No, not the emerging crocuses or the buds on the trees. Just an old Mercury wagon with buckets of tools and one large boat propeller. It didn’t look so big on Annabel Lee. But it sure as hell does in the back of the car, and the shaft goes clear up to the dashboard.
Monday I’m dropping everything off at the prop shop for inspection and balancing.
1977 to 2009. 32 years of Annabel Lee’s maintenance log, transcribed to computer. Over three decades of oil changes, injectors drained, impellers changed, heat exchangers cleaned, zincs replaced, stuffing box repackings, countless filters, and other standard maintenance. Then the not so day-to-day, the Racor fuel filter installed (2/85), a new water heater (7/88), rebuilt alternator,(7/95), oil cooler replaced (6/97), and a new propeller (4/03). There’s the major changes and upgrades, like enlarging the rudder (4/85) new radar and gps (7/98) and a new windlass (8/98), just to name a few. And then there’s the curious, head-scratching, why-did-they-do-(or need to do)- that-stuff, like the replacement cutlass bearing caulked in place with 5200 (why?) (11/97) and the Morse dual lever (WHY??) helm controls (8/98).
The world may never know.
Busy busy busy. Yep, it’s that time of year again. Days are getting longer, the sun stays up just a bit more each day, and that means work begins again on Annabel Lee. I spent the last week entering 30 + years of logged maintenance, written in a little black book passed from owner to owner, into an excel spreadsheet. The records are invaluable, the only problem being each owner had a different system of logging, so trying to figure what was replaced when and why would jump from section to section. Sorted by date and engine hours, I can better determine what’s due (and overdue) for attention. Oh the work ahead!
On another happy note, the first crocuses have nudged their way through, just tips of green, but a start all the same.
NAMED ONE OF THE TOP THREE MYSTERIES OF 2010
~ Red Adept Reviews Annual Indie Awards
“A mystery in the John D. MacDonald tradition – both in its largely watery setting and tone, the novel also brings to mind Dashiell Hammett in the complexity of its plot, and even Stieg Larsson in its use of a strong young woman with an attitude as a main character. Last Exit In New Jersey is well-paced, densely-plotted story that mystery-thriller fans will enjoy immensely.”
~ Alex Austin, author of The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed
And who the hell is C.E. Grundler?
You can also find me posting at Write On The Water
|
