Kevin A Wright
Member III
Ok I just had to share this. Last weekend took the family on a 3 day weekend sail to Langley on Whidbey Island. This meant 7 of us on board including 3 children aged 3 to 8. Cozy on an E35 but not impossible especially when you are at a marina. The first night when we arrived the head began squirting water out of the joint where the bowl attaches to the bronze base. That meant everyone had to run up the dock in the middle of the night if they needed the head. More importantly I was looking at a 7 hour run back home on Sunday and really did not want to teach the 4 women on board about 'the bucket'.
So while the crew went to town and shopped I pulled the bowl off the toilet and found the problem. Two of the 4 bronze threaded studs that hold it together had broken. The nearest hardware store in Langley is about 4 miles out of town.
The first miracle was that they didn't break off flush with the bronze flange, they broke off at the top of the rubber gasket leaving 1/8" of stud that I could just get a grip on with some pliers. The second miracle was that both of them backed out easily, as if they had just been threaded in there new - not immersed in salt water for 20 years. The third miracle was that in my spare parts 'junk' box I found exactly 2 machine screws the right length and thread to replace the bad studs. That they were SS and required a half an hour of work with a mini hacksaw and a couple of blades to cut the heads off was minor at that point (did I mention the 4 mile hike to a hardware store?).
So by lunch everything was back together and working fine and the trip went on as if nothing had happened, except maybe Papa's reputation of being able to fix anything moving up a notch.
I think I have now used up at least a decade of boat repair Karma. Murphy must have been taking a long nap that day.
Kevin Wright
E35 Hydro Therapy
So while the crew went to town and shopped I pulled the bowl off the toilet and found the problem. Two of the 4 bronze threaded studs that hold it together had broken. The nearest hardware store in Langley is about 4 miles out of town.
The first miracle was that they didn't break off flush with the bronze flange, they broke off at the top of the rubber gasket leaving 1/8" of stud that I could just get a grip on with some pliers. The second miracle was that both of them backed out easily, as if they had just been threaded in there new - not immersed in salt water for 20 years. The third miracle was that in my spare parts 'junk' box I found exactly 2 machine screws the right length and thread to replace the bad studs. That they were SS and required a half an hour of work with a mini hacksaw and a couple of blades to cut the heads off was minor at that point (did I mention the 4 mile hike to a hardware store?).
So by lunch everything was back together and working fine and the trip went on as if nothing had happened, except maybe Papa's reputation of being able to fix anything moving up a notch.
I think I have now used up at least a decade of boat repair Karma. Murphy must have been taking a long nap that day.
Kevin Wright
E35 Hydro Therapy
