To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com
From: vann@his.com (Bryant Vann)
Subject: Re: Gadgets and Gimmicks and Rio update
Date: June 12, 1999

Mel,

>The screw-on filter on my Perkins is upside down. Any suggestion on 
>getting it off without a mess. I know the fact that it is upside down 
>allows the oil to at least partially drain out when at rest. But some 
>oil still seams to come out and make a mess when changing it.

Dunno if this will help with your Perkins, but it works like a charm on our FL135 which has 
an upside-down Fram oil filter.  I think I mentioned this some time back but for those who 
might have missed it...  Punch a hole with a screwdriver in the "top" (bottom?) of the filter 
and wait about five minutes.  That allows virtually ALL the oil to drain back into the engine.  
(For God's sake, DON'T try to punch a second hole though -- not unless you want to try tips 
for cleaning dirty oil off your clothes!)  My thanks to Bob Smith of American Diesel in 
Kilmarnock, VA, for this tip...

- Bryant Vann
  M/V Salty Lady, KK42
  Galesville, MD --> on the Chesapeake

PS. For those waiting with bated breath for an update on perrito Rio's "transition" from land 
to sea with the newspaper-lined litter box...  (See my 3/21/99 post for background.)  All has 
gone better than we ever dreamed.  He "hits the spot" perfectly EVERY time.  His favorite 
technique is to put his forward feet IN the box and leave his after feet OUTSIDE the box 
(thus, thinking "outside the box," I suppose).  With just a "tad" of "lift" with the starboard 
quarter foot, he manages to direct his stream inside the box onto the papers and yet miss 
his forward feet reliably.  Yo quiero Taco Bell!  His uncle saves all his old Washington Posts 
for us, so we don't have to be embarrassed by having to purchase them ourselves.  Now if 
we could just get him to understand that "come" does NOT mean "go," we'd have this thing 
licked!  Perhaps we should try speaking to him in spanish?  Interestingly, if he happens to be 
ashore when the urge arises, he uses the grass just like any "normal" chihuahua -- then goes 
right back to the litter box when he's on board.  Whew!  A final "tip"...  His breeder suggested 
we run a jack line along the side deck and loop a short leash through it so he could run back 
and forth without us having to worry so much about him falling into the water while we're 
underway.  He has a PFD (Pooch Flotation Device?), but I can't imagine trying to find him in 
the waves, let alone trying to get him back on board should he ever fall in.