Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

As I remarked before, when we returned to Roosey, the hot water tank was waiting for us and has been sitting in our cockpit patiently until the stars and moon were properly a lined for a quick and painless replacement procedure. Today was the day we had been waiting for. We were well rested, well fed and ready to attack the task at hand. We also had a car nearby in case we needed additional pieces and parts.

Dale prepped the area by first clearing all pillows, cushions, charts and cameras from sight. We both decided that this would be a good day for me to do laundry, so I cleared all clothing, towels and rugs from the general area as well. (Having just discovered one of my hand towels covered in grease and being used as chafe gear in the dinghy, I left him with a roll of paper towels.)

The laundry room is in the building just in front of where our boat is slipped, so I opted for the back and forth between loads method of washing instead of the taking a book and camping out routine. On my first trip back to the Palace, I saw that most of the flooring and one side of the tank had been opened up. Green cooling fluids once contained somewhere within the tank had been drained and were being stored in 2 liter Diet Coke bottles around what remained of the salon floor. I positioned myself on the far side of the salon and watched silently. Soon enough I was pressed into service.

As Dale balanced the front of the tank on his toes, he drained water from the far side where the water was fed into the tank. The area where he could tip the tank with his toes and still reach to hold the vessel catching the water only allowed a plastic cup to fit. He’d pour water into the cup then dump it into a water bottle with a funnel attached. I was commissioned to dump the reclaimed water. The tank holds 11 gallons. Watching his hands shake as he very carefully, poured the water from the little plastic cup through the funnel into the 1 liter water bottle that he had balanced precisely on the very tank he was emptying, I calculated it out with my new math skills and grabbed a big bowl. The chances of the water spilling or his toes being crushed were astronomical.

He used this method to empty enough water out to where he could lift the tank and then dumped some more into the bilge. (I’m still not convinced that all of the holes in the bottom of the boat lead to the bilge that has the pump. It seemed he dumped quite a bit of water into the bilge but I never heard the bilge pump come on.) Finally, he determined that enough had been removed so that we could lift it up and out of the boat. I was directed to go top side and grab one side of the tank while he climbed the stairs holding the other side. I was directed not to tip the tank. Considering the angles involved, I just laughed. Believe it or not, we got the tank up the stairs, off the boat, onto the dock and finally onto a nearby dockbox where he could remove the remaining pieces and parts that were required to connect the new tank without any noticeable spills. This was a good time to switch the laundry.

The next time I descended the stairs, the new tank was out of its box and being positioned into the space. There was a fair amount of salty dog sailor speak coaxing the tank into place but soon enough he was tinkering with various wrenches, screwdrivers and scooping up mounds of wet paper towels.

Next we had an Easter Egg Hunt for the cup of screws he had stowed away. Back when he first disassembled the settee, he dutifully saved each and every one of the screws in a little cup. When we decided to go sailing with MTNest, he secured them in a very safe place where they wouldn’t fall and where we would never be able to find them again. After much searching, they were finally located in a small cupboard I use for canned butter and packaged milk. Don’t ask; it’s just where they were.

After that, it was just a matter of replacing the floor boards, rebuilding the settee and replacing the cushions. By the time he was done with his task, I was done with mine and it only took us most of the day to accomplish them.