Everything is CHEAP here. A bottle of beer from the bar is $0.33 US. Beef tenderloin is $8.00 at a nice place. Diesel is $0.58/gallon. WOW! A cruisers paradise!
The women here wear very tight clothes, whether or not they should... Music from the beach plays until 6 AM on the weekends...oh...3 Dinghies were stolen the other night. The dinghies were recovered but the outboards weren't.
(Long, but gets better) Fired up the engine to run the refrig just before going to bed. When I went to shut off the engine, it engine wouldn't stop. Figured that the starting battery was dead as the alternator has been off-line due to a regulator problem. Switched to house batteries and the engine shut off. (Diesels just keep running. You need to physically disrupt the fuel/air flow via a solenoid & that takes power.) When I went to bed I noted that the starter battery was very hot. Checked it out but thought that the problem might have been alternator related (mistake). It was raining, so all of the hatches & ports where closed. Went to bed to awaken 1/2 an hour later to a cabin *filled* with SMOKE! Ran out and tore the place apart looking for source. Didn't find one and disconnected all of the batteries as this was an electrical problem. Went back to bed as there were no lights and it would be much easier to debug in daylight.
During the poor sleep night figured that it had to be a problem with the starter battery system as it was hot. Starter battery was dead/flat. Spent morning trouble shooting. Many people who heard of problem came by to offer help/support. S/V Blind Date offered to help and arranged for food to be stored in freezer at local joint named Jack's. Ashley Erwin, from Blind Date came over and spent 4 hours helping get the starter off. Talk about a lack of access...Had to remove the alternator and work by feel. But it stinks like it burned, so that's good. Only 10 hours on that job, and I still don't know what caused it. Tomorrow will try to get it rebuilt.
Ah, cruising just such a life of endless beaches and cocktail hours... Yeah, right...
-- Geoff
Log ID: 77
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