Quiet Day in Wrangell

Robert, Friday, June 6
Today was a real quiet day. It was cool all day and we didn’t get out. I worked on the new water pump that wasn’t working right. Some water pumps are either on or they are off. For these pumps, it is a good idea to install a small tank on the discharge side of the pump called an accumulator. The accumulator acts to "smooth out" the water pressure. The pump that we have is a variable speed pump that is supposed to speed up and slow down depending on the water demand. This way the water pressure should stay relatively constant. The big problem with water pressure that constantly charges occurs when taking a shower. There is more resistance to the water flow through the hot water side of the water supply. That means when the pressure is low and both hot and cold are turned on, you get more cold. As the pressure increases, the amount of hot increases. Our variable speed pump would start up and increase in pressure for about a second or two and then stop. The water flow would go from a trickle to full flow and back to a trickle as the pump constantly cycled. Taking a shower meant that you would get a blast of hot followed by a trickle of cold about every two seconds. So I contacted the pump manufacturer to find out if there is a fix. It turns out that there is an adjustment screw on the pump. Of course, the pump is mounted under the kitchen sink in an area that is almost impossible to get to. After several hours I think I got it adjusted but tomorrow’s showers should be the final proof. I brought along my software to learn Spanish on the trip and spent some time working on the while Leslie worked on some computer projects. I did get out to grill supper but it was spitting rain so my total time outside was short. The new valve for the water system arrived today. It was sent Priority Mail from Kansas on May 19–a total of 18 days! I talked to this campground manager here before it was sent and he told me that nothing gets here fast. He said parcel post can take months. I guess he was right. Tomorrow if it is not real nasty weather, I’ll install the water valve. I have that and a few other projects to work on while we are here in Wrangell. If the weather gets better we can put the projects off and go exploring. There will always be a rainy day for projects.

Wrangell & No Pictures!

Leslie Friday, June 6, 2008

A day without pictures. In fact a day that I didn’t even leave the rig. We had mostly rain and vey cool temperatures – low 50s. I spent the working on computer backups and photo organizing. That’s actually a big task since I often take 100 pictures a day.

We brought along an 200 GB external hard drive to backup files along the way. After my work yesterday, I have only 35 GB of empty space. I had considered buying a 1 TB external hard drive at Costco before we left Colorado but didn’t think I would need that much capacity. Now I think that I’ll visit Costco in Anchorage and find one.

Our brass water fitting arrived today. Hurrah! 18 days travel via priority mail from Chanute, KS. Hopefully Saturday will be warmer so that Robert can work on the water system.

Wrangell has the only USGA regulation golf course in southeast Alaska. We’ve been told the scenery is beautiful. We’re planning to visit the golf course on the first sunny day.

Leslie