s/v Liberty
Ben dressed like he is cold finally dropping the hook for the 1st time int he keys
We were recently greeted by a message from our friends Ben and Darren. After returning their call we added up their estimate and thought they would be into Boot Key Harbor in a little over an hour. Seems the visual presence of the 7 mile bridge made them think they were about an hour closer than they were. Closer to three hours after the call they arrived across the channel.
I stepped out on a limb when they said they were trying to sell their RIB and motor. "Bring it down to Boot Key and sell it." I guess my expectations panned out as they have sold almost everything in the first two days.
And of course there are sunsets
One of the things about Boot Key is the cruisers net with it's buy sell trade. Tthis week we picked up a used Magma Kettle Two in decent shape but mostly stripped from the free shelf. We have been wanting a series two due to the hinged lid. With the series one the lid is tethered by a stainless steel lanyard which often allows the lid to go... "DING! DANGLA LANGA DING! Ding! Ding! Ding. Donk. Donk. Donk." As it crashes past the rail and Bimini finally banging repeatedly into the hull. The burner was obviously in need of attention.
It wasn't until we tried to remove the remaining burner fragments until we realized how much attention. This obviously was the deciding point for it's previous owner. We had nothing on board that would get the brass burner base to unscrew. We ended up having to drill holes all the way across one side and use a couple of crew drivers to pry the disc apart and slip it over the threads. It was actually way more effort than this sounds. All the while leaving brass, iron oxide and black char all over the lazerette.
With the burner disc removed we cleaned the threads with a file. We dug out a new burner from below and started to reassemble the parts. We chose to use our pot support and cap. Also we used our grate but kept the kettle two's cap and grate for spares. Next we added our rail mount. We screwed the elbow with regulator and tank attached onto our "new" grill. Once it was on the rail and a rum and coke in hand all was good. Two hours of work and parts we already had aboard gave us a "new" kettle two for $188 less than West Marine wants. Now if I can find my magma cleaner it will look "brand new".
It wasn't until we tried to remove the remaining burner fragments until we realized how much attention. This obviously was the deciding point for it's previous owner. We had nothing on board that would get the brass burner base to unscrew. We ended up having to drill holes all the way across one side and use a couple of crew drivers to pry the disc apart and slip it over the threads. It was actually way more effort than this sounds. All the while leaving brass, iron oxide and black char all over the lazerette.
With the burner disc removed we cleaned the threads with a file. We dug out a new burner from below and started to reassemble the parts. We chose to use our pot support and cap. Also we used our grate but kept the kettle two's cap and grate for spares. Next we added our rail mount. We screwed the elbow with regulator and tank attached onto our "new" grill. Once it was on the rail and a rum and coke in hand all was good. Two hours of work and parts we already had aboard gave us a "new" kettle two for $188 less than West Marine wants. Now if I can find my magma cleaner it will look "brand new".
Have I said anything about a sunset?
With everything done we took our shell of a series one to the swap shelf for the next person to have.
W
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