We arrived in West Palm beach on the 15th of February.  We spent one night at a marina the weekend we arrived to top off our power but since then have been at anchor. We are now over 10 days – the longest at anchor since we moved aboard Meraviglia.  That feels like a significant step and certainly has made us feel more like cruisers. When we were in Brunswick at the marina with shore power, bathroom/shower facilities and laundry facilities, we did not have to be mindful of our power and water needs. Being at anchor means a continual balance of maintaining power through our solar panels, lithium batteries, and running our engine. We are learning a lot more about how much energy we consume in a day and how much solar energy we will put into our battery bank if it is sunny versus overcast.  We also have to monitor our water usage and utilize our water maker to refill the tanks as they get low.  It is very cool to be able to convert sea water to fresh water but that also requires power so we need to balance that.  It is a learning curve for sure! I am very glad we have a seawater foot pump to our sink.  It helps with the initial cleaning of dishes to use and then use the freshwater for the final cleaning and rinse. And the navy shower – yep I get it now.   We do have a small washer but again this requires both power AND water so we need to plan for that use as well. We are definitely learning a lot more about how much a human consumes each day in energy and water.  

We are also getting much more proficient at the use of Piccola, our dinghy, as transportation. Piccola has been working well transporting us around to the places we need to go. After a few initial learnings, i.e., don’t put the VHF in the storage compartment as it slides under the false floor and you will have to tip the dinghy up on it’s end to retrieve it; don’t forget to plug the drain hole before you lower it in the water, we are getting a better routine for her use. We have done multiple grocery trips, supply runs, and trash drop off successfully so that is a win. 

So while we are feeling encouraged by all that we are learning, we are also still in a holding pattern for leaving West Palm due to an issue with our battery management system for one of our four lithium batteries. After some tests we did upon arrival, we determined we had a faulty BMS, seen in the title image for this post.  The company sent us a new one that arrived on Monday.  On Tuesday morning, Bob and I installed the new one but the readings were still not what they should be.  After the company walked us through a number of tests, it was determined that the second one was also faulty and they needed to send us a third one. How does this happen??? Again? So despite progress, here we are waiting for them to ship another new one for us to install and hoping the third time’s the charm.  If nothing else, being a cruiser is definitely an exercise in patience and learning how to give up control, something that neither Bob nor I are very good at.  But we are learning slowly but surely. For now, we will enjoy the sunshine in Palm Beach and be grateful for the beauty all around us.