Work begins

Doubly blessed is the man who gets his work done and has fun with his son.

Jake played hooky from the babysitter today and spent the day with me working on Ariel. We began by removing the bunk boards in the forward cabin to access the holding tank, which has been leaking despite our best efforts to seal it. The tank now sits in the backyard. I'll confirm measurements tomorrow and place an order with Ronco plastics for a new tank.


The second item on today's 'to do' was to pull the starter. Last summer it began giving us intermittent starting problems, which were easily solved by a firm rap to the solenoid but a pain nonetheless. I managed - with Jake's help - to wiggle the starter out of place without disassembling too much. The whole process did require some contortions and blood, though. Once I receive confirmation from Transatlantic Diesel about the starter model, I'll order a new solenoid and get things back together.





Jake's contributions to the day's activities were precious. At one point, as my face was squashed against the header tank and both arms shoulder deep into the engine, Jake said to me: "You're Percy." "What?!" I replied, completely clueless. "You're Percy," he repeated. "What?!" Exasperated, he said, "You're Dirty Percy!" Those with young kids likely know exactly who Percy is; he's a lovable - if not always clean - engine from the children's program "Thomas the Tank Engine." Obviously my grease-covered arms and hands did make me look a lot like poor old Percy.