Loyal friends come in all shapes and sizes.

In the meager amount of time I've spent walking this earth, I have come to know one thing. Good loyal friends ARE hard to come by. With that said I dedicate this post to my wonderful dog, Tech. A.k.a. Tuie, teckeltuie, tutu, teckelton Jones Jr.😁 and the list goes on. This little creature has had the fortunate, unfortunate luck of being in my care since she could fit in my hand ✋ and it has been a pleasure being her owner and keeper.

This little dog has a real lust for life and the spirit of a dog 20 times larger. Everything from motorcycling to jetsking, she loves speed and is smart as any dumb human I know. Not to insult the dog.

I really look forward to actually sailing with her I'm sure she'll be a great first mate until a suitable human female counterpart can be found. Well thanks for reading, and don't forget, they love us as much or more than our own species.

What to do when it rains? Just wait till the sun comes out.

It seems like it's been raining alot ☔ lately. Actually just about every time I start trying to do something, or first thing in the morning, and right before I step out of the shower at the marina and then have to do the fifty yard dash back to the boat or just sit on the head till it passes and hope no unknowing soul comes calling for the head.

Luckily, I only have like 6 leaks now :) and 1 that moves a round. Watching the storms roll in from the safety of the pilothouse on the hard makes me really yearn for that same view at sea.

When I think about the freedom that awaits me out there I start to feel hopeless like it will never happen for me. It's just about then when I tell myself "hey, look how far you have come. From sleeping in a storage unit to owing the boat and being so fucking close to your dreams coming true you can taste the sweet salty air of the Caribbean. So relax Rick" is what I tell myself.

is there more we can do aboard in an effort to conserve ♻

I've recently begun to research and price alternatives to the common tender 4 stroke outboard. In my research I came across a few interesting candidates. One being the "Torqeedo"

a battery powered 🔋 outboard that you can recharge in a couple of different ways. Another cool outboard I went to investigate was a very nice little propane engine by LERH.

this little outboard comes in Horse power 🐴 from 2.5 - 15. Also you can use the small camping ⛺ canisters or connect up to a 40lb. Tank with the provided hose.

It was while researching this engine I came across this little video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDoBBxa0jIo

this is now my current "side" mission, to either buy or convert my zero hour 9.9 Yamaha to propane. I have found a few places that sell conversion kits for all manor of engine, from gensets to 6 cylinder cars.

 There's something to be said about changing the scale of the things around you , even if only for a short time

we over come obstacles from before conception, if you hadn't been the winning sperm, you would not be reading this now. with that being said, the size and severity of the obstacles is relative to the individual. I'm saying this because over the last few weeks i have been spending quit a bit of time working on wonderfully large motor yachts. accomplishing all manors of task ranging from sanding and buffing to brush painting Awlgrip.

 Its not until you sand and sand and sand and then brush paint a 95 Westship, that you come to realize that a ''my'' 33 footer is NOT, that big a vessel to do the same type and quality of work on. Its when i began to think like this, that i started looking thru the eyes of a newbie.  standing there in front of a 30 plus year old boat with and all the nicks and dings that come with the age, the hardware needs rebedding and paints peeling, and you ask yourself am i going to just slap a coat of paint on and handle the cosmetics of it or am i going to do it right? in my case its always the right way

What to do when you just have had enough but only you know that?

The title says it all. And that's exactly how I feel alot of the time now. No matter how much work I do on the vessels of others, they want more and my beloved Jomfru sits waiting patiently for her turn again. Don't get me wrong, my pillowcase is a little fatter these days and jomfru has definitely come a long ways but not fast enough.



photo w/ Lumia 1020

Lifes moving around me at what seems to be the speed of light right now, but I seem to only be at a snails pace. I think it's just a feeling of urgency or a need to be moving again, been here too long now and I have what I describe as a kinda cabin fever. For which the cure is a 100mgs of Hurry up and get the hell out of here, if you can't tell, I really want to get out of here. Not even so much out of here, but, just out there sailing ⛵.

pax on deck.


I know that the time is going to be upon me sooner than later now, it still feels so far off like a distant shore . Just a picture in my minds eye of an offshore island lost somewhere.

The remarinization of Jomfru's 4 cylinder Ford diesel

The remarinization of Jomfru's 4 cylinder Ford diesel, a 2712e base engine marinised originally by Bowman marine London, England in the very early 70's.

this little story is the one of how i became a diesel mechanic out of financial necessity more so than anything else. That and I've always liked taking shit apart, grandpa would call me "Dynamite" when i was little.

So when i first purchased Jomfru I was told the the engine had been started regularly. Along with the purchase, I negotiated the continued use of her current docked location. this put engine starting not so high on my list. Hell actually i was amazed that I owed the boat! never mind did it run who worries of such small details? lol.....

 

  With a few failed attempts at starting her, I came to to conclusion the she wasn't getting fuel. certainly I checked all the common causes of a hard starting diesel, from fuel level to air bleeding, filters and lift pump. turns out that she had sat a little longer than was said and the stop control leaver was stuck in the off position. I reinforced this idea during a test session when I was able to get it running by punching a few holes in a can and placing  it on the air intake with some diesel fuel.

 

                          It was during that same test starting session, that I discovered the true condition of the exhaust manifold, heat exchanger and header tank. after inquiring locally for injector pump rebuild prices "$1200-$1500 by the way" and the scarcity of available parts, I turned my focus on interior removal and getting Jomfru to a yard. 

old Bowman heat exchanger/ header tank

after a long time and many projects later it was finally time to get back to working on the engine. by now both you and i know its not going to be cheap, instead of just half assing back together a 40+ year old system, I decided my life and Jomfru were both worth more than that. So shopping we did go. "below I included some of the damage done to the bank account".

I would like to thank Brian Smith and the guys over at American Diesel Corp.   http://www.americandieselcorp.com/ VERY knowledgeable and  professional would recommend to anyone in need of info / parts.
The rest of the photos are of the painting and reassembly process along with a video or 2. I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog. please email me if you have any questions comments or suggestions. as you could imagine i too have become fairly good with these engines.

Post by Ricardo Alberto Namias.

Post by Ricardo Alberto Namias.

 

                                                                                

In Loving Memory of Alberto Namias