More stuff and fun!

This morning, we went kayaking at Geiger Key with Sally Botelho, the MWR social director, and two other couples from the park.  The wind was up, but the trip was fun.  We had one poor fellow out on his first kayak trip.  Probably his last.  His seat back wouldn't adjust and he couldn't sit up straight.  Picture trying to paddle while lying halfway back.  Wore the poor guy out!
The past six days have been fun for me, but ,I fear, boring for Micky.  We decided to make a few upgrades while we await the repair of the furler.  Some things were necessary fixes and few were surprises.
The surprise was the failure of the bilge pump and how fast a small drip at a intake strainer can put water in the bilge.  It's a situation where the leak makes the interior of the boat humid and the humidity increases the condensate that drains into the bilge.  The result is a lot of water!
We checked the bilge when we went aboard late one evening and the new pump switch was underwater.  After finding and repairing a bad splice, the pump motor ran!  The impeller didn't turn,so no water was removed.  The bilge was only half full and none of the marine supply stores were open, So I decided that since the boat had a 3000 gallon per hour pump and high water alarm mounted higher in the bilge, that it would be safe overnight.  Went home and crashed.
Something kept bugging me about the problem and waking me up. About 2:30 in the morning I woke up and remembered that "Island Princess" had a manual bilge pump installed.  Adding that knowledge made my wakefulness worse.   I had visions of the never-used upper pump being clogged or otherwise in failure and causing the boat to flood and damage the floors.  At three, I woke Micky and after a small disagreement over the need to go right then, I drove to the marina and pumped a disturbing amount of water out in a really short time.
The next morning, we went to the "big" West Marine on Caroline Street in the oldest section of Key West shortly after they opened.  Bigger is always better if you can get it to fit.  I bought the biggest pump I could get and an automatic one to boot.  The Rule-matic 2000 gph automatic unit is oblong, fits and pumps much more water.
The previous owners had obviously gone through three or four pumps before I got the boat.  I base that assumption on the number of abandoned splices I found stacked into the wiring.  I knew the wiring was a rat's nest, but had deferred the clean-up.  Now it was a necessity.
The result was a better than factory-new wiring job with sealed wiring.  Using the water hose I filled, cleaned and tested the bilge pump.
Now, the attack was against the source of the water.  I'd ordered a new strainer from Jamestown Distributors earlier in the week and installation was straight-forward.
Next problem was the shower sump pump.  Unlike the gravity-plumbing systems in a home or RV, the boat needs a pump to flush the gray water from the shower overboard.  We don't think about it, but the water from our showers is loaded with dead skin and oils from our bodies and hair.  Even with soap, the stuff we sluice off our bodies tends to ferment and stink if you mix it with salt water and let it sit in 85-degree heat.  Much better to pump it all overboard.  New pump on order from Amazon.
I've saved the best for last.  The new Garmin 741xs is installed in the Nav Pod along with the P70 controller for the EV-100 autopilot on the wheel.  I removed the cover over the steering gear and not only found the wire route, but also discovered that the previous owner's wife had long brunette hair.  I discovered that last fact by the clog of hair blocking water from flowing past the wire bundle.
I will have to create a notch in the quadrant cover and a bung in the cockpit to pass wires.  The Amplifier Control Unit will go in the huge lazarette along with the EV-1 Attitude Heading Reference Source.  The VHF-300 Radio/AIS receiver is installed along with an auxiliary circuit breaker/switch panel.  The backbone for the NMEA 2000 is neatly installed on the back wall of the radio box next to the "black box" for the VHF-300 AIS.
And along the way, I scrubbed that huge lazarette clean.