Creeky lives!

So thanks to even more help from my friends I had another really productive weekend aboard Creeky, including my first sleepover on it with Jennilee, who again is the best girlfriend ever.  It went something like this:

• [me]: So, I didn't quite get the head hooked up and pumped out so there is still no toilet on the boat.  If you have to pee you will have to go all the way back to the office or pee off the dock.
• [Jennilee]: That's fine, I love peeing off docks.
• [me]: I also couldn't hook up running water because the faucets are still apparently off for the season.
• [Jennilee]: I hate running water.
• [me]: (as I am moving tools and parts out of the entryway just so we can get past the bottom of the stairs) I also didn't realize how much of a mess everything still was or that I had removed structural parts of the bed earlier, but give me 5 minutes and I'll fix everything.  Or we can just go back to my place and sleep on the boat another time.
• [Jennilee]: Nope, I'll wait.  I want to sleep on the boat.  I'll be reading, let me know when you're done doing whatever you need to do.
• [me]: I love you.

Onto other non-mushy subjects...  My goal for the weekend was to get the boat to a point where it could theoretically be driven.  After fabricating an exhaust riser with a water-cooled inlet using about $200 worth of the largest steel pipe fittings you have ever seen, cutting out room for it to fit, and running some fuel line the engine still wouldn't start...  My uncle Bill and I did some diagnosing and fiddling to see what we were missing and the engine still just turned over but wouldn't catch.  Next, I asked my very boaty friend Dave (who is also my neighbor a few boats down and a marine mechanic) for some advice and then went back to try to work the air out of the fuel rail as he suggested.  Still nothing.  Eff...  So I went back to Dave's boat to annoy him again despite the fact that it was Easter and he had guests over.  Instead of telling me to go away, Dave invited me in and fed me arguably the best Easter dinner I have ever eaten.  We then went over to my boat and with a tiny spritz of starter fluid got the following results:

Success!!!  Don't mind all the smoke.  The exhaust was running straight into the bilge.  Mission accomplished.  It would have been a huge pain in the ass, but if I had to I could have theoretically driven the boat like this.  This weekend the goal is to finish the job with the engine and drive this thing to the moon.  Thanks again Dave, Jesse, Bill, and Jennilee for all your help.  Thanks mom for the Easter candy to fuel the creativity and complement the beer.