Very early
I woke up before sunrise for some reason, despite having slept well in the calm waters inside the lagoon. I had to turn on all the cabin lights to make coffee and begin my workday in the office. I’m going to slip in some pauses so that I can work on putting the Kubota engine back together in preparation for leaving. If I do the work before it gets too hot below decks, I’ll make a lot more progress.
The winds have shifted again overnight, but I’m not quite yet in danger of slipping into the channel, so I’ll stay in place for the moment. I’ve got at least another 24 hours of almost-no-wind conditions ahead of me.
Engine work
I started putting the cylinder head of the generator engine back together in my pauses at work. First, getting the valve springs and retainers back was a chore. Without the specific tool it is a lot of trial and error before the 2 retainers engage in the valve groove. When I opened the generator compartment, I saw that the open fuel line had leaked into the pan underneath the generator, which explains the slight smell of diesel I’d picked up on the previous day. I had to use the hand-pump and then some fuel-absorbent pads to get much of it out, over a litre, and then provisionally put the fuel pressured system back on, without the engine block top.
Noon
There has been a surprising amount of cloud cover this morning, so it wasn’t quite as hot as I’d feared. But the wind is shifting a little already, so before my spot got usurped by some upstart sailing vessel, I lifted up the anchor and moved about 70 feet inwards. I’m now securely attached to the bottom, and no longer in the channel. I might be in a bit of trouble if the wind swings to the north due to a mooring ball close by, and if the wind shifts 180° then I’ll run aground again. But I’m not particularly worried at the moment.
I did a shore run for some diesel and gasoline, but the fuel dock was closed; I didn’t realize that they shut down at 15:00. Then I went to Budget Marine to get some boat items and checked at the carpentry shop for the shelving I’d ordered.
The generator engine is mostly in the forward cabin now, and the boat is looking in better condition for travel. I’ll have to stow the solar panels belowdecks as they haven’t been attached yet. And I still need to do my final purchases at the grocery store.
Ashore
I had planned on walking to the Tap and Still for a final burger, but after only a few steps the empty table in front of the Gyros place enticed me and I had that instead.