Best Of

Another project done.....keep finger cross for now

Friend has the same year Mustang GT as me. He bet me a few beers he could out shift my 10R80 with his 6 speed. Nope, I said - I told him to google some comments. He was adamant. We straight lined it up an on ramp to a 400 series road at about 1 a.m. I did not use the paddles (which are great fun) and let the10R80 do its own thing, it shifts stinkin' fast and holds the revs high. I gapped him no problem. Beer always tastes better when it's free......as for boats I smoked every Sea Ray (sorry to swear) that tried to run my Rinker EC 360 with twin 502s. If you wait long enough stupid will come to you and often bears free beers.

This is basically a joke, except it actually happened.

I asked ChatGPT for help finding an oil gallery plug on my generator.  After several tries, I couldn't find it.  ChatGPT said "Send a photo and I'll draw an arrow showing where to look."  I did, but I still couldn't find the plug.  

At this point, I was frustrated.  ChatGPT was getting a snippy attitude like "You idiot human, it's there.  Just look where I said to look."  So I sent this close-up photo and said "Show me the plug."



Here's the photo ChatGPT sent back.  Sure enough, the plug is there ... but NOT on my engine.  It's in the photo because ChatGPT doctored my photo and added the plug!     Funny but true.

Can't resist this topic......Had trouble with my garbage cans. Every second or third week someone would knock them flying spilling the garbage all over the place. Found out it was happening to other houses in the neighborhood too. Had  friend who was a lawyer, so I asked him what I could do, legally. Thought of buried 2x4 with nails etc. He said no, don't do anything that obvious and premeditated looking. Then he said you're doing interlock patio, around your back yard and hot tub area, right? Yes, I said. He said if you have heavy scrap put it in the garbage cans. I called the township works department about the extra weight. They said there might be a slight surcharge and a would I please put a note on top of them to tell the sanitation guys to watch their backs when lifting them. Done! Lawyer friend also said make sure the garbage cans are well within my property line - so I put them well in from the end of my wide laneway. Next garbage pick-up day I heard a gawd awful crash about 3 a.m. screeching and clanging. About an hour later got up to take a look. Grille, headlight and body parts all over the place. Tire drag marks. One garbage can two houses down. Couldn't see the other one but saw a trail of coolant and oil leading off into the night. Went for a drive the next day. No idea how the driver got about 20 houses away before the car failed. Guy on his front lawn was laughing so hard he could hardly speak. Said 4 teens got out of a late model BMW SUV that was basically destroyed. In a panic they called for a flat bed. Two days later a guy turned-up at my door saying his almost new BMW was a write-off and said I pay or his lawyer would smoke me. Showed him a picture of where my garbage cans were, my property line survey, the note regarding construction waste - with pictures of the job and the email from the works department. Told him he'd be getting a bill for the garbage cans and the litter clean-up if he went that route. Never heard from him again and never had another garbage can knocked over. There is a God and he approves of concrete and paving stones.

Started replacement of the VHF radio. Someone at Rinker decided it was a good idea to mount the radio from the rear - which made it near impossible to remove.

After an hour of swearing, and blind arm/hand manipulations through the switch panel opening to access the mounts on the sides of the VHF with a stubby ratcheting screwdriver, I managed to get the OEM Standard Horizon radio out.

Next step is to open the hole a bit and drop in a Raymarine Ray 53 using the FRONT MOUNT option. 

Ever since we bought the boat I've wondered why there was an HVAC vent at the helm. There is no way it would ever cool the cockpit area with a camper top, and the heat setting would also be minuscule. You'd get more heat from the engine compartment.

So I decided to relocate the vent/outlet to the head. Reason being, in the summer with the head door closed and no air circulation it would be stifling in there when you'd open the door. And if you left the door open to even out the air, the door would be in the way of the galley area.

So I pulled some panels, looked around and figured out the flexible duct could be detached from the helm outlet and would easily reach the aft head wall without any issues. Got out the hole saw and with a new $10 vent from A-Z, I put the A/C outlet just above the electrical outlet. One of the easiest (and cheapest) mods I've done: