Paying the Piper

When we bought Gran Vida she was already an old boat.  We didn't pay a lot for her.  She was comfy, safe, easy to handle and cheap to run.  Occasionally, as she was an old girl, people would ask, "Do you think she's going to make it all the way around the loop?" And you know what?  We honestly weren't sure.  But we've pushed the envelope and cruised on her for six years now and have had a GREAT time!  And she hasn't given us a lick of serious trouble.  Until now.  So you can't really blame Gran Vida.  We've asked a lot of her.  We've driven her thousands of miles, back and forth to the Bahamas a few times, took her out of fresh water and put her in salt.

So here we sit.  In Daytona Beach during Bike Week, when all the mechanics just want to ride around on their bikes and not be bothered by the likes of us.  We've been here ten days now and other than Jeff completing several projects and bending over backwards to make things easier for the mechanics by ordering the parts and taking off pieces that are in their way, nothing has happened.  Several appointments have been made and ignored as we sit here waiting all day with the hatches opened and everything all layed out for their convenience.  Calls and texts go unanswered.  And the clock is ticking on the time we're allowed to be in the States.  Jeff's been trying to put the boat back together, and he's a capable guy, but without the tools and the specific know how with this old Perkins, we really need an experienced mechanic.

I apologize if this post comes off a little negative.  Boat mechanical problems are the worst and we've had a bunch lately, but we're hanging in there and trying to make the best of it.

Here's what we've been working on:

out with the old water heater

...and in with the new shiny water heater

These are the required fittings I was sent out to seek.
I was pretty proud of the little plumbing supply store I discovered
where I found the prize.  It was like a scavenger hunt!

This is Jeff, wondering which wrong fork in the road he
chose that brought him to this particular dirty hole in
this floor at this particular moment.

A lot of suntanning time spent on this swim platform
scraping the old epoxy off the side of the dinghy in preparation
for the new davit ring.

This is our turbo charger (left) and old oil cooler which is broken
Note the piece at the bottom of the turber charger with the two squares
I drove to Jacksonville (1.5 hours) to pick up a new gasket for it.
Luckily, Jeff had schooled me on what I was picking up and
took this picture for me to bring with me.
The guy brought out the entirely wrong gasket and I was able
to say, nope, sorry.  It took him three tries but we got it right and I
and came home with the right gasket.
Another scavenger hunt!

So those are our days.  Not so glamorous.  Not really living big at this point. The mechanic assigned to us blew us off without a word again today even though we confirmed our appoinment with him twice.  It's kind of disheartening.

But to end this post on a high note, here are some pics from our Sunday break day from our pitstop chores.  It is bike week and it is a big deal here in Daytona.  There are bikes everywhere!  And they let you drive on the beach here!