A ride on the Licking River

Heather and I put the boat in the Licking River today. I had found the launch last year, but needed an extra set of hands to launch and retrieve. It was a small launch in the tailwater of the Cave Run dam, so lots of current to contend with.

It really was pretty going down the river, but the fast, shallow water made me a little nervous.

The water was running higher than normal, but was only showing about 8 ft on the sonar. A lot of places showed less than 4 ft.

New water pump for the boat

 The parts I ordered came in this morning and I picked them up in Nicholasville. Not a very big box for $40, but it was what I needed.

 Getting ready to start the job. The tools were out and a work table set up.

 The bottom end pulled off. It wasn't really hard to do, just a few bolts and pry it apart without breaking anything. The driveshaft just slides out with it.

 My view of the water pump housing, with a few more bolts to take out.

 I got it apart without breaking anything. The impeller and gasket are out. Re-assembly was a little more challenging. An extra set of hands would have helped, but I still got it done.

Re-assembled and installed. The most unfortunate thing is that it didn't fix the problem. I'll have to have a professional look at it and see what else is wrong. At least I know how to change the water pump in my outboard now. Yamaha says you should do it every other year as routine maintenance. I've had this motor 15 years and this is the first time it's been changed.
Update on the motor: I tried one more trick I knew, and it fixed it! The water pump is working now!

Bathroom repaired

 I started our bathroom repair Friday morning. First thing after removing the toilet was cutting the old floor out. Some of it I just yanked out, but most of it was cut. I had my trusty little pry bar in there to help.

 All of the old floor is out. At least, the part I was going to replace. I would have cut it a little wider if I could have gotten the saw in closer to edges.

 Then I built a new subfloor to give it good support.

 The first layer of plywood put down. I used two layers to make it stronger, but you really couldn't see much difference between the pictures. This is as far as I got Friday before quitting for the night. At least we wouldn't fall through the hole in the floor this way.

 After I got back from my workday at the range this afternoon, I put in the floor flange and sealed up the seams in the wood. It looks messy, but it's just wood putty.

 With the new floor down, it's starting to take shape. The floor doesn't quite match the old one, but I think it looks better. And certainly stronger!

All hooked up and ready to go! We are happy to have everything working again.

The freezer is full again

 We got Lucy back from Flemingsburg this morning. Thank you to Lisa for dropping the beef off on her way home.

 Steaks and burger and ribs, oh my! It took a little arranging, but we got it all in and the lid closed. The sheep is going to have to wait a little while before we take her in.

Heather found a couple more wind spinners at Tractor Supply. The wind had broken the other ones we had, but these are much sturdier construction. Hopefully, they will last longer. They are nice to look at.

Fun and good vittles

 First up was some fun at the range. I burned up a few boxes of ammo and had a good time. The practice didn't hurt, either. I'm getting back into a little better form. The target took a beating, most everything was in the black.

 I weeded most of the garden this morning, and picked this nice bunch of spinach. I already tried some and it was delicious.

And the lettuce is doing very well, too. This is some of the salad bowl we picked this morning. There is also romaine ready for picking and collards, too.