Fuel, water and airplanes

I know that I ended yesterday’s post by saying that we’d be sailing to the BVI today. The lack of wind has prompted us to delay our SXM departure for one more day. As my friend Steve, who is on passage out there right now, said “it is perfect weather to be going the other direction*.” In other words, there is still no wind. Tomorrow the wind is forecast to be just over 10 knots which should save us some diesel.

Speaking of diesel, in preparation for the passage, we raised anchor yesterday afternoon and motored into Fort Louis Marina (not to be confused with Port Louis Marina in Grenada) to refuel. Neither one of our fuel gauges are working properly and we are still trying to learn about the consumption of the engines and the generator. After topping up the fuel and water tanks, we moved the boat around to Grand Case, another anchorage a few miles around the coast. The change of scenery was nice but the short trip also gave us the opportunity to field-test our newly repaired autopilot. I am very pleased to report that it functioned perfectly. This means that we won’t be hand steering all the way to the BVI.

The empty sprocket is where the newly-repaired chain rides.

Why did we fill up the water tank when we have a brand new watermaker on One Love? Great question. After dropping the hook in the clear water of Marigot Bay earlier in the week, we decided to give our watermaker its initial trial run. After following the instructions to the letter, we were treated to some amazingly clear drinking water being produced at a very rapid rate. We, of course, tested the water, both with the supplied TDS (total dissolved solids) meter and by tasting it. Satisfied that all was well, we proceeded to fill our water tank. Everything was great for about the first hour and a half. That was when we heard a loud bang/pop. At the time, Rebecca and I were relaxing on the tramp for a few moments, coincidentally discussing how, with this much water, our guests would be able to indulge in semi-Hollywood showers should they choose to. When I investigated the source of the bang, I found water spraying out of the end of one of the pressure tubes. In other words, not good!

The second glass of water produced by the watermaker.
We already drank the first one.

I immediately cut power to the system, stopping the flow of water. I then emailed Rich, the owner of the company. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon, Rich responded within minutes (he must have a smart phone strapped to his hip). After going back and forth a bit, supplying him with photos, he came to the conclusion that the O-rings in the pressure vessel had not been produced to the proper tolerances. Subsequent to that discovery, he has had new O-rings shipped in and tested which not only fix the problem but increase the pressure rating on the tubes. That is what I have been told anyway. So, how does this help me? Well, the new O-rings, for that end of the tube and all of the others, should be waiting for us in St. Thomas when we arrive next week. We have fresh water flushed the membranes and have been told that they will be fine until the system is recommissioned. Although I had my doubts about my being able to get the system back online after making this repair, Rich says that I should have no problem. I guess we’ll see, won’t we.

Although still in tact, the O-rings must be a tiny bit too small.

Oh, remember that change of scenery? We dropped the hook in the middle of Grand Case bay yesterday, far enough away from the other boats to maintain some sense of privacy. Shortly after settling in, we heard the sound of an approaching aircraft. I looked up to see a plane coming in right over top of our mast. Shortly after that it happened again and then again. I snapped the photo below of the third plane coming in, directly overtop of our mast. Was it close? It sure looked that way to us. Close enough that we immediately raised anchor and moved the boat to one side of the bay. For the record, nowhere on the charts is this mentioned. The guide books say nothing about it either. It is not a prohibited anchor area as the beach off the international airport at Maho is. Regardless of whether you are allowed to anchor there or not, we were not comfortable there!

Way too close for comfort!

*The course from the BVI to St. Martin is virtually dead east and when bashing directly into the trade winds, it is always a rough passage. People with experience often wait for a very calm day and just motor the 80 miles or so. That’s what we try to do.