Falmouth Harbour, 
Antigua
17.00.708N
61.46.523W
A quick check of our sat e-mail this morning brought some alarming news. Gerry and Nicky sailed past Montserrat and continued to Guadeloupe. However, they lost their engine power along the way which forced them to continue under sail and into a new harbor late at night. Today they tore their engine apart to ascertain the problem and discovered that they have a bad fuel injector.
Dale checked us into customs and then dropped by the refrigeration people to confirm that we had arrived as scheduled. We were 4th on the list and were told that they would try to make sure we were seen today. Dale got back to the boat and wanted to move us in a little closer to the marinas. We chose a spot just up from where we had originally anchored and already the roll disappeared. We got out the hose and gave the inside of the cockpit a quick wipe down to get all of the salt off. We’re hoping for a little rain shower will pass our way to get the rest of the salt off the outside of the boat.
In the light of day, we recognized that we were amongst the very elite in sailing. The Maltese Falcon (the largest 3 masted sailboat) and a huge ketch are tied in slips just in front of us. Also, as we had surmised, many of the larger racing yachts are in from the Heineken Race and also at the marinas with a couple anchored out with the rest of us mere mortals.
Early afternoon we were contacted to head into the fuel pier and pick up Richard, the refrigeration repair guy. He had fixed our refrigerator last year about this time and we kidded him that we were back for our annual maintenance. He brought a young apprentice with him and with Dale’s assistance, they tore the salon apart to access the compressor and pump. The long and short of it was: faulty wiring.
The culprit was a short in an unknown splice in the wire leading from the compressor to the pump that led through a strake beneath the floor boards at the level of the bilge (which means that it was not visible.) Richard discovered this with his multimeter and the fact that one end was black and the other end was white. We dug out some string, attached it at one end and started pulling. Sure enough the rusty splice came out and promptly fell apart in Dale’s hands. Why anyone would put an unprotected electrical component in a place that is bound to get wet is anybody’s guess. In fact, Richard said that we were lucky that we hadn’t had a fire or explosion considering the potent ional for spilt fuel or oil in the area.
Once this was discovered, Richard told Dale to just re-splice the wire, adding the necessary heat shrink material for protection, then lead it back through again. Dale not only put heat shrink material on each individual wire, he put heat shrink material on the bundle as extra protection. A couple of hours later, we had the salon put back together and the refrigerator going. Now we’re wondering what else is lurking in inaccessible areas.
Steve & Vicky on True Companions and Brian & Lisa on Wasabe heard us talking on the radio earlier in the day and contacted us to get together with them in the evening. We had last seen True Companions in Grenada and Wasabe in Trini. As much as we would have liked to visit with each of them, we’re still exhausted today. So we declined the invitations and promised to get together tomorrow as a check of the weather had 9’ seas and we’re going to wait until they decrease a bit before heading back out again.
In the meantime, we offered to run down a fuel injector for Gerry and found out that we could get one here in 24 hours if necessary. However, Gerry & Nicky are taking a tour of Guadeloupe and will look for one there. Hopefully, they’ll let us know in time should they want us to bring one with us when we leave.
Since we’re going to be here another day, I’ll head into a marina tomorrow and see if I can find an internet café.
Antigua
17.00.708N
61.46.523W
A quick check of our sat e-mail this morning brought some alarming news. Gerry and Nicky sailed past Montserrat and continued to Guadeloupe. However, they lost their engine power along the way which forced them to continue under sail and into a new harbor late at night. Today they tore their engine apart to ascertain the problem and discovered that they have a bad fuel injector.
Dale checked us into customs and then dropped by the refrigeration people to confirm that we had arrived as scheduled. We were 4th on the list and were told that they would try to make sure we were seen today. Dale got back to the boat and wanted to move us in a little closer to the marinas. We chose a spot just up from where we had originally anchored and already the roll disappeared. We got out the hose and gave the inside of the cockpit a quick wipe down to get all of the salt off. We’re hoping for a little rain shower will pass our way to get the rest of the salt off the outside of the boat.
In the light of day, we recognized that we were amongst the very elite in sailing. The Maltese Falcon (the largest 3 masted sailboat) and a huge ketch are tied in slips just in front of us. Also, as we had surmised, many of the larger racing yachts are in from the Heineken Race and also at the marinas with a couple anchored out with the rest of us mere mortals.
Early afternoon we were contacted to head into the fuel pier and pick up Richard, the refrigeration repair guy. He had fixed our refrigerator last year about this time and we kidded him that we were back for our annual maintenance. He brought a young apprentice with him and with Dale’s assistance, they tore the salon apart to access the compressor and pump. The long and short of it was: faulty wiring.
The culprit was a short in an unknown splice in the wire leading from the compressor to the pump that led through a strake beneath the floor boards at the level of the bilge (which means that it was not visible.) Richard discovered this with his multimeter and the fact that one end was black and the other end was white. We dug out some string, attached it at one end and started pulling. Sure enough the rusty splice came out and promptly fell apart in Dale’s hands. Why anyone would put an unprotected electrical component in a place that is bound to get wet is anybody’s guess. In fact, Richard said that we were lucky that we hadn’t had a fire or explosion considering the potent ional for spilt fuel or oil in the area.Once this was discovered, Richard told Dale to just re-splice the wire, adding the necessary heat shrink material for protection, then lead it back through again. Dale not only put heat shrink material on each individual wire, he put heat shrink material on the bundle as extra protection. A couple of hours later, we had the salon put back together and the refrigerator going. Now we’re wondering what else is lurking in inaccessible areas.
Steve & Vicky on True Companions and Brian & Lisa on Wasabe heard us talking on the radio earlier in the day and contacted us to get together with them in the evening. We had last seen True Companions in Grenada and Wasabe in Trini. As much as we would have liked to visit with each of them, we’re still exhausted today. So we declined the invitations and promised to get together tomorrow as a check of the weather had 9’ seas and we’re going to wait until they decrease a bit before heading back out again.
In the meantime, we offered to run down a fuel injector for Gerry and found out that we could get one here in 24 hours if necessary. However, Gerry & Nicky are taking a tour of Guadeloupe and will look for one there. Hopefully, they’ll let us know in time should they want us to bring one with us when we leave.
Since we’re going to be here another day, I’ll head into a marina tomorrow and see if I can find an internet café.
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