Captains Log 01/22/07
Located in Stuart, FL
While waiting for parts, I took the time to patch up the big genoa, and do some other small sewing projects. I added the slides on the Mainsail luff so its easier to hoist and fold down. I took a look at the watermaker, which had some problems. There was a pin hole leak in one of the high pressure fittings. Fluid at 1000PSI is not as bad as gas at 1000PSI. Small cracks produce a small trickle of water and are not devastating like high pressure gas leaks. This is the reason why all the air should be purged out of the system before watermaker is pressurized. Membranes were in good condition but I still got some alkaline cleaner and will do the cleaning before we leave. I still have to figure out why was the salinity so high? At 700ppm we cannot dring the water. We can wash up and use it for everyting else but drinking. Unfortunately, water here is very dirty and I cannot run the watermaker. So we have to wait for testing until we are outside or at the mouth of the St. Lucie inlet.
I spoke to few more experienced Abacos cruisers and looks like we’ll have some adventurous times getting around Abacos. With our 7+ foot draft we are unlikely to visit any marinas. But we don’t need them since our dinghy is very fast and we can make water and electricity on our own. Getting through the sea of Abaco will require waiting on tide and taking advantage of weather. There is plenty of anchorages but we will most likely be the one lonely boat anchored 2-3 miles off due to the draft. That’s ok. After Abacos, we are heading for Exumas which are much deeper. So if we don’t enjoy the Abacos we’ll just continue on to Exumas. I ordered Reeds Almanac 2007 for Caribbean. Reeds almanac is worth its weight in gold. It list in detail many formalities for all the Caribbean countries, tides, currents, weather patterns, and all the information we absolutely need.
While waiting for parts, I took the time to patch up the big genoa, and do some other small sewing projects. I added the slides on the Mainsail luff so its easier to hoist and fold down. I took a look at the watermaker, which had some problems. There was a pin hole leak in one of the high pressure fittings. Fluid at 1000PSI is not as bad as gas at 1000PSI. Small cracks produce a small trickle of water and are not devastating like high pressure gas leaks. This is the reason why all the air should be purged out of the system before watermaker is pressurized. Membranes were in good condition but I still got some alkaline cleaner and will do the cleaning before we leave. I still have to figure out why was the salinity so high? At 700ppm we cannot dring the water. We can wash up and use it for everyting else but drinking. Unfortunately, water here is very dirty and I cannot run the watermaker. So we have to wait for testing until we are outside or at the mouth of the St. Lucie inlet.
I spoke to few more experienced Abacos cruisers and looks like we’ll have some adventurous times getting around Abacos. With our 7+ foot draft we are unlikely to visit any marinas. But we don’t need them since our dinghy is very fast and we can make water and electricity on our own. Getting through the sea of Abaco will require waiting on tide and taking advantage of weather. There is plenty of anchorages but we will most likely be the one lonely boat anchored 2-3 miles off due to the draft. That’s ok. After Abacos, we are heading for Exumas which are much deeper. So if we don’t enjoy the Abacos we’ll just continue on to Exumas. I ordered Reeds Almanac 2007 for Caribbean. Reeds almanac is worth its weight in gold. It list in detail many formalities for all the Caribbean countries, tides, currents, weather patterns, and all the information we absolutely need.
posted by sundowner-cruise at 10:55 AM
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