And in the course of trying to change the impeller on our engine I managed to snap off one of the screws on the wear plate for the water pump. This in turn revealed a problem with the plumbing of the shaft seal vent line which results in siphoning sea water into the engine raw water plumbing and creates a continual flow of water through the now poorly sealed impeller wear plate. Net, net, even with the main seacock to the engine closed, we have a significant leak in the boat. We need to install a valve in the shaft seal vent line and replace the water pump.
On the plus side, we would like to spend a lot more time in the San Blas Islands.
Mixing all this together and stirring in the seasonal weather considerations, we've decided to haul out New Morning on Wednesday and store her on the hard at Shelter Bay for the summer while we address the major maintenance issues.
Unfortunately there are very few services available here so Fay and I are doing all the work to prepare New Morning for storage. It's also incredibly hot. At sunrise the temperature is about 83F, and then during the day it rises to about 93F while the humidity swings between 70-75%. We work from 7am - 5pm, consuming at least a gallon of water throughout the day in an attempt to rehydrate ourselves. The bugs from the adjacent jungle keep us inside the boat during the evening when it's cooler outside the boat, so we retreat to the forward cabin which has air conditioning. We're looking forward to finishing the preparations, getting New Morning moved onto the hard and heading home.
Our plan is to return in late November when the rainy season in Panama has ended and cruise San Blas for three months. This will set us up for a more typical seasonal schedule for transiting the canal, cruising the Galapagos and then on to French Polynesia in the spring of 2011.
