No pictures, but some success

And the camera was sitting right there next to the door when I left the house, too. Sorry. Maybe next time.

After buying the wrong fittings three times I finally got the freshwater pump installed and operating yesterday. With the proper connections everything was quite easy; the pump, a Shurflo, fit right on the pad where the old Par was at (although I had to drill new mounting holes to match the base) and with right-angle adapters the hoses fit snugly. When I powered the circuit up, the pump kicked right in and pressurized the system with no leaks or complaints.

This allowed me to finally check out the hot water heater as well, which had a loose fitting but otherwise worked normally.

While I had the cockpit locker cleared out (and while I was wedged inside it, as the pump compartment is beneath it) I took the opportunity to clean it and the pump compartment out a bit. In a car, house, or other land-based domicile, you can sweep stuff off the table or dash or practically any surface and eventually by force of gravity and the assistance of winds, vacuums, brooms, etc, the debris will eventually make its way off or out of the conveyance or establishment. Not so in a boat. The hull keeps junk inside as effectively as it keeps water out, so every speck of dust, dropped screw, wood splinter, hair ball (not mine, obviously), washer, or candy wrapper ends up in the lowest bit of whatever compartment it dropped in. The cockpit locker itself was fairly clean but I wiped it out anyway; the pump compartment, beneath it, was full of slimy garbage which I mucked out as best I was able then scrubbed down to the extent that I could reach. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than when I started.

I performed a similar clean up beneath the prop shaft and transmission casing by reaching in from the cockpit locker. A lot of small debris was down there, which is bad news when you are out bouncing around... the wrong sized chunk of wood or machine screw getting tossed into the steering mechanism or the shaft seal at the wrong time could cause tremendous and dangerous problems.

I had wanted to inspect the shaft seal anyway, and did so as best I was able. That sort of thing almost has to be done at night to be conducted adequately; the contrast between the sun and the dark engineering spaces doesn't let you see very well even with a flashlight on a sunny day. We've been accumulating a small amount of water in the bilge over time and my thinking was that it was coming from the shaft seal. This is a dripless seal but it's possible for the mechanism to come loose and start allowing small amounts of water in. Feeling around beneath it, however, I didn't find any signs of water intrusion. Same story around the engine raw water intake through-hull and in fact everywhere beneath the shaft and transmission--I felt only the usual minimal slime of lubricants. This, at least in theory, rules out a leak source anywhere abaft the engine, since any incoming water would have to run down that path to get to the bilge.

This puts me right back at square one for leak tracing. I'll have to set up more comprehensive traps for drips and such to see if I can figure out where it's coming from. That, at least, will be easier now with everything cleaned up a bit.

The wooden rail that holds the board separating the cockpit locker from the engine compartment was starting to split. I didn't have wood glue or the right size clamps aboard to fix it (and my head and shoulders were too broad to get in and do a good glue job anyway) but I slapped some Marine Goop in it and hope that will suffice as a temporary repair.

Got a look at the steering gear and below-decks portion fo the autopilot, which all looked fine. Sprayed some lubricant on the steering quadrant and cables as is my habit in the spring, but as with the PSS inspection, I really need to get back in there after dark sometime to get a good look at things.

I wired up the push-button starter to replace the key-based ignition system and it works just fine; I have to fabricate a mount in the instrument cluster and find a protective cover for the button now. I still haven't installed an "on/off" switch or secondary start button below decks... need to figure out more how that three-way switch works first.

Also got the radar working properly again. It turned out the "no data" message I was getting before was the result of a bad contact between the cable and the plotter. I tested all the circuits in the radome via the cable and they came out with normal readings, so I took a look at the plug more carefully. It turned out there was a small plastic burr in the connector locking mechanism which was hanging up and preventing the cable from making a complete connection when plugged in. I shaved that off with my pocket knife and the connector slid right on and the radar came up normally. Of all the Raymarine systems aboard, I only have the autoplilot left to test, but I need a day on the water to do so.

All in all, things seem to be coming together nicely. I think that covers my major "must-have" projects for the season; the transmission, should it need replaced, will form a whole constellation of troubles in and of itself, but I still hold out hope that simply having cleaned it out, it will work more easily for the next year at least. The exhaust elbow may still need to come out, but that looks pretty straightforward. And I shall likely assign leak tracing to Mandy, who is more methodical with that sort of thing that I am by nature.

A little bit of clean-up in the cabin and we're ready to go for the year!