Yes, so it has been a long time since I posted here. For a number of reasons I just didn’t get to turning the computer on or searching for an internet cafe.
I spent about 2 or 3 weeks near San Fernando, Trinidad, then I went back to Chaguaramas (also Trinidad). Stayed in Chaguaramas for another 2 weeks and then I decided to go for Grenada. That had not been the original plan, but once I realised how far we are in the hurricane season (which official ends November 1st, and technically speaking Grenada is with the hurricane zone) I decided that I might as well pay some of the windward and leeward island chain a visit.
The sail over from to Grenada was a blast, a half wind course and a tail current. We averaged 6 knots over the whole 80 mile trip, and with a single reef in the main. Left Chaguaramas real late in the afternoon, so unfortunately I did not get to see much of the Trinidadian coast. Arrived in Prickly Bay early on Tuesday morning. Being here is a big difference from Trinidad and Venezuela. It is a quiet island, with nice homes overlooking the bay.
Yesterday (Saturday 20th) I sailed around from Prickly Bay to St George. A short sail, and as it goes with short sails, a lot of work. The wind was gusty and I really should have put a reef in.
All that time I have spent in Trinidad was not all without result. Though I did not get hauled out (which I should have done), I managed to fix the auto pilot (for those not familiar with that: an electronic device that will keep the boat on a set heading, in my case it is connected to the wheel with a belt). I had looked at it before and was quite sure that the only thing broken was controls to set the thing. Well, I looked at it once more and soldered some wires on the board, and tested the wires by shorting the ends, sure enough I was able to set the thing now. In San Fernando I had run into a Radio Shack and bought 4 switch buttons. Well, unfortunately I had bought the wrong type (these were normally closed, but I needed them normally open). So I got on my bike in Chaguaramas and searched for a Radio Shack in Port of Spain. This time I got the right buttons. To install the unit I also had to take the wheel off, the belt for the steering motor can only be put on when the wheel is off. That was quite some work as well. For now the four control buttons are in a little plastic box (from a bicycle patch kit) held together with tie wraps (no duct tape is used in this project!).
On a Saturday two weeks ago I went for a test sail, just around the islands west of Chaguaramas, to the Bocas channel. Well, the first time I turn the auto pilot on it steers the boat real hard to port. Just could not understand why. Took it off and tried again a little later, same result. Hmm….. not going well. Did some testing, figuring out, reasoning, and then I was the light. The unit is off 180 degrees! Since I have figured that out it has been working great. It has its limitations though, in situations with a lot of weather helm (like the half wind course between Chaguaramas and Grenada) it is not strong enough, and actually the rubber belt starts slipping. But, the unit is very nice when motoring, for example when hoisting or lowering the sails.
Later that same Saturday we got caught in some thunderstorms between the Bocas islands. The clouds had been darkening for a long time, but it seemed to move in very slowly. Than it started drizzling, so I thought we should be ok (normally the wind gusts come before the rain). Well, between the islands, suddenly the wind became very gusty. So I get behind the wheel to keep the boat on coarse in the gusts. Then a real strong gusts hits, I steer against it, and pang!!! Suddenly the wheel was turning freely both directions. I immediately knew what that was: broken steering cable. Now, the boat has an emergency tiller, but, of course that thing is never used, so it ends up going deeper and deeper into the lazarette (locker). First I took the main sail then, then furled in the genoa, thus we were sailing on just the stay sail. This happened between two islands where there is a very strong current (probably 2-3 knots at the time), without any steering and sailng on just one small sail, the boat seemed to keep a course nicely between the islands. That was quite lucky, because it took me quite a while before I had the emergency tiller installed (well, it took me so long to empty the lazarette and get to it). The emergency tiller is an aluminium bar hat fits on the rudder in the cockpit floor. Since the steering wheel is in its way for a normal installation (forward facing) you have it facing to port or starboard (starboard in my case). It takes a little getting used to, but after a while it wasn’t too hard to steer. So we limped in back to Chaguaramas that afternoon.
On Sunday I spent all day installing the spare steering cable, this is one of those creep upside down under the cockpit floor jobs. Than the wires need to be quided through tiny little holes half a meter down the steering pedestal. But, eventually I got it done. Now I need to find someone that can fix my steering cable so I will have a spare again.
This week in Grenada I heart about a solar panel for sale. So I went by the boat and had a look at it. It is pretty old, but solar panels are sturdy and generally have a long life time. It was not expensive, and having looked around in stores for the past few months (where I only found big ones or even bigger ones) I knew I was not likely to run into a small one. The thing is, I had my eye on the starboard rail of the push pit, but the space there is limited in width and length. This panel fits there nicely. It took me two runs to Budget Marine before I had all the mounting and electronics parts. Then I spent one afternoon mounting it on the rail, it can even pivot a little bit (to aim it at the sun). The next day was spent connecting up the wires. This one unit is probably 20-25 Watts, so I can run it without a charge controller (its output is small enough so it will not overcharge my batteries). The only thing I still want to find is a diode, to prevent current from leaking out at night.
While I was upside down under in the boat wiring the solar panel, I also replaced the packing gland (think that is what it is called, stuff around the shaft that should allow water to drip through when the engine is in gear).