Monkeys on your back and I’m in the Black!

Everyone has at least one monkey on their back which you have to feed and look after.  Many of us have far more than one!  Too many monkeys can result in overload, ineffectiveness and, eventually, total collapse. You frequently acquire monkeys by inadvertently or subconsciously allowing other people to brush against you and some of their monkeys jump across.

I saw an example of that today when a woman entered the chandlery and asked the manager if it was alright for her to moor on the local BW facilities for a few days.  These moorings are nothing to do with the boatyard.  She knew it; but just wanted to get rid of a few of her monkeys.  To my surprise; they were accepted by the manager who told her it should be OK.  She was asking for approval from someone she knew wasn’t responsible or accountable.  He gave permission for something for which he isn’t responsible.

If she subsequently gets a warning from BW I’ve no doubt she will tell them the boatyard gave her permission.  A few monkeys moved home!
Today was “two-pack blacking day”.  The interior of the second water tank was blacked, along with the base of the gas locker and the bow thruster tube.  My old body got twisted and contorted as I struggled to reach the corners and crevasses in the tank.  Oh to be 16 once again!  Only one boring photo to show for the days efforts.

You might be able to see the two beads of silicone around the edge of the opening.  I discovered the threads on the bolt holes had filled with primer, dirt and rust.  So I cleaned the threads using a ‘sacrificial bolt’ which then was discarded into the rubbish bin.  It would have been considerably easier with an 8mm tap, however we couldn’t find one in the boatyard.  Once all the hole threads were clean I then cleaned the surfaces of the overlapping joint and applied the twin lines of silicone.  There is a third line of silicon on the under edge of the lid.  I’m allowing the silicone to slightly cure and will then bolt the lid to the tank with stainless steel machine screws. 

This seal needs to be of a high quality.  It’s not just a case of preventing any water and dirt leaking into the tank through the hatch.  This tank is lower than the one in the bow and as a consequence the tank will be under hydraulic pressure.  Water could get pushed out of the tank if the seal isn’t sufficiently strong.