Log 48; Day 142; Oct. 10; Chattanooga, TN

Log 48
Day 142
Friday, October 10, 2008

8:00 AM EDT
Location: Downtown marina in Chattanooga, TN
Weather: 64* and sunny; forecast is for 81* and sunny

It is a beautiful morning here in Chattanooga. A little cool, but not a cloud in the sky and it is forecasted to be very nice today. I’m sitting on the back of the boat having my coffee and, like most everyone else, wondering when the market slide will stop, and what the next few years will be like as we work our way out of this mess. Not much Deb and I can do but wait this out. The good news in this is that oil prices have continued to drop...hopefully this will translate to lower diesel fuel prices at the marinas.

Yesterday was a tough day on HQ (not terrible...just tough). First of all I had to watch the market tank...again. Then there is the story of the HQ oil change, and let me just say it did nothing to lift my spirits. I had planned this oil change about a month ago and continued to stay in touch with the service manager (Jason) at Marine Max in Chattanooga to make sure everything would go well. Jason said the mechanic would arrive at 9:30...he arrived at 10:15, and I wondered if this was a sign of things to come...it was. The mechanic (Tom) was nice enough, but I noticed he did not bring a few things when he unloaded his tools at the boat. He only had an oil filter wrench; a 5 gallon bucket; oil filters; and 3 cases of oil. I was wondering...
1. Where were the fuel filters? I had ordered a complete set
2. Where was the diesel fuel necessary to top off the fuel filters as you install them?
3. What was he going to use to catch the oil as it comes out of the filters? When I do it I use several types of pans and catch cans
4. What was he going to use to put all the used oil in? The boat uses 14 gallons, and he had a 5 gallon bucket
5. What was he going to use to make sure he didn’t spill any oil anywhere? Everyone uses what they call “diapers” which are 2 foot square oil absorbent pads
6. And what was he going to clean up with? He did not bring any paper towels.

To take you through how the day went would take too long but let me give you some highlights:
· It normally takes me 30 minutes to drain the oil and get it out of the engine room. It took Tom (the mechanic) 2 hours. Somehow he was surprised when he had to go and empty that 5 gallon bucket a few times. Wouldn’t you think it would occur to him that when he hauled 14 gallons of oil to the boat that he would have to take 14 gallons off?
· At 2 PM he had the oil out and the filters replaced...including the 30 minutes it took him to clean up the mess he had when he dropped the starboard (large) oil filter and all the oil under the engine. I had to give him lots of (our) paper towels and my oil diapers to fix the mess.
· At 2:15 he asked me if he could run and get a “quick” sandwich...at 3;45 I called his boss to see where he was...he got back to the boat at 4. He said he was the lead technician at Marine Max and several people wanted his time.
· At this point I decided to help him and make sure we got this done in 1 day. I jumped in and became his helper, and things went a little quicker
· I thought we’d end the day fine until I was counting oil containers and found out that Tom put 7 gallons in the starboard engine, and was getting ready to add more. When I asked him about it, he tried to explain that I said it took 26 quarts so he was adding 2 quarts to what he had already put in. To which I said “you’ve already put in 28 quarts...7 x 4 is 28...and he just looked at me with a “what can go wrong next” stare. I told him to leave it...I’d fix it tomorrow.
· At 7 PM he finally left the boat...and I finished up in the engine room this morning.

Today...is our last day in Chattanooga. No real plans for the day, just organize the boat; check the engine room for any left behind damage from Tom; walk into town to get some groceries and maybe even head to Porkers, for some of that great BBQ. Kind of a lazy day.

I’ll keep you posted.

BK.