Monthly Archives: June 1999

Miss Augie, Virgin Gorda

New Crew

Leave a comment

Dear Family and Friends,
We’d like to take this opportunity to announce the return of a former DrakeChannel_Augie_2crew member to “Ma’alahi”, Miss Augie. For those of you that we’ve met since our Texas departure, Miss Augie is Claudia’s 3 lb. Chihuahua who was left behind when we began our cruising life. She has returned to boat life after her 8 month absence by stowing away in our son’s (Randy) and daughter-in-law’s (Cheryl) bags when they came to the Virgin Islands for a visit. Since the hard part of our current journey is behind us and since we’ve met other boats cruising with pets with no problems and since most countries don’t care as long as they stay on the boat and since she quickly adjusted to taking her “walks” on the foredeck (the poop deck might sound more appropriate, but the logistics are better forward so we can just hose it down when she’s done) we decided to reenlist her as permanent crew.

We’re in the 3rd week of our vacation marathon. Our daughter, VirginGorda_TheBaths_Rick_Christina_ClaudiaChristina, and her husband, Rick, came for a week’s visit the first part of June. They got to see many of the hilights of both the US and British Virgin Islands (as much as one can in only one week) and had a really good time. Rick really took to snorkeling and Christina left with a little color in her cheeks (and shoulders, arms and legs). The day after their departure, Randy and Cheryl (and Augie) arrived. Since DrakeChannel_Cheryl_Randythey will be here until June 26, they’re getting the extended tour. In addition to sunny beaches, sparkling, turquoise water and superb snorkeling, they’ve experienced a tropical wave (packing 40 knot winds) and the only squalls we’ve had while under way our entire trip.

We’ve been trolling 2 fishing lines at all times and Randy has caught 3 fish…well, 4 if you count the fish head that was landed without a body attached. Looks like a shark got the best part. Today, Randy and I scuba dived the wreck of the “HMS Rhone”, a British mail steamer that went down here in a hurricane in October, 1867.

Vacationing is much busier and demanding than cruising but I think we will both make it to the finish. We won’t have much time to rest, though. We’ll be looking for weather to get south in a hurry, before one of these tropical waves turns into something much worse. We hope to sail from Virgin Gorda directly to Guadeloupe (215 miles) or Martinique (300 miles) in one hop, but that will, of course, depend on weather. We’ll be far enough south then to satisfy our insurance company but not completely out of the hurricane belt, so we’ll continue from there to St. Vincent, The Grenadines, Grenada and Trinidad where we plan to leave the boat for awhile and fly home for a visit (maybe September or October…no definite plans yet). We’ll write again once we’re on the move.

Take care,

David and Claudia (and Augie)

Virgin Islands

Cruising Update

Leave a comment

Hello, everyone.
StJohn_Rick_ChristinaYes, it has been awhile since our last update message. We’ve been in the Virgin Islands since the first week in May. We’ve gotten some much needed maintenance done while waiting for our daughter Christina and her husband Rick to come for their visit. The StJohn_Claudia_Cheryl_Randy_4day after they left here, our son Randy and his wife Cheryl arrived and are here now (“here” is Virgin Gorda, BVI).

One of the projects that kept us busy while awaiting our vacationers was “fixing” the watermaker. One morning it just stopped water-making. The high pressure pump wouldn’t make high pressure. I called the factory (still under warranty) and the first thing they did to amaze me was to tell me to hang up and call back collect! Then they proceeded to help me troubleshoot the symptoms. They decided that the quickest remedy would be to overnight a new high pressure pump to me. Since this was already a Friday evening and they’re located in Sausalito, CA, and the mail service in St. Thomas didn’t accept FedEx on Saturdays, it didn’t arrive until Monday.

Monday it came in and I proceeded to install it. However, the new pumps use new stainless steel fittings and I didn’t notice that the threads were different until after I stripped them on the high pressure hose. So, I called them and explained what I’d done and they overnighted a new high pressure hose along with new brass fittings like the ones I already had. The hose arrived next day and I finished the install of the new pump…with no results. Actually, I wasn’t surprised. While waiting for the new pump to arrive, I took the old one apart (at their suggestion) to see if there was anything obviously broken. There wasn’t and I discovered what a brilliantly simple design this high pressure pump was and that it probably COULDN’T break.

When I got it back together I was able to coax the watermaker into operation with a great deal of fiddling with it and a lot of luck. After calling the company again with the news that the new pump had no affect, they decided that it had to be the electric feed pump with an intermittent problem so they overnighted a new one. Next day I installed it with the same results…no high pressure. At this point I knew for sure that the problem was somewhere in the lines and not with the watermaker or any of its components (although I’d already cleaned and replaced the strainer and filters and made certain there were no blockages). I also remembered the email I got from you, Raf, about the problem you had with your refrigerator’s water pump, so I put my new theory to the test and determined that this is what had happened: The thru-hull for the watermaker is also used by our refrigerator’s water pump, although it’s an optional pump and we don’t even use it. However, when the strainer got dirty the watermaker pump sucked harder and sucked the water out of the fridge’s water line until it started sucking air. That’s when the watermaker quit.

I replaced the tee fitting with an elbow fitting (thereby disconnecting the fridge’s water pump completely) and we were making water again. I called the factory to let them know what I figured out and they were glad all was solved. They had already had me send back the old high pressure pump (FedEx freight collect) but told me to keep both the electric feed pumps so that I’d have a spare! Even though we wasted over a week messing with this problem, the time was all that it cost us. Obviously, I HIGHLY recommend the Spectra Watermaker to anyone in need of their products. Not only because it’s the best equipment, but you don’t get service like this from ANYONE I’ve ever dealt with before.

Randy and Cheryl will be with us until June 26, and then we’ll be looking to get south ASAP. We are planning to sail from here to Guadalupe in one hop, then on down to Trinidad as weather permits.

Stay tuned,

David and Claudia