DAY 11: Captain Keeps His Head Down

Eleanor Hosts Welcomed and Unwelcomed Guest

At the moment I can’t think of anything better than sitting on E’s back deck, typing to the tapping of the water against the stern, with the occasional interruption of the “gull of the wild”…

…while watching the morning light fall on Bristol Bay…

and the first of the Monday morning commuters arrive to get the city moving.

My own final commute to Roger Williams University…

I was swept into a “Writing to Heal-Healing to Write” circle by Dorothy Randall Gray, who is an awesome human, even though she made this white girl dance at the beginning of class. Yes, dance. I asked if just doing some pushups was an option.

One of Ms Gray’s gems- “Success is writing the work that you love, reward is being published.” She also told us to “be present to the exit wound.” Brilliant.

A farewell gathering on Eleanor…

Bittersweet: Saying goodbye to these talented, funny, supportive women. But Robin, Autumn and Colleen have left me inspired.

And a report from a neighboring sailor that we were boarded! Apparently a woman wanted her photo taken on Eleanor’s deck, so while we were asleep, she posed in the cockpit. She was shooed away by said sailor, but Jon decided, at least while at the unlocked/unguarded City Pier, we’d put our Mystic Seaport Museum sign to good use.

Things should pick up on my sleepy little blog tomorrow. Meantime, the Captain had a more interesting day…

There is a correct way to fix problems on boats, and there are work arounds. Solutions that get you close to the end result. The repetitive cycling of the VacuFlush system was annoying and without access to the right parts for a hopefully permanent repair we needed a work around better than going to the main electrical panel behind a chair in the saloon and flipping the breaker off to deenergize the system.

Reading the internet blogs of others vexed with this same problem had revealed one simple solution. Insert an easily accessible Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) switch in the red wire sending power to the pump. With Terese’s caution to not do anything that would break the system making it completely inoperative I called up my brother Andrew for some guidance.

Back in 2020 when we bought Eleanor during the height of the pandemic it was difficult to get qualified technicians to work on boats. After a few frustrating attempts to get things repaired I started buying tools and learning how to fix things myself. My tools exceed my capabilities as I don’t know how to use much of what I’ve added to our tool locker but Andrew was able to guide me on the use of my multimeter to determine where to cut into the electric circuit to the pump.

My multi-meter and parts for the work-around fix for the VacuFlush system

As I went through the installation process of the switch, now located right next to the head, I found remnants of a prior installation of a similar switch. Why one of the previous owners over the decades had removed it I have no idea, but unfortunately for me they had cut the wires too short so I had to start from scratch. The wiring of this earlier version was wrong, based on Andrew’s coaching and my new understanding of electricity flows in this simple 12-volt circuit. I pulled the old wires out, wired in my new switch and tested it for operation. Works as planned. Just turn on the “Poupon” switch when needed. “Poupoff” when done.

The new “poupon” switch

When planning my day, Terese had asked what I was going to do while she went to her conference. 1. Fix the head. 2. Smashburger for lunch at the dockside restaurant at the head of the pier. 3. Spend the afternoon at the Herreshoff Marine Museum and America’s Cup Hall of Fame.

A replica of the trophy on display at the America’s Cup Hall of Fame

Nathanial Herreshoff and his brother had a boat building operation here in Bristol, from the later 1800s until the end of World War II. Nate was MIT trained engineer and excellent sailor and from 1893 to 1920 he designed and sailed every America’s Cup winner. On the old grounds of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company they have put together a nice museum with about 30 of his boats, as well as models of cup winners, and lots of back story.

The Herreshoff Museum includes sail and steam engine powered boats built here in Bristol, Rhode Island

Overall it was a great way to spend our last day in port before heading for Block Island.

I’ve been checking the weather for the rest of the week. Hurricane Debby is going to be working its way up the coast towards us and we want to beat it to Shady Side. Talking to my brother Chris in Sanibel, the storm surge yesterday swept an alligator out of the bayou and over the bulkhead into his back yard! We won’t be facing alligators on our way south, but we do have to go out into the Atlantic to run south from New York harbor to the Delaware bay so strong winds and heavy seas are our concern. Right now, the plan looks like Block Island tonight. Then run through Long Island Sound in a day to get to NYC on Tuesday. Wednesday, we run down the coast to Delaware Bay and up to the C&D canal for a night stop in Chesapeake City. That will leave us an easy 60-mile run for Thursday morning. We’ll see how that plan works. More tomorrow.