Day 76: Out of Order

Nassau Harbor Club Marina, Providence Island, Bahamas (anchored)

March 31, 2022

Some days are more difficult than others. It’s mostly inconveniences and delays that have been getting in our way today.

Two of the four washers here are out of order.  The attached hotel also uses these washers but the staff is very wonderful about making sure that guests can also access the machines.

The electrician came today.  He took our old alternator to see if it can be rebuilt.  If we have to order a new one, it will probably need to be shipped from the United States.  There are a few marine supply stores that we can check, just in case. The replacement John installed was getting hot – one of the leads going to it was broken off.

The electrician also recommended replacing our batteries because they’re not holding their charge well.  These are golf cart batteries and we can get some here. Of course, we don’t know if they will be the same dimensions as the ones we have.  We also need to figure out a way to lower them (each is over 6o lbs) into the compartment under our bed.

Since we’re here John decided to tackle the rusted ladder supports that are attached to the stern of Lailia.  The supports were cracked so they needed to be removed and taken to be welded.

This required him to stand in the lowered dinghy in really wavy water with a screwdriver while I laid on my stomach on our bed with a socket wrench to remove the nuts. 

John walked to the welding shop and got the supports fixed.  We’ll mount them tomorrow – the water should be calmer.

Our windlass also needs some repairs.  One of the tabs that holds the plug-in brushes broke.  Tomorrow John will go prospecting to see if he can find someone who can fashion something.  Without a windlass, John has to haul our 55lb anchor and chain that weighs more than a pound a foot.  If there’s mud on the anchor, it can weigh more than that. 

John did successfully change the joker valve in the forward head. That’s one thing off our list!

We had hoped to leave tomorrow to go to the Exumas.  That’s not going to happen.  If we are lucky we may get everything repaired in the next day or two.  While it’s really inconvenient to have to do these repairs we are in a location in which there are electricians, repair shops, and battery stores.