Lasse is leaving right now to go to Sixteen Tons to make sure she is secured.  Hurricane Sandy has just made landfall and Lake Erie's waves are well...incredible.  Reports are that some waves are as high as 20 feet.  These photos are only of Lake Erie in the Cleveland area.  All along the East Coast near catastrophic conditions are being reported but .... Lake Erie - wow.






 

The first journey we took turned out to be very short; a good thing since the hydraulic fluid in the rudder had run out and we had no steering.  We called it the "mini-loop" because we traveled through the marina to the waste disposal pump, turned around, and fought our way back to our slip.  It was actually quite an adventure  as we weren't sure how it all would end.  However, the next best thing to having a working rudder is a brand new bow thruster!

But here she is back in her home slip and resting peacefully with a clean holding tank.

Lake Erie seems to have an ongoing problem with the water level.  While the marina was at 4', the channel to the lake itself was not deep enough for us to get out for a day cruise anyway.  Patience, patience.

There are things you learn while living on a small boat.  One of the foremost being that there isn't a lot of space and organization is key.  Everything has a place and must be in its place in order for things to flow smoothly.  This is critical while working on the engine because one must be up and down, in and out, with and without tools in hand all the while moving things from port to starboard and from bow to stern.  

Thankfully Mike "the seller" left us a a really great pair of duplex hearing protective headsets.  This gift was great while we worked together on installing a new throttle cable.  One had to be on the fly bridge, or should I say crawling around inside the fly bridge while one fed the cable from the inside helm.  "No need to yell," she said, "I hear you just fine."  Working together with this one great communication tool made all the difference.

Today a couple of calls were put in to Brian at American Diesel - wow, what a great help he was.  The engine is a Ford Lehman 120 hp that is 32 years old with only 622 original hours.  It's had very good maintenance over the years, if little use, but before a real voyage can begin some updates need to be made.

A copper oil cooler and transmission cooler were ordered today along with hoses; we expect them by early next week.

If anyone is looking for help with a Ford Lehman boat engine, we were well advised to contact Brian or Bob Smith at American Diesel at 804-435-3107.  They are so helpful and explain thoroughly that it is a wonder they have time to handle their business.