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An Unlikely
Mechanic
4/24/01
Blaine Parks
I was a full-time desk jockey before we moved aboard ‘Charbonneau’.
When our cars or the house needed repair, I relied on others to
remedy the situation. I had
the ultimate fix; I threw money at the problem until it went away.
This solution usually worked and the only grease on my hands was
from the lunch I ate while waiting for the repairman to finish up. We were just too busy to take care of our own things.
Like most of our friends, we paid others, professionals, for those
things. Boy, how things have
changed!
After
a year of living aboard, I’m now a ‘Charbonneau’ certified mechanic,
plumber, electrician, refrigeration technician, occasional painter,
fireman (once), and head (toilet) repairman.
Granted, I may not be an expert in any of those areas, but I’m
the only guy on-call around here. When
the water-pressure switch fails on our fresh water pump, Blaine to the
rescue. When the starter
won’t start, Blaine to the rescue.
When the generator sits quietly while I frantically push the start
button, you guessed it - Blaine to the rescue.
Mind you, I
didn’t know what a ‘pressure-switch’ was until the day I met a
broken one. When the
generator wouldn’t start, I opened the dark space where it lives, peeked
in, and hoped to find a note saying, “This is where I’m broken.”
No such luck. Everything
that breaks aboard ‘Charbonneau’ begins my next course in
self-sufficiency. My usual
response is to reach for the tool bag (growing by the day), put on a brave
face (so Janet can’t tell that I’m clueless), and head for the general
direction where the broken part should be. I find that if I grumble, scratch my head a lot, and say
“hmm” in a thoughtful way, I can convince Janet to leave me to the
repair. As soon as she turns
her head, I dive for any manuals or repair books on the boat.
Then I find myself saying things like, “Oh, so that’s what the
starter looks like. Interesting.”
And, so goes my learning.
Since
moving aboard (knock on wood), we haven’t had to hire any outside labor for
repairs. We have used the
services of a diver to clean the marine growth off ‘Charbonneau’s’
bottom. And, an Island Packet
representative came to our boat for a warranty repair on our engine start
battery and alternator. Everything
else, we’ve fixed ourselves. That’s
something that we’re extremely proud of.
Quite frankly, we’ve been shocked by how much we’ve been able
to do ourselves.
Living
aboard has helped us with the preventative maintenance tasks too.
These are the tasks we’d overlook when we were racing from the
house to the boat for short weekend visits.
Now, Janet monitors the exterior teak and applies more Cetol stain
about every six months. I
change the oil and filters on our primary and generator engines every
100-150 hours. Fuel filters
are monitored for water or sediment in the fuel and changed every 200-250
hours. Seawater strainers are
checked on a regular basis to prevent debris from clogging engine or
equipment cooling pumps. Belts,
impellers, brushes, hoses, coolant levels; everything gets inspected for
proper operation. Before
any major passage and while under way, our sails, standing rigging,
running rigging, and winches are checked for signs of failure.
None of this is rocket science, but it all adds up to preventing,
or detecting, major failures.
Still,
the harsh salt environment takes its toll on boats and their equipment.
‘Charbonneau’ is no different.
Even with our greatest care and attention, we’ve had to repair or
replace several things on the boat.
But, we’ve diagnosed and repaired these problems ourselves - the
two of us with no prior skills or experience.
I could never have imagined it.
So, if you’re planning to move aboard and are concerned that you
may not have all the mechanical skills you’ll need, don’t worry.
You’ll get lots of practical experience once you leave the docks.
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