Getting the life raft to POP marine

It's time for the annual re-certification of the life raft.  Bob Broderick brought his truck and we rounded up another nearby sailor to help move it to the truck.  It's really heavy and bulky.

 

Building a shelf over the water bladders

We require use of the space under the aft deck, but shouldn't be stacking a lot of heavy equipment on top of the water bladders, so I feel it's necessary to build a shelf over the water bladders.  I emptied all of the equipment out from the lazarette storage area and measured for easily removable shelving.  Tomorrow I'll get a bit of wood and begin the project.  I'm allocaing most of two days for this.

Fixing the corroded fuel uptake tube problem

While at POapP, I discussed with Jack the idea of drilling a new hole in the fuel tank and installing a new fuel uptake tube.  The one we have is severely corroded and sucks air when the tank isn't full.

There are numerous hurdles - getting a carbide bit of the right size, attaching a plate atop so that there is enough thickness to tap threads and drilling and tapping straight requires making a jig.  Jack said that even with a lot of experience, the project would be a big challenge.  I asked if he knew of someone who could help.  He pointed to a man next to me, Michael, of A+ Mobile Marine.  Michael said we might be able to use the existing hole.  He is not concerned with the old uptake tube staying in the tank - if any debris from it make it to the Raycor filter, that filter will trap the debris.  Michael will come soon to plan the fix.