Lisa and I were back down to Oriental this weekend to finally move the boat a little bit and knock out a few more projects. I purchased a macerator pump for the holding tank the last time we were down there but didn’t get around to installing it. Saturday morning I got up had some breakfast and started pulling the old pump off the boat. We had the holding tank emptied a couple weeks back and haven’t really filled it again since we’ve haven’t been on the boat a lot lately. I figure it’s always good to have the holding tank empty before you start working on it. The pump was pretty straight forward to replace. Pull 4 screws out of the hull, disconnect and reconnect the in and out hoses and wires. I ran a quick test and it works like a charm. This is going to be really helpful when we make a longer passage.
After the install Lisa put the boat together to get ready for a day sail. It was a beautiful day. Sunny, 80 degrees and 7-15 kts of wind along the Neuse River. We didn’t really go anywhere in particular just up the river for a couple hours and then back down to Pecan Grove Marina. We don’t like to stay out too long when we bring Sophia since she doesn’t go potty on the boat.
We pulled back into the slip like a couple of pros. It really was one of the best docking tries we’ve had. Lisa was at the helm and I jumped off to secure the lines. It was nice smooth and Starjewel seemed to stop exactly where she needed to. We then settled in for a movie on Netflix and some popcorn.
After relaxing I climbed the mast to replace the anchor light. We are planning on anchoring out over Labor Day weekend and I wanted to make sure it is operational. The boat came with the bulb in the nav station. It didn’t seem to work very well from that location so I decided to install it this weekend. They have many different systems for scaling a sailboat mast, but I went with some mountain climbing gear so I can use it off the boat as well. Not knowing how exactly the anchor light fixture was secured to the mast I ascended with pliers a multi-bit screwdriver and the replacement bulb. After what was more of a workout than I thought it would be, I get to the top and the fixture just twists off. Lucky day right? Well almost. Over time it has worn a little loose so the previous owner decided to secure it with electrical tape. I replaced the bulb descended the mast and waited for sunset to check that it worked. The next morning I scaled the mast again. This time I had Lisa wench me up and down. This was significantly easier for me, but it’s good to have the option to do it yourself. When I got to the top I taped the anchor light fixture down to ensure it doesn’t blow off.
Scaling the mast was a workout and it was kind of irritating to have to do it twice, but it was a good experience and learning point. That is one of the big reasons we purchased this boat, so I’m glad to have done it.
After the install Lisa put the boat together to get ready for a day sail. It was a beautiful day. Sunny, 80 degrees and 7-15 kts of wind along the Neuse River. We didn’t really go anywhere in particular just up the river for a couple hours and then back down to Pecan Grove Marina. We don’t like to stay out too long when we bring Sophia since she doesn’t go potty on the boat.
We pulled back into the slip like a couple of pros. It really was one of the best docking tries we’ve had. Lisa was at the helm and I jumped off to secure the lines. It was nice smooth and Starjewel seemed to stop exactly where she needed to. We then settled in for a movie on Netflix and some popcorn.
After relaxing I climbed the mast to replace the anchor light. We are planning on anchoring out over Labor Day weekend and I wanted to make sure it is operational. The boat came with the bulb in the nav station. It didn’t seem to work very well from that location so I decided to install it this weekend. They have many different systems for scaling a sailboat mast, but I went with some mountain climbing gear so I can use it off the boat as well. Not knowing how exactly the anchor light fixture was secured to the mast I ascended with pliers a multi-bit screwdriver and the replacement bulb. After what was more of a workout than I thought it would be, I get to the top and the fixture just twists off. Lucky day right? Well almost. Over time it has worn a little loose so the previous owner decided to secure it with electrical tape. I replaced the bulb descended the mast and waited for sunset to check that it worked. The next morning I scaled the mast again. This time I had Lisa wench me up and down. This was significantly easier for me, but it’s good to have the option to do it yourself. When I got to the top I taped the anchor light fixture down to ensure it doesn’t blow off.
Scaling the mast was a workout and it was kind of irritating to have to do it twice, but it was a good experience and learning point. That is one of the big reasons we purchased this boat, so I’m glad to have done it.
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