19 May, 2015 Even though the boat had been out on charter in February and everything had been ship shape for that, I wanted to be sure we were all set to go, so I went through the whole drill. First, a few days ago, I had to scrub the entire boat again with Deck Cleaner. The guys had left it spotless after the charter, but it was now a lovely shade of green almost everywhere! It is amazing how fast mold grows down here. Fortunately it comes off easy as well. A bit of Chlorox and some Dawn and all is better. It took a whole day to wash the deck and another for the hull (scrubbing it from the dinghy), but it is now spotless again. The big project was putting a new cover on the bimini opening. On the one that Rook made, the zipper pulled out while on charter. It is a problem with the design as it makes a tight semi-circle and there is a lot of tension on the outside curve. I decided velcro would be better, and might not leak as the zipper always had. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, the bimini, which covers the entire cockpit, has an opening above the helm so the skipper can see the sail trim. It is about 2' x 3' and rolls back when open.) Velcro doesn't like curves either, so we are going to make it rectangular. First I cut the hole and then trim the hook side of the velcro to fit. After careful measurements (it is actual a parallelogram, not a rectangle), I cut the new cover from left over material and Deb sews the fuzzy velcro on that side. I glue the hook side to the vinyl, but I'm worried about how strong the glue is so I also cut some narrow (~3/8") strips of stainless steel to rivet through the velcro into the supporting aluminum frame. The whole project goes well and looks pretty decent. Hopefully it will be dry as well. Next I checked the engines. All fluids were good. I topped off the gear oil and need to remember to pick some up to have on hand. Fired up the port engine first. Started right away, ran well, no water in exhaust. Sure enough, the belt on the raw water pump has stretched or loosened. Tighten it up, all is well. Fire up starboard engine, also starts right away. Also has no water in exhaust. I wonder if some heavy duty star washers would stop the bolt from slipping and letting it loosen? Anyway, an easy fix again and now it is spitting water well. The only problem is that the water intrusion alarm is on. Now we just had totally new rubbers put on when we hauled a year and a half ago and they are supposed to be good for at least 10 years so I doubt we really have water, but the alarm is on. So I check the sensor - no water. Even with the sensor hanging in mid air, it alarms. Check the connections, no change. Finally I did what I had to do on the port engine last year and disable the alarm at the control panel. Not an ideal solution, but obviously there is a short somewhere in the wiring (which is all in a braided harness) that makes it alarm and I could find no other solution. Anyway, both engines are good to go now. Deb has been doing interior cleaning and setting things up. I check all the electronics and all is well. Check the inverter. It is a new one as the original that came with the boat died a couple years ago. I replaced it with a Xantrex pure sine wave inverter, but that died just before the charter (about a week out of warranty). I had to have a new one shipped in express. The shipping was as much as my Port Supply discount! Anyway, it worked well for the charter, but I tested it anyway. Green light on, working fine. I plugged in the charger for my portable drill and let it charge. After a short while, I hear three 'clicks' and the inverter is dead. Long story short, I test everything and it is truly dead. Now my friend, Tony Dix, has fixed the Xantrex he says, so the only way we are going to get out of here tomorrow is if I go get it. Unfortunately, that is a 30-45 min. panga ride each way, and of course the bay is quite rough today. Oh well, nothing to be done. I have enough daylight, so I go. I take the newly dead inverter as well and Tony checks it and confirms my diagnosis - dead. Since it is under warranty and we are going back to US in July, I will take it back to West Marine for repair or replacement. Back to the boat and it is not yet dark so I install the Xantrex. Works fine. Charges the drill battery fine. I unplug the charger and while I am tidying up, the inverter gives off a very load 'bang' sounds like a high voltage, high current capacitor discharge - basically a lightening bolt. As I scramble to disconnect it, it 'bangs' three more times and is once again dead. We cannot go without an inverter at least to charge the computer and cell phones so maybe I can get a small plug in to cigarette lighter one in town tomorrow. A very discouraging day.