We knew when we bought the boat in 2019 that there was a fuel issue because the filters were partially clogged. We had the voyage from Virginia to Connecticut ahead of us, but Al was not overly concerned because he had plenty of extra fuel filter cartridges and made frequent changes over the 8-day trip.

With all the many “watsonizing” projects during the winter of 2019-2020, the fuel tank worries took a back seat for the moment. The 2020 summer season was super short due to covid and my recovery from spinal surgery, ending with only an additional 20 hours on the engine. In fact, we had yet to put fuel into the tanks.  😳

At the end of the 2020 season, short that it was, it became evident that the diesel fuel and tanks issue could not be ignored any longer.

What is that ooey-gooey, black, gunky, slimy, scummy stuff in the filter?????

It is called “diesel bug,” the common term for a mix of various contaminants that include microbial bacteria, fungi, algae, and mold. It can originate from the air or moisture or during tank filling, and can lie dormant until just a little water, even a droplet, is introduced. Then the “bugs” can breed and multiply. Their waste deposits fall to the bottom of the tank. So we either had diesel bug or asphaltenes. Asphaltenes is a tar-like substance that forms in the presence of water and sludge in old diesel fuel. Which did we have? Bugs or tar? Or both? Take your pick. Neither one is good. Either can block filters which in turn can lead to fuel starvation, worn injectors, or even engine failure.

No more procrastinating, the time had come to address this problem. This was not a “fun” project so Al paced it out over the winter. 

There are two fuel tanks that hold 350 gallons of diesel each, and a built-in transfer pump that moves fuel from one tank to the other. There was 50 gallons in each tank at this point. There are baffles inside of each tank that divide the tank into six parts with 12-inch diameter holes in the middle for the fuel to flow back and forth. First step for Al was to move all the fuel from one tank to the other in preparation of cleaning.

In planning to clean the tanks, Al built a homemade fuel polishing system to clean out the tanks. It removes the fuel from the tank, sends it through a filter, and then returns it to the tank.

Al modified his homemade fuel polisher to take fuel from the tank, pass it through the hose and onto a paint brush at the end of a stick. He then reached the stick into the six compartments of the fuel tank (you can only see two of them in the photo). Using this, he could bring all of the sludge to one point in the tank so that it could be removed with rags and elbow grease into a bucket. Next, he placed three gallons of fuel back into the tank and sloshed it around in the tank, sending it through the fuel polisher for an hour or two until clean.

All that remained was to install a new gasket and replace the inspection port with the 28 bolts. And repeat for the other side. No wonder Al stretched this out through the winter. It took a lot of time and major body contortions to clean these tanks. What a difference!

With proper maintenance and fuel additives, this is one task that should never need to be done again.

We have never wanted a twin engine boat.  Yes, yes, I have been lectured on the benefits of two engines, but frankly, the argument has not been convincing. Why double the expense and work load? After sailing for so many years one engine is all we need. It is true that if the engine on a trawler breaks down we have no sails to power us. But, hey, that is what Boat US towing insurance is for.

The Mariner Orient had a bow thruster and that was very helpful with only one engine. It makes it easier to maneuver the boat into and out of the slip.  The Kadey Krogen has a bow thruster. I thought we were all set. HaHa. 

Al used his covid time, hunkered down at home, searching the internet for ….. anything boat related, including…. wait for it….. stern thrusters. Another thruster??? I was a bit hurt and deflated, thinking this idea was a reflection on my docking abilities. When I asked, “Why?????….,” Al patiently explained that a sideways propeller in both the bow and stern, gives you better control of the vessel than with a bow thruster alone. You are also able to rotate the boat in any 360 direction while stationary. Well, well, well.. I guess I’ll be able to spin this baby all around. 😳

Everything Al found on the internet for an external stern thruster was too flimsy. And then he stumbled across the Yacht Thruster company’s  Model 300C, their most powerful thruster for a boat our size. No surprise, but it was out of his price range. Undeterred, Al continued to dream of a stern thruster. Al is a dedicated eBay and Craig’s List shopper, so he typed that model into the eBay search, and lo and behold, someone just happened to have a brand new one that was never installed on their recently sold boat. Selling for half price. Al waited until the last minute to make his bid and won the auction.

This was probably his most anticipated package arrival of the winter. As soon as it was in his hands, he began work on creating a cardboard mock-up. (That doesn’t surprise anyone, right?)

It looks like a lot of holes where holes shouldn’t be on a boat, under the water. But it was a work in progress at this stage.

There was exterior work and interior work to be done.

A close up of the installed stern thruster.

Docking should now be less stressful for me, especially if the wind is blowing.  I have been docking our boats for a while now (10 years?) but I still get shaky knees at times. Maneuvering into a dock and coming alongside a dock requires careful steering and throttling back and forth. Some boaters may sneer at the addition of bow and stern thrusters, but I have found the bow thruster to be a life saver. So, if adding a stern thruster will make a tricky maneuver easier, why not take advantage of it? 

There was this little annoying thing – the rain drain from the flybridge allowed water to fall directly onto the teak rail below, always splashing inward. Not a big thing, but kind of annoying.

This occasional conversation about a small thing turned into a HUGE winter project. For Al, not me. Remember, he loves tackling something new, if it is for the boat…… and loves a good challenge. especially during the winter months

From October, 2020 through March, 2021, this drain spout became an ongoing mission in the background while he worked on assorted other projects. Al spent hours researching and watching YouTube videos, as well as just figuring out solutions on his own.  It became a complex, labor-intensive, multi-step process. This guy doesn’t give up!

Step #1 Removing the old short rainspout.

Step #2 Making the new extended rain spout prototype. This began with the PlayDoh.

Step #3 – This PlayDoh/PVC/old drain prototype was next covered with fiberglass and wetted out with resin to make a reverse mold.

Step #4 – Wood supports were added to the mold above to keep it from bending. Resin was then poured into the reverse mold.

Now Al needed to figure out how to make a pair of rain drains…… and four spares. One was not going to be enough.

Step #5 – A reusable mold was needed. The finished rain drain above formed the basis for a reusable silicone mold.

The silicone needed to dry for 24 hours. I can tell you that Al watched that box on the kitchen counter for almost the whole 24 hours, checking it hourly to see if it was “ready.” This silicone mold would be used to reproduce resin duplicates of the new rain spout.

Step #6 – Removing the new longer rain drain from the silicone mold.

Step #7 – The silicone mold is now ready to be used, over and over again, to make as many longer rain drains as Al wants.

Step #8 – Installation on the boat.

This has to be the hardest blog post I have ever written!!!! Even harder to grasp than electrical wiring. There were so many steps and so many iterations that I became lost in the process over the 6th months as well as while I tried to write this blog. My head was ready to explode!

I do, however, appreciate the final outcome. 😉

Latest update on this project……. We tested these new longer drains with a lot of water. Hmmmmm, not quite the solution we hoped for, but better than before. Some water still hits the teak rail, but most was shooting out well beyond. We shall see what happens when the boat is in the water and rain falls.

My sweet, loving Captain Al, best husband in the world, took on a project that would make my life easier and safer. After my fall from the swim platform last spring, the wheels in his head began to turn, unbeknownst to me at first.  He started muttering about “bars.”  Hmm….bars as in pubs? Ice cream bar? Candy bar? Shower curtain bar? Chin-up bar? There are a lot of possibilities! Al had decided we needed bars on the swim platform. Watching me tumble to the ground and break my back and then struggle and fail to get into the dinghy got his project juices flowing. It was obvious to him that bars on the platform would be a real asset, especially since both of us are not getting younger. These bars are officially called “staples”. Seems like an odd name to me, but there are lots of odd names for the parts of a boat. After researching the name, the reason was pretty simple – these bars are called “staples” because that’s what they look like. Ok……

Al began the planning phase of this project while the boat was still in the water.

The project turned out to be more complex than anticipated. The guys were able to figure out just what they wanted and needed, but could not find a place to manufacture their custom bars. Al searched for a shop here in CT and Anthony searched in Maryland. Maryland won the contract over Connecticut!

Once the bars were fabricated, our set was stored on Magnolia. It was now October, Kindred Spirit was out of the water and Magnolia was nestled in the Chesapeake Bay. Road trip! We met in New Jersey by car and made the transfer. It was a good excuse for a visit and an outdoor lunch. After the transfer, we returned home. Seven hours of driving on the road is nothing for a boat project. 🥴😜🙃

With the finished bars now in hand, Al began work on the installation phase.

Our swim platform really got a makeover! In addition to the staples, there is a new swim ladder. I enjoy swimming off the boat so a good ladder is critical. Although I was never able to get into the water last summer, Al tested the ladder and decided it should be replaced with a longer one.

Some women get flowers and candy, or fancy jewelry. To me, nothing says love like protecting the woman you love. I feel loved.

It is April, 2021 now and we are coming out of this long pandemic hibernation. As I look back on the past 13 months, I can see how our lives shifted and turned. At first, in Spring 2020, there was the fear and caution, but a hope that this pandemic would be halted swiftly. By summer, we realized that wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, summer meant outdoors and a slight resemblance to normal life. I was so focused on healing from the spinal fractures and surgery that sometimes I didn’t really feel the impact of Covid-19 then.

Summer became fall, and fall became winter, bringing covid surges across the country. By October, we recognized that the next 6 months would not be normal at all. There would be no family holiday gatherings, no get-togethers with friends unless it was outdoors in freezing temperatures. Take-out and delivery had replaced restaurant trips.  Masks were always on when we left the house, if we left the house. Groceries were ordered online and picked-up at the curb.  ZOOM and Facetime were less than adequate substitutions for social interaction. Amazon deliveries became routine and much too frequent (ordering things online became a new past time.) Somehow we did it; and although there were sometimes tears and an underlying sadness, we managed to find humor and laughter to comfort us.

Thank goodness we like each other and have a good solid marriage. Living together on a boat for extended times is good preparation for this level of constant closeness. Our house is small, but bigger than the boat! We kept ourselves busy. I focused on weaving, walking, reading, baking, cooking …..repeat. We binged through NETFLIX and PRIME series and movies. Have you watched Below Deck??? A yachting “reality” show that is absolutely ridiculous fun to watch.

Al found and watched more sailing/boating vlogs on YouTube than I thought could possibly exist. Is everyone out there recording every moment of their life? And sharing to the world? I will admit that I even watch a few of them. Living vicariously, as they say.

Can you guess what Al kept busy during the winter??? BOAT PROJECTS!! How could there be any more projects for Kindred Spirit, you ask? She is a boat which means there is always another project around the corner or right in your face. He averaged 1-2 trips to Kindred Spirit per week plus many, many hours in the basement working at home on his projects and a few projects for other boating friends. A little space is good for a couple.

April has brought spring weather and new beginnings. We have both been fully vaccinated, as have our children and their spouses. We are cautiously hoping that the worst is behind us and that we can resume something close to normal life. We must have faith that everything will be ok. That said, we still have our reservations about many activities. We are not comfortable with indoor dining, bars, movies, or any place that has a crowd, however small. But with warmer weather and more people vaccinated, we are truly looking forward to spending time with our family and friends, and boating season!

The very best, the very, very best thing now is that we can see our family in person again.

Enough of covid. You are all living through it too, so what else can be said? It is time for me to gather whatever photos exist to document some of Al’s assorted “winter watsonizing.” Some projects were a bit of a surprise. Stay tuned!