9 May 15
Your vicarious cruising is probably more fun than our actual cruising, at this point in time. This was not a good day, although I hasten to add that we are still afloat, so I suppose it could have been much worse. We awoke to a fogless morning and the wind NE 8 as predicted - i.e., perfect for the run SW to Block Island. We ran over to the fuel dock at Jamestown to top off the tank before departing. As we got underway, the chart plotter/GPS kept either losing the GPS location or shutting down altogether. It always started back up and found itself again, but it was a bit irritating. After 45 minutes, the failure rate was getting more frequent, so I decided we were going to have to do something about it and Newport/Jamestown was a better place to find professional help, if needed, than Block Island. So we turned around and came back to the mooring ball we left a couple of hours ago. I was unable to make any progress on the chart plotter/GPS issue, although I noted that the failure rate decreases markedly when the engine is off. Raymarine are closed until Monday, and I’ll never be able to find a local tech earlier than that so we are stuck here for a while. But that is just the start of our travails. Read on.
As we started the passage, I checked the bilge and noticed that there was quite a lot of black gunk in the bilge. Not sure about the source of this stuff, but it was everywhere. After we got back to the mooring ball and I gave up on the chart plotter, I spent 2 hours cleaning the bilge and it is better now, but not completely resolved. I’m guessing that this stuff is a mold or microbe that eats diesel. We spilled a gallon or two of diesel into the bilge sometime back a year or two ago (bad connection on the fuel filter when it was replaced). We did a major cleanup at the time, but apparently the small amount of water (and diesel clinging to the places I cannot get to) in the bilge over the winter was a very good incubator, cause we have grown several pounds of the stuff. Wonder if it has any medicinal use?
In the process of cleaning and pumping out the bilge, I realized that the manual bilge pump was not working at all. I think it is just a bad joker valve on the outlet side of the pump (I have confirmed that both the inlet and outlet pipes are not blocked), but nobody in the USA sells replacement parts for Plastimo 925 manual bilge pumps. So, I can order a joker valve from New Zealand for NZ$25 or buy a whole new pump locally for $139.
Of course, while I was doing the above, the Admiral started cleaning elsewhere and discovered that the shower drain pump in the aft head was not working. I again confirmed that there were no blockages and that the strainer cup was sealed, and then had no other option but to pull out the pump. It is a simple diaphragm pump and is in good shape electrically, but the valves do not seem to be sealing. Of course, it was damn near impossible to get to it to remove it, and nobody sells the seal kits, so I have ordered a replacement pump for $250. Outrageous!!!
While I was in ordering mode, I noticed last night that the burner/flame dispersal unit on our Magma grill has rusted out and needs replacing. Finally, West Marine has a replacement part (for “only” $28), but so far I have been unable to remove the defective piece from the grill - it appears to be rusted completely to the threaded St.St. nipple that runs up through the middle of the grill. I have applied liberal quantities of penetrating oil, but anticipate having to buy a complete replacement grill tomorrow.
The good news is that all of the above kept us busy until happy hour. And after that, the Admiral whipped up an excellent meal from yesterday’s leftover pork chops and a bunch of other stuff, but then she spilled my full glass of wine. Fortunately, we have plenty more.
The forecast for the next few days, including the approaching TS Ana is SW, of course right on the nose for a trip to Block Island, so we are likely to be here until the end of the week. Good thing we are not on a schedule or anything. Over-wintering in Canada is looking more likely by the day. And to top it all off, it is so foggy at present that we cannot even see boat on the next mooring ball over, much less the dinghy dock 400 yards away, which is a pity, because the local bar/cafe at Jamestown has live music tonight and I would have liked to have taken the Admiral out for a bit of dancing.
Ain’t cruising fun?
Log - 9.7 N-miles; progress 0. 41 deg 29.277’N, 71 deg 21.451’W
10 May 15
Slow day here. We ran another batch of bilge cleaner through the bilges and it seems to be getting better, but I think we will repeat for a few more days. Then, we spent the day doing a bit of tidying up and routine maintenance. I checked all the terminal blocks and end connections associated with the chart plotter but could not find anything that appeared to be loose or dodgy, so no joy there. I was unable to free the old burner unit from the grill, so it looks like we are going to have to buy a whole new grill. I started to take “Swallow” for a sail, but just as I was getting set up, the wind picked up to sustained 20+ knots, and I wimped out, deciding that 52 deg F water was way cooler than I wanted to risk swimming in. We spent the late afternoon reading and napping; never left the boat all day.
11 May 15
Up at daylight as the boat was lying “funny” to the wind. The mooring pendant had got wrapped around the buoy (again) with wind and current pushing us in opposite directions, so the buoy was banging against the side of the boat. I finally freed it by loosing 1 leg of our mooring warps. I called Raymarine right at opening time for them and was advised that the problem with the chart plotter was likely either a loose connection (duh) or the fact that my software version was about 10 updates behind schedule. Naturally, we did not have a 32 GB micro SD card on board to facilitate the download and transfer of data from their website to the chart plotter, so we rented a car and drove around Narragansett Bay: first to West Marine in Newport for a new grill, then to Jamestown Distributors in Bristol for a repair kit (spares) for the shower drain pump (yes, but we have to drive back tomorrow to pick it up) and to see if they could supply a replacement joker valve for the manual bilge pump (no), then to Warwick to Best Buy to get the required micro SD card. When we got back to the boat, I downloaded the new software and also tightened up the GPS antenna a couple of turns. The chart plotter now seems to be working fine, although I’m not sure if it was the new software or the tightening of the antenna that corrected the problem. I suppose it does not really matter, but I always like to complete my root cause analysis. Finally, I got hold of a wholesale distributor who sells parts for Plastimo bilge pumps, so I may be able to get replacement parts from them via Defender. Alternatively, Beneteau in South Carolina will sell me a whole new pump for only $102, which is actually the best price I have been able to find. Lot of trouble to replace a $2.00 part! Also, as the forecast calls for a slight chance of rain tonight (all that’s left of TS Ana), we put the dinghy cover on for the first time with the boat in the water. A bit of a struggle this first time, but it looks good and should keep most of the rain water out of the dinghy.
12 May 15
TS Ana fizzled into a complete non-event (at least so far). We rowed into the beach and did a bit of laundry in the morning. Then, West Marine called and advised that the replacement shower drain pump and Canadian chart chip had arrived, so we drove over there and collected them. Jamestown Distributors could not get the pump repair kit in today, so we will have to get it mailed to us somewhere down the road. We got in some fresh groceries and then turned the car back in to Enterprise. I got the replacement pump installed and all is good in the aft head again. We ran another batch of water and bilge cleaner through the bilge; it is cleaning up, but there is still a bit of nasty-looking diesel sludge floating about; it is in big enough chunks and gelatinous enough that it clogs the bilge pump strainers pretty quickly, which is probably not a good thing. The Volvo Race boys were out practicing in the bay this afternoon and we got some good photos of these racing sleds. Later, the locals were out for an evening race round the cans. Dinner aboard. Forecast for tomorrow looks reasonably good for a sail (close reach) to Block Island, RI; WNW 15 - 20, hopefully, with no fog.