Sunday, Feb 11: No car today, so no morning alarm. Bliss! But we are still up early and stuck into editing the hundreds of video clips we have taken so far while exploring Grenada. It’s a task that we don’t like starting, but enjoy it once we are into it. By midday the video is up to date but still a bit too long. More editing needed, but enough of that for one day!
Oana makes her amazing ciorba soup for lunch, which we have with the usual chilies and sour cream. Very yummy, and takes a while to move again after lunch 🙂
The loud squeaking noise from behind the washing machine is still playing on our nerves. It started during the rolling as we crossed the Atlantic, and we kind of hoped it would fix itself. We really can’t have any more guests staying in that cabin with that noise, it would drive them insane! So today is the day we tackle it head on. But first we have to remove the washing machine.
Like everything we do for the first time, we learn by trial and error. This machine fits exactly in its cupboard with zero finger room around it. And as we pull it out we realize it’s also an exact fit in the shower cubical in front of it. So, it’s bloody heavy, yet nowhere to get a grip on it. Eventually it is extracted and sitting on the shower base, where it kind of fell into! Glen then gets in the cupboard. He can hear the squeak as the boat rolls in the swell, but damned if he can find what is causing it. Oana also has a turn, but she cannot pin it down either – all we know is the sound is emanating from somewhere around the shroud plates.
Eventually, by jamming a wooden wedge here and there, Glen identifies a spot where the top of the bulkhead is just touching the steel shroud plates. Odd that such a small touch point can create such a large resonating squeak that can be heard from one end of the boat to the other. With the chisel that Jeremy sharped, the bulkhead gets a “trim” and the squeak falls silent at long last. Such little challenges can cause hours of “fun” for us boaty people.
Getting the washing machine back in was another challenge all by itself. First, it was almost impossible to pick it off the bottom of the shower, and we are sure Glen’s back will hurt tomorrow. Second, once back in its cupboard, we realize the securing mounts were never fitted correctly by Hallberg-Rassy. The front 2 are at least 1cm off, as evident by the contorted rubber feet. Maybe that’s why it would rarely complete a spin-cycle correctly! After some modifications, mixed with cursing, it’s in place and mounted correctly. No job in a boat is ever easy 🙁
Now back to the generator. This morning it stopped again, so clearly the thermostat, that we removed yesterday, was actually OK. It must therefore be a blockage in the heat exchanger. This is like a radiator, but instead of air cooling the water that circulates the engine, it is cooled by seawater circulating in a heat exchanger. Any blockage in there means the coolant cannot get sufficiently cooled, and the engine boils over. Tomorrow we will get some flushing agents from the chandlery and see if that does the trick.
Well, the dinghy didn’t leave its davits today, meaning we spent the whole day on the boat. Unusual for us, but we managed to get a few things done. And best of all we didn’t spend any money for a whole day! Cool eh?