Our post-retirement choice to spend much of each year sailing has to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. We love to travel while learning about the culture, cuisine, lifestyles, flora & fauna and history of our destinations.
We treasure the opportunities to meet new people who appreciate events from uniquely different perspectives than ours. This takes time. Bringing our second home along affords us endless destinations and our own timeline.
We also love being under sail – the quiet, wind-powered, motion of sailing on tranquil days and the challenges afforded on blustery days and high seas. Neither of us get seasick (knock on wood).
Be advised, boat maintenance is part of the package.
In addition to endless cleaning and polishing, boat malfunctions and repairs are as much a part of the experience as the excitement and leisure. Get together with other cruisers and the conversation will invariably touch upon each other’s current boat problems and often great stories of past mishaps and near disasters.
Once again, our refrigerator, on its coldest setting, is struggling to keep the temperature near 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Centigrade). This after having the refrigerator on three occasions found to be low on coolant, re-charged, and checked for leaks (none found). We also installed a new compressor and ventilation. A funny thing about this is that two cruisers we have become friends with are meeting with the same refrigerator serviceman after us on consecutive days for exactly the same recurrent problem. A third sailing couple we have befriended managed this same recurrent problem for two years by recharging the fridge themselves until the leak became large enough to be found and repaired.
Best to know your way around electronics and computer technology
Our plans this morning were to sail beyond Petite Martinique into the great depths of the Atlantic Ocean and catch some mahi mahi, tuna, or what have you. We are approaching the end of our monthly WiFi data allotment so George decided to “quickly” install a couple of updates to our navigational software (wind, speed, direction…).
1. Find thumb drive and move data to other device
2. Download software updates – Monitors do not recognize data
3. Troubleshoot – solution, must use Foxfire to download
4. Download Foxfire and software updates.
Here is where it gets interesting
5. B&G monitors in the cockpit are glued in. Access requires disassembling ceiling in head; invariably this type of work disrupts most areas within the cabin.
6. Install updates – One USB port did not have enough space for thumb drive.
7. Download to smaller thumb drive (thanks Herbert) and complete data installation – Success!!
8. Instruments show no data – Troubleshoot – on phone with B&G technicians – 3 in total – success!!!
Decide to replace ceiling clamps broken by over zealous workmen who installed traveler
Discover ceiling clamps are glued in. Replace with alternate type of clamp and put ceiling back in place.
3:30 pm – We will go fishing tomorrow.
It is sometimes frustrating, but for the most part it is all part of the “adventure”.
The refrigerator is still not working properly.
Go With The Floe 