Well, North Star's back in the water. Feels great I can tell you. Been a long time. Glad to find that the new dripless stuffing box doesn't drip and that the new through-hulls keep the water out.
So with the boat back in the water and re-rigged, Wendy and I thought we'd take the boat out for for the day. We had no luck cranking the engine -- the starter turned but nothing fired up. On a friend's advice I decided to bleed air from the fuel system. I loosened the bleed valve and Wendy pumped the lift pumped until fuel squirted out. We tried the starter again and still no luck.
Wendy went to find help -- coming back with Bruce, one of the OCSC instructors. As he came down the companionway, I was re-tightened the bleed screw which very softly sheered off (see above). "Whoops!" were Bruce's words. Bruce heard me swear like a sailor.
So began the search for a new banjo bolt...
