Birthday stove, first SCUBA, and first night at anchor

We continue to work on the boat's systems and learn about them. 

• Pumping the blackwater tanks was still being an ordeal.  The Port of Everett includes every-other-week pump our service as part of our moorage contract but when the expert pooper pumper girl showed up she let Clarice know that "it just isn't working right" and suggested we check our tank vents.  We disconnected the vent line from the tank we knew how to access and the poo pumping went much better!  A water flush through the line and we think we have it fixed.  That left the second tank which we have never actually found.  After tracing the hoses we finally found the access under my clothing drawers in the main berth.  Some testing suggested that the problem was a clogged vent with tank #2 as well.  Some sucking of the vent hose with a vacuum cleaner seems to have cleared that one.
• We still haven't been able to get our diesel furnace to light.  This is more a "we would like to know if there is a problem" issue than a we need it right now as we are having record setting hot weather.  I think I know enough about the system now to be able to troubleshoot it but the next steps really would be easier with 2 people so I've put it off until Clarice and I get some time to work together.
• We do have 3 air conditioning units that did test OK when the boat was surveyed.  The can also be run in "reverse" and used as heaters.  When we tested them the one in the main salon didn't get any sea water to carry away or add heat (boat systems often use sea water rather than air as water is a much better heat transfer mechanism and is generally a better temperature for cooling an air conditioner).  On further inspection we found a clogged sea strainer in the back lazarette (an hold filled with equipment and used for storage under the back cockpit deck).  I managed to fold myself into the lazarette and clean the strainer followed by disassembling the sea water pump to make it happy so it would pump water to the air conditioner.  Now that the system works, it turns the main salon into a refrigerator very quickly when its hot outside.
• Our first big (and planned before purchase) modification was to install a "professional" size stove/oven in the galley.  The boat originally had a standard marine stove but a previous owner decided they would rather have a dishwasher and cooktop and use the microwave/convection oven for the oven.  The advantage in hot climates is that the convection oven creates a lot less heat in the galley.  In any case I bought Clarice the new large size stove for her birthday.  After the cooktop, cabinetry and dishwasher were removed we decided we should go ahead and replace the 20 year old propane hose.  Step one: trace the hose requiring climbing in little cabinet doors and pulling the ceiling down in the guest berth. Step two: another trip to Sure Marine in Seattle as they were the only place we could find that could make up a new marine grade propane hose. Step three: have Clarice put her shoulders into some very small cabinet doors (I have wide shoulders and physically can't fit) and pull out the old hose while feeding the new hose. In the end the stove did fit in the space of the old stove without having to modify either the cabinetry or the stove and it looks great.
  
• We were concerned when we chose this particular boat that it didn't have a swim platform as we are both advanced divers and are eager to dive off of the boat.  We did find the boarding ladder and decided it was a long and strong one so before we went to a lot of expense we should try diving once.  Today we anchored out a few miles from home and dove (for the first time in a long time - boy were we out of practice) off the boat.  Our first impression is that we may be able to forgo the swim step as we have certainly gotten out of and into boats with much less comfortable arrangements. (It is also nice to have the electric boom crane lift our gear out of the water and onto the boat rather than dragging it over the side when we are really tired after a dive like we had to do on our last two boats.
• Tonight we are training on Salish Aire's anchoring gear and flopper stopper system.  We chose an unprotected cove near our home marina that we knew would be open to wind and ferry wakes so we could see how she lays at anchor with her flopper stopper motion calming system.  So far it has been very comfortable with 2 ft wind waves and 3+ foot ship wakes.  We do need to work on how we connect the anchor bridle to the anchor chain.  We have always had boats with nylon rope anchor lines ("rodes").  The nylon acts as a shock absorber between the anchor and the boat.  With an all-chain rode a nylon rope bridle is recommended to absorb some of the shock.  So far we have not felt we have a good system for attaching the bridle - more to learn!

Now its time for me to get to bed for our first night at anchor.