Our log of the trials and tribulations of S/V Nightwinds - Twas the day before Christmas

11:14 am - Twas the day before Christmas

Twas the day before Christmas
and all through the boat,
All the transducers were working,
Except one of particular note.

With Mike in his birthday suit
and I in a shirt
crawled in to the engine room
praying not to get hurt.

Off came the seizing wire,
and twisting the cap.
Out popped the offending transducer
as water spurted in my lap.

As quick as can be,
I pushed the plug in.
But not before
20 gallons of cold water came in.

As I bent to my task
of tightening it up
Mike noticed a leak,
and that was over the top.

We loosened and tightened
and twisted and turned
finally the right pop.
My how our muscles burned.

With the transducer in hand
I exited the room
Mike followed quickly
bellowing for me with a boom.

Come get the tools,
and trace the wire
You would have thought
that Mike was on fire.

Our job now done,
The adrenaline is gone
We really thought it had a flap
But it really had none.

As we sit on the boat
happily a float,
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas
and to all a happy boat.

This is a true Christmas story. Our Depth transducer's temperature gauge started reading the water temperature as 102.3 degrees! So, we knew that it would need to be replaced as it was only a matter of time before the depth gauge stopped functioning. And since it is still under warrenty, we needed to remove it and send it back to Larry Smith Electronics who will handle it for us.

This was a different sort of experience for us as this is the first time we have removed a transducer in the water (without me being on the outside of the boat holding something over the thru-hole to keep the water out of the boat (and off of Mike)-- wasn't going to happen this time, the water temperature is about 60 degrees).

I came in to the engine room from the access door through the starboard head, while Mike went in through the main door aft. Mike unscrewed the transducer and popped it out, and immediately got sprayed with a whole lot of cold water. He's amazed that he really didn't notice the cold as he watched a whole lot of water pour in to the boat.

Meanwhile, I was wedged between the generator, its exhaust tube and the wall of the fuel tank with the transducer plug trying to get it in. It's rather hard to do when you can't see what you are doing because your life is flashing in front of your eyes! I managed to get it in, and Mike tightened it up. There was a leak. As the story says, we loosened and tightened and twisted the plug, finally getting the notch aligned, and no more leak.

Now we are (more or less) done, the adrenalene is seeping out of our bodies and it is time for a long winter's nap!

Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night.