Working on the marine head
We visited Swoose today in Port Townsend, even though the sale had not yet closed. With the permission of the owner, we spent the day working on the marine head and getting to know all the storage areas on the boat.
Tuckered out, we climbed back into the car and saw an email from a few minutes earlier that the sale had just closed. Attached was the Running Letter and Bill of Sale. Swoose is ours!
Unfortunately, we were not able to resolve the problem with the marine head today. While I was able to eventually pump raw water into the bowl and “kinda sorta” flush the bowl, it didn’t work at all well. As I continued to work the pump, the toilet plugged up tight. I think it was telling us it’s time for an upgrade.
Accordingly, I ordered a Jabsco Twist-n-Loc marine head. It should arrive by this time next week. That gives me time to pilot the boat from Port Townsend to her new slip in Swantown.
After we get her settled in Swantown, we’ll hold a renaming ceremony to officially re-christen Swoose as Narwhal.
Exploring the boat
We found plenty of interesting things the previous owner had stored on the boat. We found flat charts and rolled up charts. The previous owner’s sailing log was particularly fascinating. Manuals and original documents abound. And there is so much more to go through. We look forward to a summer of getting to know the boat and setting it up to suit us. She comes to us after more than 25 years of loving care by her previous owner. We feel honored to have this opportunity to take care of her.
I am informed by a knowledgeable Nonsuch owner who knew the previous owner that the “magnet on a string” may actually be a sail track lubricating device created by the previous owner. He writes: “There should be a plug on it that you remove to allow you to fill a reservoir with lubricant. There should also be some small brushes on it. You fill the reservoir and take out two screws to pull one side of the stainless steel guides off. Put the device (car) on the sail track and put the guide back on to hold the car on the sail track. You attach the car to the halyard and while holding the string (in technical terms is the retrieval line) you hoist the car to the top of the mast thereby cleaning and lubricating the sail track. Using the retrieval line you bring the car and the halyard back down to deck level.”