The Discarded- Rescuing a Tartan 33
- Thread starter Ajax
- Start date
Alcatraz5768
Super Anarchist
Ajax
Super Anarchist
- Thread starter
- #383
Replaced the over-bored, failing raw water pump with a new, M-502 by Moyer Marine yesterday. This thing pumps gobs of water.
It's a load off my mind. I was expecting the ancient impeller in the old pump to throw a fin any time now.
Today's task- rebuild the toilet. Ewww
Tomorrow will be more fun- replace more running rigging. New lines make the boat look snappy!
It's a load off my mind. I was expecting the ancient impeller in the old pump to throw a fin any time now.
Today's task- rebuild the toilet. Ewww
Tomorrow will be more fun- replace more running rigging. New lines make the boat look snappy!
steele
Super Anarchist
Unless you already have the parts price out a whole new unit, usually the cost of the rebuild kit is pretty close to a new head, and a lot less trouble.
Ajax
Super Anarchist
- Thread starter
- #386
A rebuild kit is $70 at Defender. A replacement pump assembly is $160. An identical replacement toilet is not available. Thetford killed most of the Wilcox Crittenden line when they bought them out.
A $70 rebuild will buy me a year or two while I figure out if I want to install a desiccating toilet or a Lavac vacu-flush or just put another cheap Jabsco in.
Supposedly, a Lavac uses a fraction of the water and increases the intervals between pump outs. Of course, a desiccating toilet eliminates pump-outs altogether...
A $70 rebuild will buy me a year or two while I figure out if I want to install a desiccating toilet or a Lavac vacu-flush or just put another cheap Jabsco in.
Supposedly, a Lavac uses a fraction of the water and increases the intervals between pump outs. Of course, a desiccating toilet eliminates pump-outs altogether...
That coin has two sides: you do not want your holding tank to be too dry ....
Owners of electrical heads need to pump some water now and then, as they too use less water.
/J
Ajax
Super Anarchist
- Thread starter
- #388
So, I "did the deed" yesterday and rebuilt the toilet. It was every bit as wretched as I expected. Gloves, goggles, sponges, catch-clothes, it didn't matter. By the time I got done wrestling with everything, I was poop-ified and sweaty. I pumped gallons of bleach water first, and it didn't matter. The toilet area of the T33 is very cramped, cramped enough that it earned this distinction in magazine reviews. This made undoing certain fasteners difficult and made me get extremely intimate with the toilet. I discovered one reason why the toilet didn't work very well- There was a huge wasp nest clogging the discharge pipe! (prior to the hose to the holding tank)
I am still chasing wasps out of the boat on a regular basis. These are local wasps though, not transported from the boatyard. We've watched them fly over and land on the boat. They simply seek any dark, cool hole to crawl into and they always find the drain holes in my dorade boxes which lead into the cabin if you crawl far enough.
Anyway, the toilet pumps like a champ now, and doesn't spray pee on you from the pump handle shaft seal. It'll last until I decide on something better.
The job was so disgusting that after I went home and disinfected myself, I returned to the boat to play with running rigging as sort of a mental reward. I got the backstay adjuster block lubricated and free running and replaced the nasty control line. I also replaced the entire boom vang with a good used one that I found at Bacon's. The only running rigging still to be replaced is the spinnaker halyard and the pole topping lift. I still need to actually install the new jib and main halyards but they are ready.
My temporary butane cooker has arrived. I priced out the cost to overhaul the propane system and it'll run me at least half a boat buck. Everything gets replaced except for the stove itself.
Still plenty of cleaning to do in the meantime...
I am still chasing wasps out of the boat on a regular basis. These are local wasps though, not transported from the boatyard. We've watched them fly over and land on the boat. They simply seek any dark, cool hole to crawl into and they always find the drain holes in my dorade boxes which lead into the cabin if you crawl far enough.
Anyway, the toilet pumps like a champ now, and doesn't spray pee on you from the pump handle shaft seal. It'll last until I decide on something better.
The job was so disgusting that after I went home and disinfected myself, I returned to the boat to play with running rigging as sort of a mental reward. I got the backstay adjuster block lubricated and free running and replaced the nasty control line. I also replaced the entire boom vang with a good used one that I found at Bacon's. The only running rigging still to be replaced is the spinnaker halyard and the pole topping lift. I still need to actually install the new jib and main halyards but they are ready.
My temporary butane cooker has arrived. I priced out the cost to overhaul the propane system and it'll run me at least half a boat buck. Everything gets replaced except for the stove itself.
Still plenty of cleaning to do in the meantime...
Lex Teredo
Super Anarchist
I forgot to tell you something I learned in the Be-All-You-Can-Be.mil.
That is if you have to do something that is going to be truly horrific, odious beyond all human measure, and you don't need your sense of smell to be working, and if it doesn't matter if you yourself will reek - break out the Vicks. Smear some of that stuff on your throat and chest, and pack a little up the edge of your nostrils.
There are some smells that cannot be unsmelled, but the Vicks help. I also know a few people who swear by adding a couple of those small cotton plugs you use for a bloody nose, then mouthbreathing.
Cleaning a horrific shitter isn't the end of the world smell wise, but it has the potential like a lot of other smells to stick in your nose for a while. The Vicks tricks help with that. Yeah, I know - *now* I tell you.
That is if you have to do something that is going to be truly horrific, odious beyond all human measure, and you don't need your sense of smell to be working, and if it doesn't matter if you yourself will reek - break out the Vicks. Smear some of that stuff on your throat and chest, and pack a little up the edge of your nostrils.
There are some smells that cannot be unsmelled, but the Vicks help. I also know a few people who swear by adding a couple of those small cotton plugs you use for a bloody nose, then mouthbreathing.
Cleaning a horrific shitter isn't the end of the world smell wise, but it has the potential like a lot of other smells to stick in your nose for a while. The Vicks tricks help with that. Yeah, I know - *now* I tell you.
IStream
Super Anarchist
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For me, it's not the smell so much as the ick. I ripped an old head out of my boat that hadn't been used in at least three years. The lines were filled with old urine and a big turd. Of course, despite my best efforts, I got that juice all over myself. Somehow, the fact that the waste wasn't my own made it that much worse. I grit my teeth, finished the job, and took a rape shower afterwards.
Ajax
Super Anarchist
- Thread starter
- #393
The weather is perfect for the weekend- Sunshine, low 80's and 10-12kts. Sunday looks a bit lighter but still sailable.
We can play his music through the stereo, we're bringing stuff to make s'mores over the grill and packing some games but I worry that might not be enough.
Should I throw in some rum and porn?
Ajax
Super Anarchist
- Thread starter
- #395
I've been advised to give him an important task so I'll let him take a turn behind the wheel and post him at the chart plotter as "navigator."
This is a club organized cruise with a "race" to the destination anchorage. I use the term extremely loosely. It's just who can get to the beer the fastest without expending an ungentlemanly level of effort.
This is a club organized cruise with a "race" to the destination anchorage. I use the term extremely loosely. It's just who can get to the beer the fastest without expending an ungentlemanly level of effort.
Islander Jack
Anarchist
I imagine the chart plotter will keep him busy. Kinda like a video game. The chart plotter may assist the transition from the screen world to the real world.
Good on ya for taking him aboard.
Good on ya for taking him aboard.
Lex Teredo
Super Anarchist
The B plan if the winds are lousy is always to park the boat in a jellyfish free area bay and go for a swim. My son is always down for that, he's 12 now but has been since he was half that age. We did keep him in a PFD at first - he's a swim team kid but man, that cloudy water is scary for NooBs. Including NooB parents.
Beer fueled Mayhem
Anarchist
I keep my kids somewhat busy by paying them to watch for deadheads and what not that we might hit. 25 cents for a near miss. I get the quarter back if we hit something. Board games, UNO (freaking UNO gets played near constantly on our boat), waterguns are good for a bit, waterballons, swinging from the bosun's chair is a sure way to start a fight about sharing!