We attribute the small and unexplainable malfunctions of gear aboard the boat to “gremlins”. A few months ago both heads (toilets) mysteriously were in need of repair. We left Saint Martin where you can buy just about any boat part easily and duty free and out of the blue the fresh water pump quit working. It had served the boat for 16 years, so it owed us nothing, but the timing was not great. We do have a hand pump, but before we primed the hand pump and got it going Hunter was able to use the sea water deck pump to pump water into the accumulation tank. This was not a perfect fix, but it worked well until Hunter could buy the correct pump.
Gremlins also attacked a hatch over our bed and on the sail from Nevis to Montserrat we had waves pouring over our bow and the hatch leaked and…one more for Hunter’s list. We cannot attribute the next problem to gremlins, but the windlass (the motor that hauls the anchor chain up and down) has been in need of servicing and Hunter just lacked the tools to pull it off. We got in touch with a man named Dassa and he brought his wheel puller and as I type two brains and two tools boxes are attacking that problem. It appears that we need a can of Gremlin Be Gone.