Charlestown Harbour, 
Nevis
17.08.998N
62.37.865W
At 3am this morning, we slipped our mooring and fell in behind Orpailleur leaving the anchorage in St. Barts. Our plan was to get out of the protected area and if the winds were as predicted, we would sail to Antigua. Our Plan B was to sail to St. Kitts or Nevis. Within the hour we opted for Plan B. The winds never did swing east and the 10-15 kts were actually more like 20-25. It was a boisterous ride no matter which way you looked at it. I had things falling that have never fallen, even in squalls.
Once we got in the lee of St. Kitts, we lost most of the winds and what was left was directly on the nose. So we motor sailed. When the waves started to beat us up and required tacking just to get a more comfortable ride, Dale and I opted to cut the engine again and sail. We were in luck, some of the winds whipping around the mountains we could actually use. Gerry & Nicky can pinch higher than we can, so while we let the sails spill air for a while, they caught up and left us in their wake.
By late morning, we were actually doing quite well and were enjoying the beautiful day. Early afternoon we found Orpailleur anchored in Charlestown, Nevis, so we angled to the side of them and dropped our hook. Gerry was already in the water and graciously swam over and checked to make sure that it was set properly. Once satisfied that we were going anywhere, we set about tidying up our mess.
As is our custom, we run the refrigerator 3 times a day, usually right after lunch so that I’m not going into it right after its been chilled. Only this time, instead of the plate cooling, it actually heated up. I called my handy, dandy repair man who took it in stride without too much of a retort. Of course that began to gradually change when it clearly wasn’t the water filter and started looking more like the cooling pump had died. Since the air conditioning pump is the same as the refrigerator pump, he disconnected both of them, swapped their attachment points and tried again. This time we had arcing in the compressor area. Not good! He checked his wiring, discovered that 2 were misconnected and tried again. Arcing big time! Really Not Good! He stared at the offending component and did the only thing left to do: called Gerry and told him that we were going to have to break off and head to Antigua regardless of which direction the wind was blowing. We needed our annual refrigerator repair.
Now could this have happened while we were cooling our jets in St. Martin where there are plenty of repair services? No. Could it have waited for another 2 weeks when we’re in Grenada where again there are plenty of repair services? Of course not. Could it have happened yesterday when Wayne on Take Time was in the anchorage and probably knows exactly how to fix the dang thing? Nope! Never in a million years! It has to happen when we’re on a tiny island off the beaten track.
It will take us all day to get to Antigua from here. Dale e-mailed the facility that did the repair last year and hopefully, they’ll be standing by to attack the demon the next day. Gerry & Nicky will continue on and hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with them before they have their boat hauled in Tyrell Bay. We promised them a place to sleep while they are on the hard.
In the meantime, Dale reconnected the original pump to the air conditioner and fired up the generator. Yep! It still worked. Must be the compressor or the control relay in the compressor. We started putting things back together and with all of the water hoses on and off, we now have an air bubble in our watermaker. Dale’s exhausted, we’ll worry about that little problem tomorrow.
Now you know this didn’t happen when the refrigerator was near empty. It’s stuffed to the gills. So I’ve emptied the ice maker’s supply of ice in a couple of zip locks and dropped one in each side of the refrigerator and freezer. I’m actually trying to make a piece of block ice while we’re at anchor, so that it won’t spill while we’re underway tomorrow. Wish me luck and say a prayer that Antigua will have the part on hand and I won’t need to have a barbeque and invite the whole anchorage.
Nevis
17.08.998N
62.37.865W
At 3am this morning, we slipped our mooring and fell in behind Orpailleur leaving the anchorage in St. Barts. Our plan was to get out of the protected area and if the winds were as predicted, we would sail to Antigua. Our Plan B was to sail to St. Kitts or Nevis. Within the hour we opted for Plan B. The winds never did swing east and the 10-15 kts were actually more like 20-25. It was a boisterous ride no matter which way you looked at it. I had things falling that have never fallen, even in squalls.
Once we got in the lee of St. Kitts, we lost most of the winds and what was left was directly on the nose. So we motor sailed. When the waves started to beat us up and required tacking just to get a more comfortable ride, Dale and I opted to cut the engine again and sail. We were in luck, some of the winds whipping around the mountains we could actually use. Gerry & Nicky can pinch higher than we can, so while we let the sails spill air for a while, they caught up and left us in their wake.
By late morning, we were actually doing quite well and were enjoying the beautiful day. Early afternoon we found Orpailleur anchored in Charlestown, Nevis, so we angled to the side of them and dropped our hook. Gerry was already in the water and graciously swam over and checked to make sure that it was set properly. Once satisfied that we were going anywhere, we set about tidying up our mess.As is our custom, we run the refrigerator 3 times a day, usually right after lunch so that I’m not going into it right after its been chilled. Only this time, instead of the plate cooling, it actually heated up. I called my handy, dandy repair man who took it in stride without too much of a retort. Of course that began to gradually change when it clearly wasn’t the water filter and started looking more like the cooling pump had died. Since the air conditioning pump is the same as the refrigerator pump, he disconnected both of them, swapped their attachment points and tried again. This time we had arcing in the compressor area. Not good! He checked his wiring, discovered that 2 were misconnected and tried again. Arcing big time! Really Not Good! He stared at the offending component and did the only thing left to do: called Gerry and told him that we were going to have to break off and head to Antigua regardless of which direction the wind was blowing. We needed our annual refrigerator repair.
Now could this have happened while we were cooling our jets in St. Martin where there are plenty of repair services? No. Could it have waited for another 2 weeks when we’re in Grenada where again there are plenty of repair services? Of course not. Could it have happened yesterday when Wayne on Take Time was in the anchorage and probably knows exactly how to fix the dang thing? Nope! Never in a million years! It has to happen when we’re on a tiny island off the beaten track.It will take us all day to get to Antigua from here. Dale e-mailed the facility that did the repair last year and hopefully, they’ll be standing by to attack the demon the next day. Gerry & Nicky will continue on and hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with them before they have their boat hauled in Tyrell Bay. We promised them a place to sleep while they are on the hard.
In the meantime, Dale reconnected the original pump to the air conditioner and fired up the generator. Yep! It still worked. Must be the compressor or the control relay in the compressor. We started putting things back together and with all of the water hoses on and off, we now have an air bubble in our watermaker. Dale’s exhausted, we’ll worry about that little problem tomorrow.
Now you know this didn’t happen when the refrigerator was near empty. It’s stuffed to the gills. So I’ve emptied the ice maker’s supply of ice in a couple of zip locks and dropped one in each side of the refrigerator and freezer. I’m actually trying to make a piece of block ice while we’re at anchor, so that it won’t spill while we’re underway tomorrow. Wish me luck and say a prayer that Antigua will have the part on hand and I won’t need to have a barbeque and invite the whole anchorage.
Photo of Gypsy Palace taken by Orpailleur.
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