Catching up at last: 2023
The Galley Slave and I rejoined the boat in Deltaville VA, Feb23 and cruised to Trinidad. Along the way we experienced ongoing problems with the electrical charging system, amongst other things. Quite the maintenance list, actually!
RIB Puncture
Bruce, our faithful RIB, had developed a leak in one compartment (port aft) and looked decidedly deflated when I rejoined the boat. I tried to find the leak using a soap and water mix, several times with brush and spray, but could detect no bubbles. It wasn’t until I launched WJ3 and Bruce that I was able to detect bubbles streaming up through the water from the leak. It was an old repair gone bad and not small.
I pulled Bruce from the water onto the marina pontoon dock, turned it over, washed with fresh water, deflated the respective compartment, sanded and cleaned, and then glued a patch over the leak. I carry spare fabric on board courtesy of a fellow sailor whose Hypalon inflatable had been written off.
I used West System G/flex thickened epoxy adhesive based on the advice of the local hardware and it has worked perfectly so far. There was no Hypalon adhesive available locally in Deltaville. You need to ensure that there is plenty of pressure and I used diving weights for this plus clamps.
Dripless Shaft Seal
On launching at Deltaville Boatyard the DSS wasn’t dripless, leaking a small amount. The travel lift operator kindly assessed the problem and, with the help of a small sledge hammer, stopped the leak. I think he just tapped the aft ‘bracket’ forward a bit to tighten the whole thing up and all is good. I have never before had any problem and the DSS has been on the boat since I purchased it 17 years previously.
Whisker Pole
I wanted a whisker pole for the staysail when running dead downwind and I saw one on the side of the road among a pile of other boating junk. I knew the owner (old Bob) and, after asking him if he wanted it to sell it to me, he gave it to me. One end was a normal piston type end fitting and I wanted the same for the other end, which was some other useless fitting for my purposes. I happened to have a spare spin pole end fitting and, after having it machined to fit my new pole, fitted perfectly. I then found a 2nd hand slider fitting for the spinnaker pole track, purchased a locking slider and now all done, almost. I now need to fit a block on the front of the mast and a topping lift. All up it will have cost about $150.
I might also think about using this pole, which is pretty substantial, for a bowsprit for my asymmetrical top-down spinnaker furler. We’ll see.
Fridges Not Refrigerating Properly
Shortly after leaving Deltaville and on our way southwards along the ICW our fridge and freezer were not getting really cold enough. Yes, cold-ish but not like they normally should perform. I checked most things but could not identify the problem: all lights were on that should have been on but the water pump wasn’t operating. I checked for any blockages in the plumbing, electrical cabling and connections and even pulled the pump apart (as much as I could). Finally, I checked the manuals and I noted the mention of a fuse in the control box. I checked it and, sure enough, it had failed. I replaced it and all good, both boxes cooled down as per normal in double quick time. The lesson here is that, although all lights were on, not everything was working properly, clearly. I just simply thought that if all lights were on then everything electrical must be working – wrong. You never stop learning.
WAECO Fridge/Freezer
To add to this dilemma, our ever faithful WAECO fridge/freezer, purchased in 2010, decided to play up and finally died in 2023 after 15 faithful years of service. Our built-in fridge and freezer can only be run when the boat is in the water as, to keep them cool, sea water has to flow around the compressors when they are running. On land, which is a fair amount of time at the start and end of each season, we use the WAECO as a fridge and/or a freezer. It’s mostly been a reliable companion, trusted importantly, with keeping our cold beers and food fresh. The WAECO unit has been just great and we loved it.
However, rather than try to live with an old but unreliable friend, we ditched it and purchased another and, since we had friends about to join us in Florida, there wasn’t time to muck around. Our new one is virtually the same as the old – a 50 litre Dometic portable fridge/freezer purchased from Fort Pierce West Marine as we made our way south along the Intra Coastal Waterway towards Florida. She works just great and so we are very happy. I should add that Fort Pierce Marina kindly let us hang off a dock while we jumped an Uber to West Marine to pick up our purchase. Very friendly staff given that it was peak migration time for boaters heading north and not much room. A nice marina experience.
E-Bicycle
We purchased an Ancheer 20” folding electric bike to replace our folding bike stolen in Annapolis in 2019 (from a shop just opposite the local Police Station - as GS likes to remind me!). It, like all e bikes, is comparatively heavy but, for my ageing body, is oh so easy to use. It speeds along with very little effort and we have also fitted ‘saddles’ to make it a useful pack horse for trips to super markets etc. One reason we went for this particular model (there seem to be 100s to choose from) was the aluminium ‘spokes’, disc brakes, and reviews it had received. So far, we are very pleased with it.
We also purchased stowage bags and have put four mounting brackets on the coachhouse roof so that we can tie it down with ratchet straps. When sailing we also cover it loosely with the foredeck sunbrella awning and, after four months of sailing south through the Caribbean the bikes were in really good condition. I also have upgraded the bike security locks and use them always.
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