Terry took one of the electric scooters and went several miles west along the shore to pick up a rent car at Beau Rivage Casino and Resort while I had a late breakfast after enjoying the luxury of sleeping in until 7:30 am. Fortunately, the rental agency was not inside the casino area, and the "gambling bug" did not strike. Much to my relief, she was back very promptly with the rent car. Our first stop was at West Marine to pick up the 115 volt water pump that we had orderred yesterday by phone. We also bought a couple of plastic fittings with hose barbs on one end and pipe threads on the other designed to make the transition from the metal pump with pipe threads to flexible hose using a hose barb and clamp. Other purchases included some nylon webing and an extra fender to protect the side of the boat. This West Marine store is brand new and at least twice the size of one of their regular stores so fortunately for us, their inventory was very good. Then our journey continued to an autoparts store to buy 4 gallons of 30W motor oil for the diesels. The engines use some, but we are also trying to build up a supply for an oil change down the road. Then we went to Hancocks Fabrics to buy some navy blue cloth for a removeable curtain between the salon and the dinette. They just happened to have this "cute" sewing machine that runs on battery or shore/generator power. The Admiral thought that would work much better than iron on tape to make the curtain. Personally, I had no thoughts at this point...
As we started to drive away from Hancocks, we noticed that there was a Harbor Tools Store next door. Well, neither of us can pass up a chance to visit Harbor Tools. One thing that the Admiral and I agree on is that you can never have too many tools!
That pretty well took up the morrning so it was back to the boat for lunch. While I took a short nap Terry drove to Pascagoula (20 miles East) to pick up a prescription for me at Walgreens and to make a quick stop at Walmart. Then she went to Sams in Gulfport (20 miles West of Biloxi.). Lots of driving, but after 15 days of travel, our supplies are back up to shape. After a short nap (less than an hour), I went down into the engine room and replaced the pump. I delayed turning off the air conditioning as long as possible since the engine room heats up quickly, especially in the middle of the afternoon. Since I had laid out all of the parts and tools as carefully as possible before I started, the pump was back up and running in about 45 minutes. The engine room is not air conditioned, but with the large hatch (about 3x4 feet) opening into the engine room below, the cool air makes its way down into the engine room.
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| New pump motor (black) with the rotor vanes in the off white section on the right end (raw or sea water enters through black hose). Water is pumped up vertically into the T-fitting. Red handle on right controls flow to the 12,000BTU unit for the galley and master stateroom. Red handle on left controls flow to the 16,000 BTU unit for the salon, dinette and lower helm station. |
I was just finishing installing the new pump when the Admiral returned from her shopping adventure. After a relaxing shower, it was time for a second trip to West Marine for some additional parts to replace those used during the last couple of repairs. After that, the Admiral chose a charming local restaurant for dinner.
Not a very exciting day, but repairs and maintenance are an every day part of life on a boat... Tomorrow, if the weather prediction holds, we will be off to Mobile Bay in Alabama (about 51 miles).
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