Faulty Plumbing & Lack of Faith - updated

Lost my nerve yesterday afternoon, yeah I did.

When I first moved aboard Calypso a few months ago, the hot water plumbing was leaking from a Quest-style t-fitting in the engine compartment. No big deal to fix it, except the space is so tight it's like trying to thread three needles with both hands inside a coffee can. Upside down through a chain link fence. With your eyes closed ... now that I'm in the middle of actually doing it.

And of course if you happen to drop a brass fitting or barb connector then it lands in the bilge and becomes lost in another space/time dimension.

Guess what. Now the cold water t-fitting is leaking at a rate that'll empty 40 gallons of water overnight. That's aggravating.

Yesterday afternoon I assembled all the parts and tools I'd need to do the repair, turned on the worklight, stared a good long time at the offending t-fitting (which glared back at me behind the protection of its army of thick hoses and pump parts) ... and decided making the change could wait.

I rationalized my weakness and procrastination this way: "Right now I've only got a tiny leak, but once I start cutting hoses then I won't have any water at all until the job's complete. And who knows how long that might take, and what unforeseen calamity (like dropping parts or losing tools to the bilge) might happen along the way?"

See, it wasn't the difficulty or tediousness that was the challenge; it was the fear that I'd get aggravated and lose interest once I'd passed the point of No Return and it was too late to turn back. Which means I'd have no running water at all till I finished ... and no one but myself to hold accountable.

But the leak's still got to be fixed. I've got the tools and all the parts. All I need now is a little bit more faith ... and to remember replacing faulty parts is absolutely worth doing.