Cruising - Fixing Boats in Exotic Locations

Thursday, February 20th

I'm not making this up. We went to bed last night with 98% charge on our new LiFePO4 house battery bank. All was good with the world. Or it seemed so.

Around 0400 I was awake to check on things. As I passed the galley I noticed that the freezer and refrigerator digital thermostats were both reading high! It had nothing to do with our new house battery bank. Needless to say, I didn't go back to bed. Within the hour I diagnosed the problem. Unfortunately, I didn't have a spare compressor controller.



Amazon to the rescue, sort of. Quickly ordered but with a Monday delivery. The remainder of the morning was devoted to persuading the compressor to start up. No bananas.

Controller Circuit Board

As I previously wrote, the boating community here is marvelous. By 1300, we had our freezer unloaded and everything stored at a local's condo. Twenty pounds of ice will keep our fresh perishables for the next twenty-four hours. By 1400, I was just too mentally exhausted to go online and get anything accomplished for work.

All work and no play is no way to finish the day. At 1600, we dinghy'd to the marina tiki for the weekly jam session. It's surprising just how talented some of the cruisers are.

At this rate, we'll never get our anchor off the Boot Key bottom. Just kidding. While we continue to enjoy our time here, we are getting anxious to be on our way.

Friday, February 21st

We were rocking and rolling last night. We didn't think about it at the time, but several boats showed up in the anchorage yesterday afternoon. The breeze was pleasant when we retired. By midnight it was howling. We could hear the snubber line stretch and relax in the chocks. We have very good ground tackle. The holding is quite good here but for the boats with "lunch hooks". Actually, the rocking of the boat is quite relaxing. Somewhat like childhood while sitting on Grandma's lap in her rocking chair.

Winds were in the 20's this morning. One of my first chores was to swap out our chain hook with the snubber and tie off the halyards. After a couple hours working online, I decided that a midday nap was in order. Brenda worked on her knitting. The v-berth was comforting. By 1400, I was refreshed and ready the rest of the day.


At 1600, we headed to the tiki for the Friday night potluck and happy hour. Lots of good food and friendly folks. We met a sailor from Ireland that just arrived from Cuba. He had some great stories to tell. 

By sunset, we returned to Imagine. Surprisingly, the compressor controller had  arrived by UPS three days early. Quickly installed, the refrigeration is quickly approaching freezing temperature. 🥶

I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, all is truly good with the world, at least for tonight.

Saturday, February 22nd

I awoke just before 0500 and started the coffee. The refrigeration was back in action.

We dinghy'd to Sombrero Beach at 0730. Brenda participated in a 5K raising $ for KAIR, the Keys Area Interdenominational Resources,  a social services organization. Back at Imagine, I remounted the compressor, picked up our frozen foods, and a few other miscellaneous chores. Brenda finished up around 1100. After picking her up, we headed for the showers.

I haven't written much about personal life aboard Imagine. Firstly, let me reassure you that Brenda and I have a great relationship. In the past three weeks, we've only been apart one time: while I dinghy'd to the marina for ice.

Back to life aboard... Yes, Imagine is a 47 foot sailing vessel. In many ways, she's a huge vessel for the two of us. But in other ways, we both have to work together from forward to aft. The v-berth is quite comfortable. Especially since Brenda added the topper to the cushions. Of course it's not as large as our bed at home, but in many ways it provides better sleeping than at home. Think of a floating RV with the comforts of home squeezed into a significantly smaller space. The galley is well equipped, but it's only sized for one person. When not doing chores, we spend most of our time in the cockpit.

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2025 at 6:30 AM

    How do you figure all that out? You have a great analytical mind. And ability to go wither flow. Glad Brenda got some steps in!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2025 at 6:31 AM

    Oops forgot to sign. Diane

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2025 at 9:28 AM

    Stef here. Great to read your newest posts. Sounds like you are enjoying your time out there. In case you haven’t been watching the weather, there’s some nasty stuff coming Monday and probably Tuesday so be safe and make sure there aren’t any boats around you that will drag anchor into you! I know Imagine will be well hooked. It’s always the others I worry about! Be safe!

    ReplyDelete
  4. BritinUSAFebruary 23, 2025 at 10:23 AM

    We missed you at the HISC Change of Command Dinner last night. I have your Cruising Host Gift, do you want it mailed? ( don't laugh, it's a gift card ) . PM me if you're meeting up with anyone we know on the west coast and I could mail it to them. So that leads to the obvious question: How do you manage your mail?

    Paul - really like your blog Mike.

    ReplyDelete

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