How many guys does it take....

to remove a leaking fuel tank? 

We have had a perplexing issue this last week when we noticed that we were leaking just a small amount of fuel.  The bilge was scrubbed clean, all hoses were checked on the engine, etc., and still when the bilge would empty, there would be a slight fuel film on the surface. Not good. Not good at all.

On Thursday, while I was in Key West, the boys got the bright idea to try and lay paper towel or something down behind the engine, near the stuffing box and shaft, to see if they could determine where the leak was at.  What they really needed was a woman for the job, or at least her feminine hygiene products.  They didn't want to make a trip to Walgreens, I mean, there's a whole aisle of this stuff and how could they know what to get?  A tampon wouldn't do the job, but how does one decide if they need super absorbent, extra length for night time comfort, or wings?  Wings?!  Pads now come with wings, they said?  Who knew?  They simply wanted a good old fashioned Kotex.  It seemed like a Depends might do the job, at least for absorbency issues, but only if it had break away tabs to put the shaft in the leg hole.  Besides, no man wants to be seen buying Depends, that's worse than buying tampons, so they went to Home Depot instead.  Yeah, you read that right- Home Depot for feminine products.

Actually, it was a pretty brilliant idea.  They shagged a female customer in the store, explained their predicament, and offered a couple of quarters if she would go into the ladies room and simply buy ONE pad.  It worked!  So this morning, before he tore into the engine room, Cap'n took a quick peek at the pad, and it was pink :/  That meant, we did have a leak, and it is coming from the bottom of the tank.  There is no way to get underneath it unless you pull the whole tank.  (btw, diesel fuel is pink, if you didn't already know.)  Curses.  My boat was going to get all torn up, and I had just spent the morning cleaning and sweeping it all out.  Just my luck.

Before we tore into a messy boat project, I just had to take a moment
and relish in the glorious blue sky, and NO WIND.  The Gulf was
flat calm this morning.  It was actually a little chilly when we
woke up; only 63 degrees. 

The first step was unload the captain's berth (which
is aft on the starboard side). It's where we store
our scuba gear, life raft, ditch bag, the
super duty life vests, the extra bedding and
all of our other CRAP! It all got piled up
on the port side of the salon, so I could at least
still have a walking path to the head and
Vberth.  Lord only knows how long things
will remain torn up :/  Cap'n then set about
siphoning all of the fuel out.  He filled our jerry cans
and still had to make a run to Home Depot for a
five gallon bucket for the last of the fuel.  We
have a 30 gallon tank, and there was over 20
gallons in it...we really don't burn much fuel.

The next step was to start disconnecting and removing the bank of
batteries so he could get to the fuel tank.  Cap'n labeled them as
they came up one by one, so he can get them reconnected again in
the right order.  Disconnecting the batteries meant getting a sack of
ice for our refrigerator as it runs on DC.  Once the freezer began
thawing, I pulled everything out to store in a freezer at the Pointe.
I'll get to a thorough cleaning of the fridge when the rest of my
home isn't in such a state of disarray.
 

With the batteries out, there's the blessed fuel tank. and a gazillion
wires and cables to navigate around.  It's looking like a pisser of a job.

Kenny came and was a huge help to Donnie.  They worked and worked
and worked all afternoon.  Even Sophie came to offer moral support.

Sophie-Soph is such a sweetie.  When she gets let off of her boat,
Wanderer, she comes running down the dock and whines by
our cockpit.  If nobody comes out to greet her, she starts
barking to get our attention.  Sophie wants to be friends with
Willis so badly, she's even tracked her into the mangroves.
Willis is having none of it- I can hear him hissing in the bushes.

Later in the afternoon, Big Ron and Chuckie-baby came by to also
offer their support.  They were able to get the tank out of its
nesting spot, and they could turn it 180 degrees, but it
would NOT budge.  Not through the port side hatch in the
cockpit, and not through the opening on the starboard
side into the captain's berth.  I'm beginning to think that
Marquesa was built around the stupid fuel tank.

It was getting late in the day, and I couldn't get to my galley to fix
us some dinner.  I went and got chicken while Cap'n got the layers
of grease and grime off him in the shower.  We got to watch the sunset
while we ate our chicken out on the Pointe.  I had black beans and
rice and plantains- I love Cuban food :)  It had been clear skies all
day and we were hoping for a green flash, but there were low lying
clouds on the horizon.  Still, it's a beautiful sight.

The boys in the band (minus Penny and Bryan) played around the pool
side this evening.  Rich and Edie, Martina and Rupert and their friends,
John and Susan, and several guests at the tiki bar and in the hot tub
were all there to listen to them.  It was a fun night; just what the
Cap'n needed after a long, frustrating day of physical labor.

Larry the banjo player was in rare form;
he was cracking me up!

Len was a little "tired", I guess :)

Even Dan got tired and had to sit down with his bass!

Where's Dan?!

Susan filled in for Bryan on "Happy Together"-
they also sang "Put Another Log on the Fire"

It's safe to say a good time was had by all :)  It was a nice, relaxing evening, even though it was chilly.  It was good to just be hanging in the company of such good friends.  Tomorrow we'll worry about how to get the freakin' fuel tank out of the boat. Until then, G'nite, y'all!