It's always something.

Well, I had an interesting experience yesterday. Perhaps 'interesting' isn't quite correct. I was awakened at 4:30 am by a loud buzzing under the galley sink. After much searching, the only thing I could find in the general vicinity of the noise was the Accumulation Tank. I had absolutely NO idea what it was, what it did, if it was going to explode, etc so I called Chris (yes...at 4:30 am). He explained that it is part of the water system and we concluded that it needed replacement but was not going to do anything lethal so I went back to bed until a more reasonable hour. I slept fitfully because of the noise and got up at 8:00 to get started. Decided on breakfast at Elmer's and then it was off to West Marine. Bought the new Accumulation Tank, brought it back, and set about taking the old one out. It wasn't all that hard but it was clear that the screw on the bottom was going to be a real pain to get back in as it was behind one of the hoses and so close to the floor that my fingers wouldn't fit under the little plastic tank. When I got everything disconnected and the old part removed and deposited in the sink, lo & behold the buzzing was just as loud as before. OK...this is NOT good. I started hunting again but could not figure out where it was coming from so went to get Butch, who was working on his boat, to take a look. It took him a while to find it, but finally, there it was...the brand new bilge pump that Chris installed 3 weeks ago had clearly malfunctioned and, even though the bilge was empty, was running and running and hard at work frying it's insides. Butch disconnected the wires and the pump finally quit running but was extremely hot. Once it cooled off I removed it and returned it to W.Marine for a replacement as well as returning the new, un-needed, accumulation tank. At this point, I had to re-install the tank one I'd just removed. I was correct about the bottom screw and after several banged knuckles, gouges & scratches from misc hose clamps (not to mention some bright language), I got it back in and working with no leaks. I've wisely left that bottom screw for Chris to deal with when he gets back (sometimes I am SUCH a girl!). All things considered, I'm really quite lucky to be a liveaboard. If the thing had malfunctioned on a boat that no one was on for days or weeks at a time it would likely have gone up in flames! Regardless, I'm going back to the things I KNOW how to do...sanding, waxing, writing the checks, etc!