Sa., 11. February 2006 - Progress!

Sa., 11. February 2006 - Progress!

 

After our successful sailing trip with Cam we stayed out on a mooring in order to enjoy the clear waters, privacy and quiet out there.  On a mooring, you don't have to worry about the ramp or bumping into the dock when the weather is bad or there is a swell.  Also the steady stream of tourists, which has inundated these islands for many years, doesn't get that far.  When one (or more!) of the big cruise-ships is in Road Town, things get uncomfortably tight around here. 

 

Unfortunately this blissful state of affairs didn't last all that long.  Although I ran both 40 HP engines for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, the voltage in our batteries kept going down.  What was worse, was the fact that not only our house-bank (lights, fridge, etc.) were affected, but the starter-batteries as well. 

 

I had managed to change the transmission oil out there without any major problems, but that one requires a permanent solution as well. 

 

So back to the dock we went.  Many days of hard labor from sunup to after sundown (professional sailor Ian Henderson (Sydney-Hobart Race, Newport-Bermuda Race, and many others) said to me one day at sundown:  "You are working really hard,man!"  <grin>) followed our return to civilization.  My mood was far below the freezing point at that time.  It didn't help at all that I woke up every morning from nightmares in which little Aurora Ulani played the main role... 

 

I finally found the cause of all my problems. 

 

On the one hand, the isolator was wired incorrectly and on the other hand, one of the connections to the starter motors was badly corroded.  Once I knew what the trouble was, it took only moments to rectify the issue.  So, the last few days we are running only on batteries to see if anything else crops up. 

 

The next project is going up the slip once more.  I already have the seals and housing and just need to line up the travellift, the mechanic and Joey to help me get the boat over there.  The work itself could be done in an hour and when that is finished we are planning on getting out of here. 

 

We might go straight to Trinidad or we might first check out Puerto Rico.  We haven't quite decided on that one yet.