This post is just a bunch of things that don’t by themselves have enough “meat” for a post. Here we go:
Other Things We’ve Learned in a Year of Boat Life:
- Maintaining fitness is a challenge. Kim and I worked out 5 days a week when we lived on land. We had regular schedules, which made scheduling gym time pretty easy. On a boat, it’s…difficult. And I want to say this IS just an excuse. It’s true, but the fact is, we can figure it out if we want to. We just haven’t wanted to badly enough, I guess. First, a boat is not a stable platform. It’s rolling and swinging all the time, which makes workouts difficult. Second, it’s hot, which makes working out decidedly less fun. For resistance training, we have resistance bands on board, which are probably our best option. We just need to get better about actually doing it. The big challenge is cardio. Obviously, doing cardio onboard is pretty impossible. But we are at anchor most of the time, so we could go to shore and run. However, it’s a hassle: get the dinghy ready, take it to shore, find someplace to tie up or beach it, make sure it’s secure, then go for a run. That’s a lot. Again, it’s just an excuse. Plus, beach running is not my thing. In fact, I hate it. So I’ve tried swimming. Swimming and I have a very tumultuous history. My poor mother. She signed me up for so many swimming lessons as a child and it just wasn’t happening. Year after year, I was in the pool. Never managed it. And we had a BOAT for goodness sake! Finally my parents gave up and said “just prove you can stay afloat for 30 minutes.” That I could do. Now, I’m a little better, but I use a snorkel for breathing. That whole “turn head/move arms” thing still feels intimidating. But I’m going to keep trying. It’s a work in progress. Excuses, excuses.
- WE FOUND THE SOURCE OF THE EVIL ELECTRONS! In Chapter 102, we described how stray current was causing galvanic corrosion of our engine anode. Well, we think we’ve found the culprit. After tearing most of the boat apart looking for stray electrons (they are REALLY hard to see!), it turns out that the sensor for the fuel gauge in our bilge fuel tank is faulty. Kim was convinced that our bilge pumps were the culprit because we found almost a volt of current in the water in our bilge. So we traced those wires, but they were fine. Then we tried the high water alarm wiring, which was also in the bilge. That was also fine, but that wire was on the same post as the wire for the fuel tank sensor. When we disconnected it, the current in our bilge disappeared! Win!! And it’s pretty bad. There must be a short in the sensor, because it’s leaking a full volt when it’s OFF. When it’s on, we get a full 13.4 volts into our bilge and our fuel tank. And the diesel is carrying those electrons straight into the engine. So, we hope that this is the sole leak. We disconnected the tank sensor and put a new anode on the engine. We’ll see how it goes. Hats off to Drew Orr, our former project manager in Brunswick, and Jamie Gifford, one of our cruising consultants for helping us figure this out.
- Antigua is a great spot for naval history geeks. We’ve been here for a week and haven’t explored outside of English Harbour. That feels wrong. On the other hand, it was nice to just stay in one place for a while. And there is a TON of history here. English Harbour was the main base for the British Navy in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is the home of “Nelson’s Dockyard”, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It still has many of the original buildings (or their foundations), such as the Sail Loft, Spar Shed, Careening Dock, and storehouses. There is a museum on site as well. Obviously, colonialism, slavery, and all the related evils are evident in the legacy of this place, but the Antiguans have done a masterful job of telling their story alongside that of the British Navy and they are justifiably proud of their island and the historic site. Kim and I hiked all around English Harbour to many of the now-abandoned forts that once protected the harbour. As an avid reader of Patrick O’Brian, C.S. Forester, and Dudley Pope, I was geeking out just a little.
Today, we’re on our way to Guadaloupe. It is a French Overseas Region. We’re hoping for croissants, baguettes, brie… you know, the important stuff.