Other stuff

Without an engine we can’t leave the dock. Nevertheless, there are things to do and see in Seattle. One of the first, after a balmy summer in the Broughtons, was to get ready for the winter. Last year our diesel heater malfunctioned during the record cold snap in Anacortes, so we decided to overhaul it ahead of time. This involves removing it from under the cockpit, taking it apart, cleaning the burner chamber, replacing the atomizer screen and gaskets, and putting it all back together. We also solved a couple of problems with the fuel supply which were preventing the heater from using more than 1/4 of the tank. This means we don’t have to refill nearly as often.

With the engine out, it seemed like a good time to tackle another project: rewire the instrument panel and replace the engine wire harness. Callooh! Callay! was built during the first year Catalina made the 34, and the original wiring was not laid out particularly well. Previous owners had clearly made some of the important fixes, but the result was a DIY mess with a couple of remaining fire hazards.

The “before” photos, front and back.

The solution is to pull out all the old wires and replace them, as well as the corroded glow plug and start buttons. We’re almost finished and will post the “after” photos when we get there. In the meantime, Seattle had an unusually warm autumn, and nothing says September like Oktoberfest.

One of the great features of Ballard, our neighborhood in Seattle, is the murals. It seems like every other building, transformer box, and dumpster has been painted. The most famous local muralist is Henry, who paints various sorts of wildlife with a distinctive style.

Ballard is also the epicenter of Seattle’s brewery scene, and every brewery has a beer garden. Despite the (usually) cool wet weather, everyone wants to be outdoors year-round, and many of the breweries have obliged with heat lamps and fire pits.

Mom visited for Thanksgiving, and we took her to Ballard Locks on the Lake Washington Ship Canal (the Erie Canal of the Pacific Northwest). We didn’t see any salmon in the fish ladder, but we watched a couple of tug boats pass through.

And Karen found a Bills bar.

As you can see from the previous photo, the weather finally started to cool off. So far, we’ve had only one real snow storm.