Well, once we had the engine working again we were ready for the final set of things to be done for departure. The oil change for the engine went well, best ever, but I still haven't done it the same way twice. I have some more changes for next time. The next day I changed the transmission oil for the first time myself. I couldn't reach the drain plug beneath and behind the transmission, so I had to pull the oil from the dip stick hole anyway. If I'd known this I really should have done the transmission right after the engine oil change for about half the cleanup.
We picked up more supplies and oil for the next changes, which should be closer to 100 hours for both. Due to difficulty finding single weight Pennzoil, I picked up Rotella 30wt instead, which is better anyway. I'll be switching to the Rotella multi-weight next change as well, as that is clearly what the manual describes. The 30wt is what the tech used for first oil change right after we bought the boat, so I've done it that way ever since, but I'm slowly getting a little smarter.
The last of the engine/ heat exchanger zincs arrived, some with with additional brass bases so I could rapidly swap them out while water was pouring in the engine sump.
The rigging folks came and installed the sail bag cleats. Now I can snug up the sail bag lines enough myself to keep the bag from drooping, which had allowed rain water to collect and mold the cover of the sail bag. Fortunately the main sail was not affected. They also installed a nice new mast step so I can get to the top of the main sail (when it is fully lowered), so now I can attach the halyard and such without extreme acrobatics.
The dinghy registration had finally come through online. Although I still hadn't received the official paper copy and the tags, I now knew our registration number. I got stencils to mark it on the dinghy. Unfortunately they may not be tall enough, so I bought more letters and numbers from West.
I kept checking the engine fluids and such each morning and running the engine each evening until everything was completely dialed in and topped up.
The final prep for departure is always a rush at the end. There was grocery provisioning to be done, then supplemented with whatever we forgot. We put up the aft part of the bimini with the nicely repaired clear window in the middle. Now we can see the main sail from the helm. We hung the solar panels from the side rails, then cleaned out the aft head they had been stored in.
Even Big Bird came by a few days before departure to say goodbye. I guess we weren't the only ones feeling nostalgic.
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