Sunday, July 19, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
MAROONED IN ALASKA--------
Still in Juneau and the latest situation is that the engine is still being worked on and the newest estimate is that we will leave Juneau tomorrow evening. The Washington Ferry Highway System has been super nice to us as repairs are in process and delays contine to push back departure times and dates. They have provided us with dining room vouchers for each meal.
It finally stopped raining this afternoon and we could actually see blue among the clouds. That's a record for our time in Alaska! We went back to town today, mostly to kill time. It's about 12 miles into town so the cab fare is exorbitant! We shared with another couple from Pensacola, Florida, Miller and Jack. Sure enjoyed getting to know them both. Joe and I parted company in town to do some shopping. I found the library and went there to sit down and catch up on the news. I picked up the local Juneau paper and found Joe and I on the front page! There was an article about our trip and a picture of the car as we had it in town yesterday.
We have met some really nice people on the ferry that need to be mentioned: Carli and Daniel who were our neighboring campers up on the top deck in the Solarium. Also, I enjoyed talking with Sam who was on his way north of Anchorage, I think, for a summer job. "Hi", and best to all three of you!
More when we are able. Alaska is BEAUTIFUL!
Still in Juneau and the latest situation is that the engine is still being worked on and the newest estimate is that we will leave Juneau tomorrow evening. The Washington Ferry Highway System has been super nice to us as repairs are in process and delays contine to push back departure times and dates. They have provided us with dining room vouchers for each meal.
It finally stopped raining this afternoon and we could actually see blue among the clouds. That's a record for our time in Alaska! We went back to town today, mostly to kill time. It's about 12 miles into town so the cab fare is exorbitant! We shared with another couple from Pensacola, Florida, Miller and Jack. Sure enjoyed getting to know them both. Joe and I parted company in town to do some shopping. I found the library and went there to sit down and catch up on the news. I picked up the local Juneau paper and found Joe and I on the front page! There was an article about our trip and a picture of the car as we had it in town yesterday.
We have met some really nice people on the ferry that need to be mentioned: Carli and Daniel who were our neighboring campers up on the top deck in the Solarium. Also, I enjoyed talking with Sam who was on his way north of Anchorage, I think, for a summer job. "Hi", and best to all three of you!
More when we are able. Alaska is BEAUTIFUL!
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
We are still in Juneau. We had no internet access for the 3 days it took us to get here on the ferry. Yesterday we were sightseeing and we were to leave this morning about 4AM for the 3 day ferry ride back to Bellingham, WA. Unfortunately, the ferry is experiencing engine trouble and they have been working on it all day. The latest word is that we will be leaving tomorrow evening. There is no internet access on the ferry while we are in port and there will be none for the trip back to WA. I am posting on the Ipad so cannot post pictures.
It has been raining for the last four days steadily and about five minutes ago the bottom dropped out of the sky and it is raining some of the hardest I have ever seen. We are tied up to the dock and can hardly see the mountain right across the road.
We arrived at about 6 AM yesterday in Juneau and spent the day riding around downtown Juneau and out to Mendenall Glacier. Downtown has many old buildings and a lot of gold rush history. The glacier was spectacular. It rained all day and was pretty foggy by the time we got to the glacier so my pictures will not be National Geographic quality by any means.
This is a note to let you know that we are still alive and well though getting a bit tired of rain and being tied up in port while they do repairs.
When we get back to WA I'll post photos and give more info about what we've seen.
Just a preview - we've seen orcas, porpoises, sea lions, bald eagles, salmon, sea otters and countless sea birds but no bears or moose.
It has been raining for the last four days steadily and about five minutes ago the bottom dropped out of the sky and it is raining some of the hardest I have ever seen. We are tied up to the dock and can hardly see the mountain right across the road.
We arrived at about 6 AM yesterday in Juneau and spent the day riding around downtown Juneau and out to Mendenall Glacier. Downtown has many old buildings and a lot of gold rush history. The glacier was spectacular. It rained all day and was pretty foggy by the time we got to the glacier so my pictures will not be National Geographic quality by any means.
This is a note to let you know that we are still alive and well though getting a bit tired of rain and being tied up in port while they do repairs.
When we get back to WA I'll post photos and give more info about what we've seen.
Just a preview - we've seen orcas, porpoises, sea lions, bald eagles, salmon, sea otters and countless sea birds but no bears or moose.
Friday, July 10, 2015
THE STEERING COLUMN
Last Friday, we visited Mike and Marsha Yeakle who are Horseless Carriage Club Members in Bellingham, WA - great people to know. I knew that he had a shop and a lift so I was anxious to do some work on the car there. Up to this point, I'd just been doing some minor servicing of the car along the way, but since we have traveled approximately 4,200 miles it was time to do what I am going to call "moderate" servicing.
Mike was very helpful in taking care of some of the things that needed to be done. I removed the rear wheels to inspect the brake linings and to check the tightness of the nuts on the hub bolts that sandwich the hub and the spokes and the brake drums together. The wheels had been assembled this past winter and they needed to be re-torqued to 35 pounds. While I was doing that, Mike removed the front wheels and greased the bearings. I greased the driveshaft joints. I replaced the gasoline filter while Mike made up some new sparkplug wires for me, so I would have a spare set. We also removed the distributor cap and found some corrosion on the terminals. This was cleaned up and reassembled. We checked the oil level in both parts of the trans-axle.
The car had been running a little rough prior to arrival and I thought that cleaning up the distributor cap and installing new wires had taken care of this issue but the next day I saw that the car was still idling rough and the car was a little hard to start. I swapped the magneto with a spare. There was no change. I took the carburetor apart to check for dirt. I found it to be clean and reinstalled it. After a process of elimination I have pretty much decided that the poor performance is most likely caused by sticky valves. The valves are messy and time consuming to take out so I am trying everything else before I get into that. I have been squirting oil and WD-40 on the lower end of the valve stems hoping it might work it's way into the valve guides. I'm using double the amount of Marvel Mystery oil in the gas and just yesterday dumped a can of Sea Foam in the gas tank. I'll run it for a while and see what happens.
Two days ago on Victoria Island we encountered a mountainous area with a really steep hill. It wasn't a long hill, but there were several short bursts of 18% ascents. Several times I was down into first gear. While downshifting on a hill from second to first, you have to mesh the gears at just the right moment. You've got about half a second to get it into first gear before the car comes to a complete stop on the hill. If you miss it, you pretty much have to back down the hill and try it again. Did that. This time I got a good running start, made the shift successfully and just b-a-r-e-l-y made it to the top. Stopping on the hill wasn't a big concern for us. I've got a good hand brake that holds well so we were able to back down safely.
Today we catch the ferry to Juneau, AK. I'm not going to mess with the valves until we get back. I don't want to run the risk of taking things apart and have some unexpected delay and miss the ferry. Maybe if I am lucky all the oil that I am throwing at the valves will take care of this little issue. I love issues that take care of themselves. It is great to have somebody back home that I can call for advice and suggestions. Clay Green and Gil Fitzhugh, the Younger have been doing this. Sometimes there are things that you can do to solve a problem that we may already know about but just didn't think about at the time and these troubleshooting discussions will trigger a possible solution. Thanks guys, you are much appreciated.
.........AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING........
Last Friday, we visited Mike and Marsha Yeakle who are Horseless Carriage Club Members in Bellingham, WA - great people to know. I knew that he had a shop and a lift so I was anxious to do some work on the car there. Up to this point, I'd just been doing some minor servicing of the car along the way, but since we have traveled approximately 4,200 miles it was time to do what I am going to call "moderate" servicing.
Mike was very helpful in taking care of some of the things that needed to be done. I removed the rear wheels to inspect the brake linings and to check the tightness of the nuts on the hub bolts that sandwich the hub and the spokes and the brake drums together. The wheels had been assembled this past winter and they needed to be re-torqued to 35 pounds. While I was doing that, Mike removed the front wheels and greased the bearings. I greased the driveshaft joints. I replaced the gasoline filter while Mike made up some new sparkplug wires for me, so I would have a spare set. We also removed the distributor cap and found some corrosion on the terminals. This was cleaned up and reassembled. We checked the oil level in both parts of the trans-axle.
The car had been running a little rough prior to arrival and I thought that cleaning up the distributor cap and installing new wires had taken care of this issue but the next day I saw that the car was still idling rough and the car was a little hard to start. I swapped the magneto with a spare. There was no change. I took the carburetor apart to check for dirt. I found it to be clean and reinstalled it. After a process of elimination I have pretty much decided that the poor performance is most likely caused by sticky valves. The valves are messy and time consuming to take out so I am trying everything else before I get into that. I have been squirting oil and WD-40 on the lower end of the valve stems hoping it might work it's way into the valve guides. I'm using double the amount of Marvel Mystery oil in the gas and just yesterday dumped a can of Sea Foam in the gas tank. I'll run it for a while and see what happens.
Two days ago on Victoria Island we encountered a mountainous area with a really steep hill. It wasn't a long hill, but there were several short bursts of 18% ascents. Several times I was down into first gear. While downshifting on a hill from second to first, you have to mesh the gears at just the right moment. You've got about half a second to get it into first gear before the car comes to a complete stop on the hill. If you miss it, you pretty much have to back down the hill and try it again. Did that. This time I got a good running start, made the shift successfully and just b-a-r-e-l-y made it to the top. Stopping on the hill wasn't a big concern for us. I've got a good hand brake that holds well so we were able to back down safely.
Today we catch the ferry to Juneau, AK. I'm not going to mess with the valves until we get back. I don't want to run the risk of taking things apart and have some unexpected delay and miss the ferry. Maybe if I am lucky all the oil that I am throwing at the valves will take care of this little issue. I love issues that take care of themselves. It is great to have somebody back home that I can call for advice and suggestions. Clay Green and Gil Fitzhugh, the Younger have been doing this. Sometimes there are things that you can do to solve a problem that we may already know about but just didn't think about at the time and these troubleshooting discussions will trigger a possible solution. Thanks guys, you are much appreciated.
.........AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING........
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Left today to return from Victoria Island, B.C. to Anacortes, WA on the ferry. The crossing was perfect - no seasickness, thank goodness. I didn't even take any motion sickness pills this time. The water was very calm, not like I have encountered on some crossings on the Great Lakes.
As we were pulling out of the harbor in Sidney, B.C., I spotted this beauty. I also need to relate a funny sight just before the ferry pulled out of the harbor. A fishing boat was pulling in to dock and the people on board must have known someone on the ferry as several were holding up silvery fish about 2 feet long and doing "victory dances" as they faced the ferry. Really pretty silly but they were sure happy with their "catch".
As we got close to Anacortes, WA, we passed this ferry headed to Sidney, B.C. There was heavy fog for a short distance. It seemed almost unreal - like a ghost ship.
Preparing to dock in Anacortes. We were car number 4 off the ferry and had a good full of the docking procedure.
A couple of days ago I posted a picture of a deer spotted in a residential area of Bellingham, WA. Today we were on our way to Walmart to pick up a couple of sleeping bags and what did we see but another one - this one a 9 point buck right beside the road. We have been through lots of wilderness area on this trip and both deer were seen right in town.
Tomorrow afternoon we catch the ferry to Juneau. I was confused about how long we will be there. It is a 3 day trip by ferry, we'll arrive about 6 AM and leave about 3 AM the next morning with a 3 day trip back. That will give us a day in Juneau - just enough time to catch the highlights and whet our appetite to come back to Alaska.
Since we decided to do this trip on the spur of the moment, there were no staterooms left so we will have to sleep on lounge chairs on deck unless they have a cancellation on a stateroom - hence the sleeping bags. We need to get raincoats tomorrow as the weather could be rainy or misty. Think good thoughts for a stateroom!
As we were pulling out of the harbor in Sidney, B.C., I spotted this beauty. I also need to relate a funny sight just before the ferry pulled out of the harbor. A fishing boat was pulling in to dock and the people on board must have known someone on the ferry as several were holding up silvery fish about 2 feet long and doing "victory dances" as they faced the ferry. Really pretty silly but they were sure happy with their "catch".
As we got close to Anacortes, WA, we passed this ferry headed to Sidney, B.C. There was heavy fog for a short distance. It seemed almost unreal - like a ghost ship.
Preparing to dock in Anacortes. We were car number 4 off the ferry and had a good full of the docking procedure.
A couple of days ago I posted a picture of a deer spotted in a residential area of Bellingham, WA. Today we were on our way to Walmart to pick up a couple of sleeping bags and what did we see but another one - this one a 9 point buck right beside the road. We have been through lots of wilderness area on this trip and both deer were seen right in town.
Tomorrow afternoon we catch the ferry to Juneau. I was confused about how long we will be there. It is a 3 day trip by ferry, we'll arrive about 6 AM and leave about 3 AM the next morning with a 3 day trip back. That will give us a day in Juneau - just enough time to catch the highlights and whet our appetite to come back to Alaska.
Since we decided to do this trip on the spur of the moment, there were no staterooms left so we will have to sleep on lounge chairs on deck unless they have a cancellation on a stateroom - hence the sleeping bags. We need to get raincoats tomorrow as the weather could be rainy or misty. Think good thoughts for a stateroom!
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