02 September 2017 | Yarmouth, ME
02 September 2017 | Yarmouth, ME
01 January 2017 | Bethel, Maine
01 January 2017 | Bethel, Maine
13 December 2016 | Bethel, Maine
13 December 2016 | Bethel, Maine
13 December 2016 | Charlotte, NC
01 December 2016 | Charlotte, NC
01 December 2016 | Charlotte, NC
20 November 2016 | Washington DC/Charlotte NC
06 November 2016 | Bethel, Maine
06 November 2016 | Yarmouth, ME
26 October 2016 | Colombia, Cartagena (posted from Bethel, ME)
26 October 2016 | Bethel, Maine
16 October 2016 | Camden, Maine
16 October 2016 | Bethel, Maine
06 October 2016 | Bethel, Maine
06 October 2016 | Bethel, Maine
06 October 2016 | Bethel, Maine
02 October 2016 | Bethel, Maine
Electricity Challenges in Marina Life
03 September 2015 | Curacao Seru Boca Marina
Elizabeth
We arrived from Bonaire on Tuesday in just under 5 hours after a lumpy downwind sail and settled into our slip at Seru Boca Marina by 2:00. We would have been in our slip sooner but we hand to stand off outside the marina when no one answered our radio call. Our phone is out of data and minutes so that wasn't an option. We figured everyone was at lunch but we also wondered whether we were even in the right place. We don't relish marina life in spite of the amenities but see it as a means to an end. As I've mentioned before, our house batteries are shot and need replacing asap. We wanted to be able to hook up to shore power to preserve what little juice we have but it took us almost 24 hours to sort out the difference in electrical circuits between what Curacao has and what Skylark is set up for. It's surprising for such a large country/island that their power supply is so inconsistent. The voltage on their line fluctuates between 125-135 volts. That's not very consistent; 120 volts is standard. In the US and on Skylark the voltage comes in at a 60 MHz cycle. Here in Curacao the voltage comes in fluctuating between 42 and 55 megahertz. Fortunately our isolation transformers and charger inverter are capable of dealing with these variances; however it did take reading the manual for both and reprogramming our charger inverter to accept Curacao's electric supply. Thank goodness our Captain is so smart and tenacious (Elizabeth thinks so anyway).
We also desperately needed to wash the boat and all cushions from the nasty Sahara Dust so having a supply of water is a necessity for doing that. When I say nasty, you should be picturing nasty. No exaggeration. Yesterday I cleaned all the cockpit cushions in the hot sun with a scrub brush and hose. Brutal. Ed worked down below on setting up our portable air conditioner unit. Equally as brutal. The cabin temperature, after the a/c was up and running remained at 89 degrees F. Luna pants like a hot dog. Welcome to Curacao in September!