Greetings all!
I just thought I’d pass along a link to some pictures that I found quite interesting…
During our voyage to Japan, one of the boats, Seabird, noted that their transmission and PTO (the hydraulic pump that is driven by the main engine) seemed to be running warm. Steven Argosy, Seabird’s owner, had the transmission inspected, in Japan, and decided that a rebuild was warranted. I forget how many miles Seabird has run, but it is a huge number.
Steven was able to find a great outfit to do the work, and last week Seabird’s transmission was pulled from the boat. When Steven first mentioned the work, I was surprised by two things: 1) That he was able to get the work done in Japan, without him there, and 2) that a transmission can be replaced without hauling-out the boat.
Image image001.jpg
I enjoyed studying the full sequence of pictures. It is impressive to see how they protected the boat’s interior, and the frame they had to construct to get the transmission out of the boat. To see the pictures (about 30 of them), click this link:
http://www.kensotherblog.com/aspx/m/628740
And, on a different topic…
Trip planning is continuing. As I mentioned in my last update, Roberta and I have failed in our efforts to get our dog approved for entry into Korea, China (Hong Kong) and Taiwan. Instead, out latest plan is to have Shelby (the dog) accompany us on the Japanese portion of our trip, and then stay behind, in Japan, while we continue to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Even this has been tricky. We have a friend (Phil, who some of you may remember as our chef on the Atlantic crossing) who will be going to Japan to watch Shelby for the two months it takes us to finish the trip. We need to find him an apartment in Japan that is furnished, and will accept dogs. We’ll figure it out, but it is being a project.
I also noticed this morning that Japan Airlines filed bankruptcy and is shutting down most of their big planes, in order to focus on short commuter flights. We used Japan Airlines to transport Shelby from Osaka to Hawaii, and this might affect our plans for getting her back to Japan. Argh. I’ll figure it out, but this means another project on my plate…
And, lastly…
We’ll be sending, next week, an entire shipping container to Japan, containing replacement parts for the three GSSR boats. Prior to departing Japan I put together a list of maintenance items for my boat. Sans Souci was in fine condition and could have kept going just fine, but with a boat, there is always something to do. I want to be pro-active and replace all belts, hoses and anything else that might fail. I hadn’t realized how large shipping containers are, and the container will be mostly empty, but there are a few big items. For instance, I’m swapping ALL of the toilets on the boat. The toilets on my boat were a new model and have failed more frequently than they should. I’m also shipping replacement batteries, and also some boat tools, that I thought would be hard to find in Japan. I had also planned to ship a complete set of replacement parts for my Mini Vsat (Internet) system, but hit a surprise with the shipper. Shipping satellite communications equipment is apparently a no-no. Another project to figure out.
That’s it for today. Overall, things are going fine with trip planning, and I’m looking forward to being back on the boat (in April)!
-Ken Williams
N6805, Sans Souci
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