Breakin the Chain!!!

Spinnaker Photo- Alberg 30 Flying her Asy Spinnaker

Our Sal under sail in 2011, making good headway with cruising spinnaker.

Update on the "tick"

In my last post I told you about an exhaust leak I had in my engine compartment. I am happy to report back that the JB Weld held for our day sail on the 4th of July. No more exhaust leak! Our good old Atomic 4 is back to her quiet self. We motored a bit more than usual and all seemed well. Now I know its not a permanent fix but I am going to leave it alone for now while I look for another exhaust manifold. Other than that pretty much the same ole grind. Looking forward to a day sail today with the first mate and possibly doing a little sailboat racing on someone else's boat this afternoon. A dockmate of mine invited me to go out on his racer. He said just show up at the dock at 5:30 and hop on....Hopefully I will report back with good news of my racing experience
 



 Sal's trusty Atomic 4

Americas Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July to everyone and especially our service members past and present. Without your service we may never have been able to celebrate this fine holiday.

 

Been busy doing a little work on Sal's "Iron Sail", the engine. Over the past few months I had been hearing a ticking noise from down below and figured I should go investigate. I found an exhaust leak where the exhaust bolts to the manifold. Seemed like an easy fix so I went to the boat earlier this week, took it all apart, cleaned and reassembled. I waited a day to start to let the sealant dry completely. When I did start it a few days later, the "tick" was much more faint but still there...back to the inspection process. What I found this time was a small hole in the exhaust manifold itself. So last night I went down to the boat and did what any sailor desperate and broke sailor would do.........gooped up the hole with JB Weld!!! We are headed out sailing this afternoon so we will see if she will hold. Either way, I will need a replacement manifold. I have a used one here at the house that I will begin to clean and see if I can salvage, if not I will need a new one. Good thing is that it is not a show stopper as far as going day sailing.

After I finished filling in the hole last night I enjoyed a nice evening alone on the boat. The weather had finally cleared and I had a few hours to kill, so I did just that...wasted 2 hours doing nothing but enjoying the sights and relaxing from the cockpit. Here are a few shots I sent to the first mate while she was working.

 

 

We will be headed out for a sail today, hopefully exhaust leak will be fixed. Either way I am going to go out and enjoy the day with first mate and friends! Happy 4th everyone!