I have no network and no mentor, so everything is a learning process. I decided to advertise on craigslist since I couldn't find anyone advertising what I needed. My ad read: "I need someone to check my holding tanks that I think is responsible for my boat listing to port. Bilge is dry and no leaks have been found in the hull. Help!" Amazingly, I started getting replies pretty quickly. I arranged for someone to come over on Saturday. Aleko felt like I needed to learn everything there was about my boat at this visit while I just wanted the list corrected that I felt was the result of something wrong with the shower. After a three hour tour of my boat, visiting the "beautiful" anchor, the engines and batteries, the diesel tanks, the black water holding tank, Aleko found that the shower was the source of my problem with the boat "lisping". The sump pump had failed and there is a separate bilge below the shower that was filled with grey water. He pumped it out using my hand operated bilge pump followed by the wet version of the wet/dry vac. Then he pulled the soaked sump pump out and snipped the wires, announcing that I needed a new one. On questioning, I found that he had no experience in installing sump pumps but he felt sure he could do it. I felt differently and sent him home. I went to the marine shop down the road and purchased a new sump pump. Now, since the outlet for the grey water is higher than the drain on the floor of the shower, that makes a sump pump necessary--something I had not thought about at all, but completely makes sense.
Now, I have the water pumped out and have purchased a new sump pump. What next? The sump pumps for boats are run off battery power and I just use shore power with a dock plug-in. Phase three of the repair: find someone to install and get it running. Another ad on craigslist. "I need someone to install a new sump pump that I've purchased on my boat to drain the shower. The battery will either have to be located on the boat or a new one installed. If you have experience with this sort of thing and are available, please email me." More answers to my ad. First available time for someone who said he has years of experience with marine plumbing and electrical was today. Good thing I have my own shower at the office since my marina doesn't have one. So Steve showed up today and almost immediately broke a strut between the two engines while looking for the batteries and chargers. Great. This is the way I get on and off the boat. Hmmm. Another thing to fix. But right now I need my shower. He determines that one battery is dead and one is good but can't find a charger in the engine compartment. I will buy one. I will buy a new battery. Just fix it. No, he wants to find it. Oh wait, he can't. Okay, he'll hook up the sump pump for me while Teeny and ZhouZhou help. PJ knows that he's better off in the corner out of the way. All hooked up and he tells me it "should" work if I can charge the batteries because it's not working now. That's the same thing he just told the guy on the phone--that it "should" work. Crap. Now, I have to go out and get a battery charger and probably a new battery and find yet someone else to install them so I can have a shower at home. Now don't get me wrong. I don't mind having to do the stuff, but can't I get it all done at one time and be done? The trouble with boats is this. The people working on them are kind of nuts. The people living on them are kind of nuts. But I have nice new steps! And my boat is no longer "lisping".