Lay Day 1-Presque Isle, MI (Day 15)

Due to all the hassle from the USCG and Customs last night on top of the huge low pressure sitting right over me spitting out heavy rain, I decided to stay put today.

Good thing, no sooner than I was about to relax after finishing the blog, when I heard a strange sound and vibration in the boat. I thought it might be the fridge so I turned it off, no that wasn't it. Thought maybe someone was running a generator and it was just vibrating the boat. But no, it was still their later and when I went to get some hot water to wash my hands, no water!

I thought maybe the tank just ran dry, but normally when that happens the pump makes lots of noise and it is easy to identify. The pump was running but it was dry and sucking air and just humming! This was new!  

First I tried to pump some lake water into the tank figuring it had just run completely dry, though I had never had that happen quite the same way before. I ran the pump and it was making some funny noises again, like water running out at pressure. With a flash light shining into the back of the compartment I could see water coming out in the area of the accumulator.

So, I removed everything from the starboard berth pulled up the cushions and boards and sure enough the accumulator had burst in the back! Not sure why, could have been winter damage?  But why wait until now to show itself? 

I knew I did not have any hose connector fittings but examined the system and figured I could bypass the accumulator completely and hook up the pump directly to the feed line for the main water system. I disconnected all the appropriate hoses, used a heat gun to get some of them off. Then re-attached hoses to bypass the accumulator and the system was good to go again! Will have to replace the accumulator down the road where there is a marine store. 

The accumulator is not a critical piece of equipment.  Its primary purpose is to simply make the water flow more steady instead of matching the pulse of the pump. This in turn makes the instant hot water heater work more consistently.

I know many people are praying for my safety and well being during this trip...all I can say is keep on praying! These problems just keep coming. I kid about the "black cloud", but it is beginning to not be funny anymore!

I am trying to upload a video of today's weather but the WiFi connection is not the best, it may not upload the video.