Last season we were dealing with a freezer and refrigerator that would not play nicely with each other. If one was running and the other one kicked on, either the first one quit running or the second one kept trying to cycle on but never succeeded. So we learned to turn one off when we wanted the other one to run and switched them often enough to keep the refrigerator at an appropriate temperature and the freezer cold, but not quite cold enough. It gave us time however to eat the foods from the freezer and effectively we had two refrigerators. Same problem this season.
It took the electrician about two minutes to provide a diagnosis and about a week for us to fix it. We have two condensers, one for the fridge and one for the refrigerator. Each one has its own wire coming from the battery, but there was only one wire shared between them to complete the circuit back to the battery. He suggested that Jim add a second wire so they no longer would have to share. Anyone who has tried to rewire anything inside a boat knows that it is no mean task. Jim worked off and on during the next week to run a new wire. He would work until he got too frustrated, then take a break only to try again later. The wire had to go from the condenser to the hull of the boat under the sink, behind a lazarette, then behind a kind of wall lining in the shelving, into the aft head and then take a 90 degree turn downward behind the wall of the bathtub (!) to meet up with the battery. By pulling the wire beyond the downward path and then pushing it back, he created a loop of wire which by sliding into a "crawl" space behind the wall of the bathtub on his back, he could reach up and pull down. From there he could relatively easily attach it to the battery. So, we now have a freezer that freezes and a refrigerator that refrigerates. And they do it at the same time! What more could one ask for??
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| Jim doing battle with a wiring challenge |
During this time, we had the chance to take two social breaks. Square Dancing friends, Jerry and Patti made the trip from southeast Florida to southwest Florida to visit with us and see how we spend our winters. We were very flattered that they were willing to do the extra driving!! We showed them the boat (takes about two minutes), walked in a local park, ate dinner one night at a Turkish restaurant and one night at a new waterfront seafood restaurant. There we were treated to drumming on the beach and the traditional blowing of the conch shell at sunset before dinner overlooking the Gulf. We played 500 back at the boat.
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| Patti and Jerry at Well, Why Not? |
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| Patti and Jerry at Pennington Park |
In a richness of blessings we were also able to connect with neighbors Sandy and Bill who had finished a birding trip throughout southern Florida and still wanted to go through the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It is ever so much more fun "birding" (we are pretty much just walking) when you do it with someone who knows what they are hearing and seeing and shares their spotting scope so that we, too, could see things!! Afterwards we found a small Mexican cafe that was actually more of a grocery store where we had a good supper and I bought 1 1/2 dozen homemade tortillas. It would almost be worth the 2 hour drive down to Ft. Myers to buy some more...
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| Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary |
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| Binoculars, Cameras, Huge lenses and Spotting Scope and Bill and Sandy as guides! |
So after our socializing, it was back to work!
Our second not-on-the-project-list "crisis" was finding our bimini spotted with mildew and mold. The bimini is the "roof" over the cockpit. Windows and screens zip and snap onto it to provide a protective area in cold and wet weather as well as protection from sun. We stored the windows and screens but left the top on over the summer. With so much airflow, it never occurred to us that mold or mildew could develop....wrong! It took me two days to get it 90 percent clean.
The last 10 percent can wait...
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