Busy busy busy
21 November 2011 | Vuda Point Marina
Sunny , HOT and HUMID all over again.
We're settling back into life with both of us aboard and getting things installed and things fixed. The most important thing that we needed to install was the step down transformer. I'd tried to hand carry it back in my carry on luggage but Air Pacific wouldn't let me do it. Seems they have a weight restriction of just 7 kilos(about 15 pounds) for the carry on bags.
I'd looked into installing it(plug in some wires) but it just wasn't working. I consulted with the marina's "head electrician". Being the "head electrician" means he's the only one that knows anything about the wiring around the marina. He checked the wires--all fine. He opened up the outlet--full of bug cases from previous tenants. Since he couldn't figure it out, he called for assistance of a professional electrician that had to come up from Nadi. Two men showed up about 1400 and went at it. They checked every wire and connection. They even looked at the wires inside Zephyr's circuit panel. All appeared fine. They thought that the circuit panel might not have a big enough breaker so they replaced the 20 amp one with a 40 amp one. Looking at the panel inside Zephyr, the "reverse polarity" warning light was always on. Once back at Zephyr, they had me turn on the switch. POOF!! The circuit breaker didn't like what these two guys had done. They reset the circuit breaker as I'd blown it when I hit the switch. POOF!!! again. Something was defiantly wrong. Time to call in the real professional. Another electrician was set to come on Wednesday. Before they left, the one guy that appeared to know about electricity mentioned that Fiji's wiring was different that what is done in the US. REALLY!?! Maybe that was why it was trying to blow up my circuit panel. At least we still had the 240 volts so we could run our air conditioner and keep us nice and cool. It's still hitting the high 80s with humidity to match. When the Sun comes out, it's nasty out there.
The next day, one of the original men showed up along with a new man. This guy was in the know as to boat power systems. He checked all the wires again, both inside and out. With a tester plug inserted in the outlet on the step down transformer, we were getting 120 volts if the tester was in the + and - slots. We also for 120 volts between the - and the ground posts. Amazingly, we got 240 volts if you put the tester in the + and ground slots of the plug. YEOW!!! No wonder it was blowing the circuit panel switches. We were pumping 240 volts right into the circuit panel! As far as he(new electrician) was concerned, the transformer was to blame. The wiring was just fine. CRAP!!! Did this mean that the big 30+ pound hunk of steel I'd lugged back was worthless and might need to be shipped back to the dealer where I got it? I just kept asking questions about Fiji's wiring. How could the + & - make 120 but the + and ground made 240. Was the wiring in Fiji crossing over to the wrong slots in the plug. How about the "reverse polarity"? That normally means two wires are crossed. He thought about it and then took the plug that goes to the transformer from the power strip I was using and took it apart. He reverse two wires and put it back together again. Suddenly, we had 120 volts across the + & - and nothing between the + & ground slots. I crossed my fingers and through the switch. On came the power just like it was supposed to. Fiji's wiring standards are different from the US. Once corrected to US ways of doing things, all was well and we had all the power we needed. We could charge our batteries and even watch TV if we wanted to. Plus, with a 40 amp circuit breaker installed, there was no way we would blow it. Mission accomplished!!! Off they went. Now I still haven't gotten the bill yet but to switch the wires only took 90 minutes. Not bad and we have power!!! All is well in Zephyr land.
Just to let you know how important this was, we lost the use of the Honda generator the day before. It refused to start no matter what we did. While we waited for these electricians, Tracy and I went in for a better look to see if we could find out what the problem might be. It had run fine for months. I'd changed the oil and installed a new spark plug just a few months ago. I pulled off the front panel and all the wires looked just great. The spark plug was also in good condition. I pulled out the oil dip stick--nothing!!! There was not a lot of oil left in the machine and since it is equipped with an oil sensing device(won't let it start with out enough oil) it was set up to not start. Once we refilled the oil, she fired right up. Problem solved. As to where all the oil went(no marks on the deck) the only thing we can think is that it is being burned by the generator. Now we will be checking it regularly.
We headed into town yesterday to get some more things to work on projects(fittings for my new Racor fuel filtration system) as well as more wires for Zephyr. Fiji must have a very active road budget. I've never seen so much road under construction or repair in the month we've been here. I noticed it even during my drive home in the taxi when I returned from Colorado. With that being said, the journey to Lautoka now takes on more meaning as the roads are much more bumpy and with that, the busses are slower. On the good side, there will be no rust on the shock absorber on the buses with all the ruts and pot holes in the road.
Today was bake bread day. While Fiji as lots(and I do mean lots) going for it, it's bread is about tasteless. There is not much to it(taste wise) and the last loaf we bought at the store wasn't cooked all the way through. It was doughy in the middle. YUCK!!! So this morning I got up early(about 0630) and headed into the galley. I'd laid out most of the things I was going to need and as quietly as I could, I started in on making two loaves of bread. I'd brought a second loaf pan back with me so I could now make two instead of one loaf. Considering all the time and heat that goes into baking the bread, two is much better. The bread never lasts long on Zephyr, at least the bread I bake. I only made one small mistake. I forgot to start the timer for the baking! I'd planned on rotating the loaves in the oven after 15 minutes but it ended up closer to 20 once I found my error. At 30 minutes, one loaf was done but the one in the new pan(larger) wasn't quite there. In for another 8 minutes. The same thing happened this time as the last time. The top of one of the loaves rose so far that it hit the broiling coiled on the top of the oven and took off a small chunk of bread when I removed it from the oven. Oh well. The second loaf came out great. Once cooled(just a bit) I grabbed a knife and sliced off two pieces for us to try. Great texture and consistency in the loaf. It was darn near a perfect loaf if I say so myself. We were set for bread for a while. I'll be taking over half a loaf to Star and Paul on StartStruck later today when they return from town.
Once the bread was done, I'd gotten a bagel recipe from another cruiser that was still back in Mexico so with the oven still hot, I gave them a try. Out came five nice golden brown bagels for breakfast over the next couple of days. Now I get to clean up my mess in the galley. Well worth it though to have good bread for a while. With us now having power and there is a propane gas refill station right behind the marina, I can bake all I want and with the holidays coming, I'm sure my apron will have lots of flour all over it.
The guys in the picture are the electricians that solved our problems. The man on the left was the problem solver for our system. Nice guys.