Friends in Ketchikan


Last night's view from our moorage at dock 9, slip 1 in Bar Harbor South, Ketchikan.   We are once again, right in front of the duck boat ramp.   So, we get constant activity all day long.

Today, was a day of maintenance chores.  For me the big one was the oil change.   We also took on water, cleaned, did laundry, etc.

Oil change time in Ketchikan.   It has been 278.6 hours since my last oil change.   I try to change oil every 250 hours which was Cummins recommended service interval.   In the last year, Cummins changed it to every 500 hours.   I still stick with the 250-hour interval.   Call me overly cautious.

So, I warm the engine up to temperature (159 degrees) then shut it down.  Warm oil flows much better than cold oil; warm oil also picks up a lot of the sediments/deposits which I want to pump out too.  I then pump the 8.5 gallons of oil out into 5gal buckets (takes 2 buckets). 
Then I pump the new oil in.

Hard to believe, but this is the first time I've changed the oil.   Before, it has been done by others due to various reasons.   This time it was mine to do.

When we get back to Anacortes, I'll try and change the coolant filter and the fuel/water separator filter.   As it stands now, neither of these need to be changed yet.
I pour the last bits of oil in as my pump always leaves about a quart in the bottom of the bucket.

Then I take the buckets full of used oil up to the recycling center and dump the buckets, so I can use the empty buckets again next time.

Lastly, I cleaned the engine room.   Today, I didn't spill a drop of oil, used or new!  Yea, there is a first time for everything!

I wiped things down to remove the oil film that builds up anyway and to keep the engine room clean, tidy, and relatively smell-free.
Dinner aboard with friends from Anacortes.   Phil and Chris were our near neighbors when we were on A dock in Anacortes Marina.   They have a lovely Fleming 55, Lioness.   Tonight's repast was Fried rice (courtesy of Chris), Karen made vegetable spring rolls, and I made Kung Pao chicken.

The Kung Pao chicken was supposed to be only medium spicy, but I used a new (fresh) batch of Szechuan Peppercorns that were pretty potent, so it ended up being spicier than anticipated.  Otherwise, it was delicious.

Looks like we will be in town a day longer than anticipated as we were unable to pick up some critical packages from the Frontier shipping store today.   We got there at 1505 (3:05pm), but they had closed at 3:00pm.   Argh!   So close.   They open again on Tuesday.

Our local friend, Marc, lent us his car for a few days, so tomorrow we are off to explore Revillagigedo Island.   Marc mentioned some interesting hikes at the north end of the island, so, I'm guessing that will be tomorrow's adventure.

Stay tuned to see if we get eaten by bears tomorrow or not!


Good Night, My Friends.

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