Yes, it’s Saturday but feels like Monday. I popped out like a piece of toast around 0600 to hear a noise that’s rarely heard on JollyDogs. Bilge pump running, switching on then off then on. What’s that other noise? Why gosh darn, it’s the house water pump constantly kicking on and off. Why is that? Obviously there’s a leak somewhere. Quick, fill the electric kettle then turn off the house water pump, get caffeinated and then go hunting for the problem with a clear head.
I don’t do much of anything before my first cup of coffee.
Turns out it’s one of those plumbing fittings that attaches a standard tapered thread plumbing fitting to 15mm plastic flexible pipe used on boats. It’s the output from the hot water line to the master head shower valve. Yesterday was exceptionally sunny so I let the inverter power the hot water heater until we had a full tank. Took about 2 ½ hours, and would have lasted a couple days at least, but now most of that is “down the drain” so to speak. Nuts.
Doesn’t cheer me up that hot water has been spraying around the port engine compartment and dripping on the alternator regulators and associated switches, but they’ll get over it and so will I. The good news is we’ve spare parts on board and within an hour it’s all fixed up and cleaned up and dried up and life is good. That’s when I spy evidence of a leak from the heat exchanger on the port diesel engine. Well isn’t that just special?
I’ve been looking at the cost and complexity of long endurance electric propulsion the last few days. It isn’t mainstream yet but lots of progress is being made and we have encountered hybrid boats out here. Need a generator for those long run times or cloudy days – otherwise electric seems to be coming of age. Thank you Elon Musk. Maybe someday I’ll do a conversion for a fun project, but production hybrid propulsion catamarans are still in short supply. However, they are beginning to make a lot of sense for the self-launching sailplane market
We’ve been here at Maupiti for nearly 2 weeks now, and it’s a great place to hang. Some really strenuous and scenic hikes, plus a nice amble on the paved road around the island, a bit over 5 miles. Decent groceries in terms off fruit and veg and eggs, and we’ve got everything else on board already. Nice friendly people. Free public WIFI at the post office on weekdays! The local cell tower provides a nice LTE data connection. Killer sand bar to kite board from when the wind is strong enough. Giant manta rays come into the lagoon daily to feed and visit a “cleaning station” where little dinky fish chew parasites from around their faces – interesting to watch.
We better like Maupiti, because everywhere we want to go is East of here. Pretty much due East, and the winds tend to be strong out of the East or Southeast this time of year, so it’s a bit of a commitment coming here. It does look like a break in that weather pattern will materialize in about a week and we’ll look to motor back towards Bora Bora or even farther whenever that happens. Places to go, people to see, things to do!
Coronavirus has kicked back in here after being essentially eradicated. Partly brought by tourists, partly by new French government employees arriving for their rotation, but the spread has really been caused by big parties at bars and restaurants or private residences where people hugged and kissed (French hospitality style) and didn’t wear masks and generally acted like Covid-19 doesn’t exist. Well now they’ve got it. The hospitals haven’t run out of ventilators or rooms yet, but apparently the medical staff have reached a noticeable level of physical and mental exhaustion, so the French government is sending in a few reinforcements.
So far no lockdowns so we’re free to move around, but we wear masks when ashore if we’re around any people, unless we’re sitting at a restaurant table with friends. There’s a great restaurant near the dinghy dock. Great food, reasonable prices, and they do the dishes!
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