Power Cord & Bilge Pump

For most, or I should say all of August, we sat in Chicago and monitored Maryland’s weather. It cooled down and we were ready to return, and then Herminie, a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, turned into a hurricane. It vacillated back and forth between storm and hurricane, and in the process ruined most of the east coast Labor Day beach holiday.

The tracks of these storms are subject to the jet stream, the water temperature, the Coriolis effect, and the various land forms they pass over. A few super computers are needed to digest the data and come up with a probability curve for their path of destruction.

Carrie Rose was at the very edge of the warnings. I had faith in George, the marina’s owner, to act if needed. He did act last year when another hurricane threatened. This year the phone did not ring, so I called him. He explained not to worry; the marina is well protected, and then added the caveat that his prognosis could change at any moment. I decided to interpret this in the positive.

We postponed the trip back to the boat until the storm passed. It is a two-day drive for us that begins with the industry of Chicago and Indiana, and moves on to the farmlands of Ohio and then into the Pennsylvania and Maryland mountains. Once through the mountains it is a slow descent to sea level at Chesapeake Bay. The V6 Honda has registered close to 36 miles per gallon each time we have driven this way.

It was hot in Chicago when we left. The temperature moderated in the Allegany Mountains. Then with the loss of elevation came an increase in heat and humidity. By the time we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge the radio was proclaiming a heat alert. It was as if we had never left. The locals at the marina confirmed our perception saying that this has been the hottest summer in decades.

The first task when reaching the boat is to connect the shore power cable. It is a simple job but the cable seems to get heavier each year. There is a sequence to follow before I plugging the boat into shore power. The boat side is attached first. Next, I lay enough cord out to reach the shore and secure the cable to the boat so it does not slip off or lay in the water. It also has to have enough slack to ride up and down with the tide, so it is a balancing act.

This done I plug it into the shore power side. A 30 amp marine connector has three prongs: power, neutral, and ground. It can only fit in one way and a twist locks it in. I looked at the prongs to align it properly with the plug and noticed that two of the connectors had black melted plastic around them. This is a bad sign of increased resistance and sparking leading to heat.

I took it apart to inspect the damage. I have done this before, so know the drill. It was time to head to the marine store. On the way to the car, I mentioned it to George who informed me that a new cord might be cheaper than the parts. It turned out a 50 foot cord was $30.00 more than the two plastic parts I needed to replace the plug, so I bought a new cord and plugged it in.

There were a few polarity issues to resolve then with the air on, we finally settled in after a long day of driving and fixing. Charlotte started to read a revised list of projects. The list was not too long since most of the summer has been spent repairing one thing or another. The most pressing problem, one that I have been delaying for far too long, was to repair the cantankerous bilge pump.

A bilge pump should be rock solid. It should pump immediately, but Carrie Rose’s pump has needed intervention about 25% of the time. To get to it I would move the heavy chest on the saloon’s floor off to one side, throw the carpet over the chest, and lift the wooden hatch off to expose the bilge pump. Of course, there is the large stainless steel propeller shaft that has to be worked around.

Since the pump is about my arm’s length down, I need to lie on the floor and reach into the opening. Most times, if I gave the hose that is attached to the pump a good shake the water would start to drain. This is hardly an ideal situation.

I needed to do some differential diagnosis. This meant taking the pump apart. When I tested the pump, its switches worked and plenty of water shot out.I did find a few cracks in the hose and the one-way check valve (a thing that most boating experts believe should not be there) was missing a spring.

My best guess was that the one-way valve was the culprit, and it turned out to be, but not before I wrestled with recalcitrant hoses and took several trips to the marine store. Over all, the bilge pump required about eight hours of work —where does the time fly! — much of it spent face down. That night, my ribs were aching.

I have been thinking, can I charge Carrie Rose an hourly fee for repairs, and considering my bruised ribs and multiple hand lacerations can I file for worker’s comp. I suppose not, I’d only be chasing my tail. Better to head out to sea and create a few more problems for myself to fix.