The Sorcerer's Apprentice

I have begun my apprenticeship in diesel mechanics and maintenance!  Now that all of the unexpected repairs are complete, we have turned our attention to making sure the motors are in good shape and functioning properly.  This has involved draining various fluids, adding more fluids, flushing those fluids through, draining some more, then rinse and repeat.

Michael is perfectly at home doing all of this, but he can't do it all on his own.  My job started out as run and fetch - tools, buckets, hoses, shop towels, shop vac, more buckets.  Things got a little more complicated though, when we needed hands at both ends of the engine - one pair controlling the hose that was putting water in, and the other controlling the hose that was draining the water out and into the buckets.  So, I was promoted to mechanic's assistant, and am learning about diesel engines, and the science of heating and cooling them.  I suppose this shouldn't be unexpected, as I have been pulling hoses from one end of this boat to the other while we installed the new toilets.  This should just be the next logical step.

These engines have not been used for years.  We have only had the boat out a couple of times since we bought it, and the previous owners hadn't used it for a while before that.  First thing we needed to do was drain the old coolant and put in a cleaning agent.  I was amazed at the crud that came out with that first drain.  But the upside was that we had to take the boat for a run on the river to make sure the detergent got through the entire engine.

So we have finally cast off the lines and hit the open water.  With our neighbours Kim and Theresa on board, we headed out for about half an hour.  Great fun to be out there in the big boat!  And yes - that is me at the controls!!

But then we had to come back and complete the job...drain the detergent, flush with water, run the engines, drain the water, and repeat until it ran clear.  One engine took 3 cycles until we could put the final glycol coolant in, but the other needed one or two more cycles - I lost track.  We were at it until very late last night, but finally got it done.

Poor Edee manages all of the noise and holes in the floor extremely well.  She delicately picks her way across the floors strewn with the necessary tools when she needs to eat or drink, and sits in her bed watching us or sleeping the rest of the time.  She truly is a boat cat!

We're good to go now, and planning our first overnight trip to Chattanooga soon!  The weather is unsettled right now, so we will look for a window without storms in the forecast.  It's pouring down as I write this, and we have had some damaging winds spring up a few times in the last week, so we all keep one eye on the sky.