go wrong and it didn’t. I bled the generator and it started right up and ran fine for 15 minutes. Usually if it’s going to die it’ll happen in 5 minutes or 3 hours so the jury is out on whether or not it’s fixed, but it feels fixed. I plugged the tee on the engine fuel line and ran the bleed pump and then ran the engine for 10 minutes around 2000 rpm and it didn’t stumble or behave like it had an air bubble so I call it good and everything is fixed.

A tip, when you’re working on stuff that has the capability of spilling gross or messy stuff on your floor or in places you don’t want it, get some of those ‘night time pads’ for bed wetters and stick them down on the floor where you’re working. Or stuff them in under the fuel filter so when you disconnect the line all the diesel dribbles into the pad and not into the engine compartment. It’ll save you a load of cussing and cleaning. That was my wife’s idea and it’s been really great when working with the black water system or the fuel system.

Shenanigans is the name of my friend’s boat, and it’s an AWESOME name.