12/20/2011, Vuda Point Marina
Not much has happened in the last few days. One was Sunday when every place is closed on Fiji. Monday was another nothing day as it rained and rained and rained. Sunday was over cast from Sun up to Sun down with no rain till close to 1900 and then it poured. Normally, here in Fiji, it's sunny with a few clouds during the day and then it clouds up late in the afternoon and looks like it will rain and normally it does. Sunday was the exception in that it was cloudy all day but still decided to rain in the late afternoon. It continued on and off through the night and through most of Monday stopping strangely(about 1900) when it normally begins to rain. Today started out sunny and has remained so though most of the day. It's now 1800 and it looks quite block east of us so maybe there is more rain coming. Time will tell.
For the last day or so, the fresh water pump has been cycling on and off every hour or so. Just a few seconds of running and then off for a while and then running again. I'd checked the lines as well as the water heater and storage tank all showing no signs of water. I checked below the water heater where when it has leaked before, it puddled up with water. Every place I looked, no water nor signs that there had been any recently. Strangely, during the afternoon, the emergency bilge pump started up and pumped the water that had built up in the bilge overboard. As I had said earlier, it had been raining and we have enough leaks in the deck that the bilge is never dry so no surprise that the pump ran. I pulled up the floor board that covers the manual bilge pump and started pumping away. At 27 pumps(the norm for us with a full bilge)it ran dry. I turned the pressure pump off and let it sit for a while. When I opened one of the faucets a while later, no water poured out. There was a leak but I had no clue as to where. With the switch on, it began to cycle on and off all over again. I decided to just turn it off as well as the water heater and let them both sit for a while. A few hours later(about 2000)I turned on the pressure pump again and there was a loud wail from under the floor boards beside the galley sink. OK, what went bad now. Off went the switch and up came the floor boards. There was water everywhere! It was spraying out of the pressure relief valve on the side of the water heater. LOTS of VERY HOT WATER was spraying all over the place. With the switch off, it quickly slowed to a trickle. We had found the problem.
Now there are basically only two things that can make a pressure relief valve go off. One--the pressure is too high for the pipes and heater. Two--it is so old that it finally failed. The water pump only puts out about 40 pounds of pressure so "high" pressure didn't seem to be the case. The water heater is approaching 30 years which is amazing for any water heater(especially on a boat) to last that long. We normally don't discuss the water heater even in polite company. It's one of those things that we don't talk about as it has lived so long and is in such a bad place in the boat(right under the galley sink cabinet)that we live in fear of it ever failing completely. If we don't talk about it, it will never fail. Isn't that how it works? It's true that we had problems a few years ago when we found that some crazy plumber had joined together brass with copper with stainless steel with galvanized steel fitting to make a connection. Normally, doing that creates a problem as these metals don't like to play well together and with connections like that, corrosion starts almost immediately which is exactly what had happened to those fittings. Here was something new. A fitting that had apparently just failed. The picture at the top shows the pressure valve with a black hose and hose clamp attached. When I lifted the floor boards, I found the valve spewing water out of a fitting that was designed to have a hose attached and run down into the bilge. Mine had no hose. Now I carry a multitude of spare parts on Zephyr but a spare pressure relief valve is not one of them. I scrounged up a chunk of hose that I thought would fit on the end of the valve. I grabbed one of my large collection of hose clamps and a flash light and headed down for the valve. I fit the hose over the end of the fitting and tightened the hose clamp. I pulled a bar clamp out of my tool box, folded the hose in half and attached the clamp. That should stop the water coming out of the fitting. On went the switch and just a bit of water came out around the end of the hose where the hose clamp was attached. I tightened the clamp just a bit more and the water stopped dripping. Problem solved, at least for now. I needed a new pressure relief valve.
This morning, we headed south for Namaka where one of the biggest hardware stores is located. We stopped in and with some help from one of their assistants, we found that not only do they not carry such a thing, they had no real idea what the heck I was talking about. They carry small water heaters so we took them over to see exactly what we needed as the one that had on display had a valve right on the top of the heater. No good. They just don't carry extra valves. I did find a galvanized metal screw on cap that should fit on the end of the pipe shutting off the flow of water till I can get a new valve. We will still have plenty of hot and cold water but at least the fitting will no longer leak. Now here is the trick, there is so much rust and corrosion around and on the water heater that I fear even touching it as I just know that my finger will penetrate the side of the heater making it useless. I'm going to have to attach a crescent wrench to one end of the pipe and another to the valve and slowly take off the valve all while not allowing the wrench that is attached to the pipe that goes into the water heater to turn or even move a fraction of an inch as I just know that all hell will break loose if that pipe moves even just a little bit. As it is now late in the day and I'll always procrastinate if I can, I think I will put off the job of removing the valve till tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow sounds good to me though it might rain and that could delay it a bit more.
During our journey to Namaka today, we came across a store we had heard of called Yee's Cold Storage. It's located about 15 kilometers south of here. In one of their freezers they had several frozen turkeys. Care to guess the price? They wanted $140 fijian for the 4 kilo(8.8 pound) bird. That works out to just over $75.00 for a less than 9 pound bird!!! This place must love it's turkeys as I figure they will have those birds around for years to come at that price. I can't imagine anyone crazy enough to pay that much for any turkey. Yeow!!! A can of coke runs .96US for just one can in the same store. You can find it for .81 if you look around. Sometime you just need a Coke to cool down. While it's great out here, sometimes the price of things is way out of touch with other places though French Polynesia was by far the worst. I don't know how the people survive out there. It's one reason we left. We couldn't afford to stay there any longer.
Tomorrow, we have a delivery coming from Cost U Less. It's a small version of Costco but lucky for us, they deliver as the closest one in in Suva, over a 100 kilometers from here. Delivery charge--$5.00 fijian($2.75US). Cheap to bring things that far. Several of us here at the marina order stuff from them. They make deliveries out here every Wednesday though because of the up coming holidays, they won't be making another run out here till January 11th so some have ordered a bunch to get them through till the next delivery. We have found that you do have to be careful as some times their prices aren't really that good and the same item can be found elsewhere cheaper. It's like I said, they are like Costco but no where near a good a value sometimes. The really bad thing we have found is that if they don't have exactly what you want, they substituted something else they thing you might settle for. We ordered several bags of potato chips made by one company and got tubes of Pringles instead. The nice thing is that you can return unwanted items for a full credit if you don't like them. Guess we will see what we actually get tomorrow. I'll let you know.
That's it for now. More to come.
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We're going to try and put in multiple images in the post so here goes. The first picture is of Tracy's new English Muffins. The first batch was made with old flour that had been run through the microwave to kill any and all bugs and then vacuum packed. Came out hard as a rock. I made bread out of it and had to put it in the cuissanart to bust it apart. This time, new flour with much better results
Here's the work boat that's two slips down from us. Bunch of divers that are in and out all the time. This job was to bring back the weights that are used to anchor the huge buoys that ocean going freighters use to tie up to so they stay in place during blows. They have hauled in and replaced several of the buoys over the last few weeks. Now, in come the weights. It took four huge floats to get them into the marina and even so, the weights were dragging along the bottom as they came in. Can't imagine how much they weight. The crane that lifted them out groaned as it lifted one.
Here is one of the weights they brought ashore.
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12/16/2011, Vuda Point Marina
Today was just another day of small tasks that needed to be done aboard the boat. Yesterday, the marina lost water after a construction company broke the main line coming in from the main road. It was restored after several hours but with no water available, many services suffered. Heck, the cafe couldn't even wash their dishes. We checked our tanks this morning and found that we had about 3 inches left. It was time to fill them up. Not full, but to maybe 3/4 full. There is no need to have them full at this time as when we go out to other islands to explore, we want to be a bit lighter than normal so we move better and faster. Fully loaded, our tanks add almost 2200 pounds to our waterline. Now filling our tanks takes a good bit of time as every drop that goes in our tanks is filtered. It goes through a thick paper filter and then through a charcoal filter. We've been told that the water here at the marina is perfectly safe but why take the chance that something might get in our tanks and contaminate the water. We have ALWAYS filtered every drop that hits our tanks--unless we are making it with our water maker and even it goes through filters. We have friends that brought water aboard in the Marquesas that was supposed to be safe and a few days later, their water was turning green as life began to grow in their tanks. They had to empty their tanks and scrub them out to get rid of all of it. We won't take that chance. After well over an hour, the tanks were 3/4 full and that is just fine with us.
Off for lunch at the marina restaurant. We normally eat at the small cafe here but decided we needed to have a different menu for a change. The chicken curry(mine of course) was weak and the salad Tracy had was a failure after it came with anchovies after asking for them to be left off and very little dressing. I guess it either back to the cafe of start eating on board. We're quite removed from town where the inexpensive restaurants are so they are out of the question though we are heading for town tomorrow.
After lunch, we headed back to Zephyr for our afternoon jobs. Tracy was going to defrost the freezer. It had built up a good bit of ice and was in need of a cleaning. It also allows Tracy to see what we have buried deep down at the bottom. It's a tough job as the frig and freezer are almost 3.5 feet deep and she has to stand on a bag of kitty litter just so she can get close to the bottom to get everything out and get the bottom cleaned and dried. With a hair dryer and a metal scraper in hand, in she went. Close to an hour later, all was done and now we wait for the freezer to get cold enough to refreeze what we had in it. Luckily, we own an insulated bag that most of the frozen food can be kept in while the defrosting goes on.
I meanwhile, started in making an eye splice in new braided rope I brought back from the US. Our halyard(raises the sail) for the forestaysail had been chafed quite badly during the trip across from Mexico plus it was too small a diameter line(3/8) for the winch that Tracy uses to raise the sail. I brought back 97 feet of 1/2 inch line that will work out fine. I've seen people put eye splices in braided line before and have even done it once or twice(mediocre success). This time, I watched a video with Brion Toss(the rigger we used in Port Townsend) on how to do it. I'd watch a bit and the go back and watch it again--over and over all the while working with the line following his instructions. After a good hour, I got it done. I even remembered to put in the shackle that attaches to the sail before finishing the splice. It took a while but as you can see from the picture at the top, it looks just fine. Previously, the 3/8 inch line had a steel thimble in it at the eye so the shackle could have fallen out. Now, it's not going anywhere.
Once those jobs were done, I headed for the showers. It has been a long hot(88 degrees) and humid(70%) day and I needed to get cooled down.
As I said, tomorrow, we're off for Lautoka again.
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12/14/2011, Vuda Point Marina
For those of you afloat as well as on land, let me tell you an easy way to do ribs. I bought a rack of what were supposed to be baby backs but instead I got spare ribs when they were delivered a few days ago. I guess a brake down in communications between myself and the person behind the counter. Out here in Fiji, it's not that uncommon. Any way, with spare ribs being more stringy than baby backs, I looked into a better way to cook them where they would come out tender with the stringiness broken down.
I googled for a way to cook them in a pressure cooker as we just happen to have one on board. A useful piece of equipment when you are on a boat. With the lid on, even if the boat heels unexpectedly and the pot falls off the stove(it can happen), nothing leaves the pot. Not surprisingly, there are many recipes available on the web. I chose the simplest. Brown the meat a bit(in the same pot) and then pour off the grease. Add your sauce plus a bit of water to make the steam needed as the sauce is too thick to do so. Close up the lid and cook for 15 minutes once it hits pressure. Once done, let the pressure bleed off and undo the lid. Take the ribs(being careful as the meat is now fall off the bone tender) and put on a rack under the broiler in your oven. Add a bit more sauce to the top of the ribs and let it sit under the broiler and let it caramelize for a bit(about 5 minutes). Voila, you are done. Get set to enjoy a great rack of ribs.
If you are looking for great sauce, let me suggest the following recipe I use from "Top Secret Restaurant Recipe #2. It was taken from Chili's Restaurant.
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
2/3 cup dark brown sugar(packed)
1 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. When it comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the sauce, stirring often(it burns), for 45 to 60 minutes or until the sauce is thick(sticks to a wooden spoon).
Now here is where the recipes change. They suggest pouring the sauce over the ribs and wrap each rack in aluminum foil and arrange the packets on a baking sheet with the seam facing up. Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours (at 275 degrees)or until the meat on the ribs has pulled back from the ends of the bones by 1/2 inch. Now preheat your barbecue grill(or broiler). Grill them on the barbecue grill(or broiler) for 4 to 8 minutes on a side or until the surface of the ribs is beginning to char. Brush the ribs with sauce a few minutes before you take them off the grill. Serve with extra sauce on the side and lots of extra napkins.
I've done it both ways(pressure cooker & foil packets) and it comes out great every time. I used to use my barbecue grill and cook them for hours to get them tender but this way is not only faster but the meat is far more tender and yummy.
Give it a try. I know you won't be disappointed. I'd add a picture but they didn't last long enough to get one.
One final note. If you have any sauce left, for a great appetizer, pour it over cream cheese and serve with crackers. People will love it, take my word for it.
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12/11/2011, Vuda Point Marina
Today was moving day. The space we had been in was just not right for Zephyr. Even with winds in the mid 20 knot range, we were moving from side to side "gently" bashing Purrfection and hitting the fenders on the Nivini boat to our right. I'd hate to think what would have happened to all of us if a 150 knot wind came through. A space opened up about a week ago(#33) a bit farther down the marina circle. Today we set our sites on moving there. I first walked over to see Moe, one of the marina supervisors. His response was "NO". Apparently they have a 60 foot boat coming in next week and he is slotted to go in that slip. I tried in the office and again, the answer was nope. I then talked to George, the supervisor of all the boats in the marina and he got in his dingy and slowly went around the marina(just about full) looking for a space for us to squeeze into. If we moved the "Bio-Security" boat over,that would make a space just about the size we needed for Zephyr. Lines were grabbed and the "Bio-Security" boat was moved. We got Zephyr underway and backed all the way across the marina cove. In we went with about a foot on either side. At least we had a foot if someone pushed us away from the "Bio-Security boat. He was still a bit slack in his space.
I tossed the stern lines to Terry off Teka Nova and Ib off Aeolus while Tracy tossed the bow lines to George in his dinghy. George attached our lines to other bigger lines that go out toward the center of the circular marina while the stern lines were made fast. We were in our new home at least for now. Once we were set in our space, I walked over to the office to let them know where we were in the marina. I asked about the 60 footer that was going into slip 33 and they told me that he was only staying for a week. I had them slot us into the space once he vacates it after Christmas. It's not that it's a better space, it's just that there is more space between us and the boats that will be on either side of us. So for now, we are in a better space than where we were.
Yesterday, the marina sponsored a concert by Graham Wardrop, a guitarist from New Zealand here at the marina. Music started early in the afternoon and continued till late in the evening. The main concert started about 1500 and was delightful. He played different versions of Beatles songs as well as Bob Dylan songs plus some of his own. Six of us gathered(Aeolus, Teka Nova and ourselves) so we all made a nice afternoon of drinking and listening to music. I nice way to spend an afternoon. By 1900, it was pouring again. It's the first real rain we have had in close to a week so we were overdue.
Now that we are in our new space, we will spend the afternoon watching our drift as the afternoon breeze comes through the marina. We don't want to come up close and personal with our neighbors.
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12/11/2011, VudaPoint Marina, Fiji
Here's a picture of Zephyrs stern as well as others on either side of our boat. All you can see is lines, lines, and more lines. Every boat has at least two and with us, four lines attached to the stern. Ours are not only line--1/2 inch as well as 3/4 inch but we added chain to get us over the concrete deck that surrounds the marina. With out the chain, it would chew through the line quickly. I added metal thimbles to each of the 3/4 inch lines to make sure there was no abrasion. Can't be too careful.
You can see our lines with the chains as well as the rubber snubbers I added that act like big shock absorbers taking up the sudden jerks that happen when the wind blows Zephyr around the marina. Every boat does it a bit differently. Some use chair and some not. Some tie cross wise(port side to the starboard ring on shore and vice versa) and some tie straight back. We use four for security. Two out each side. One lead farther out for a wider restraint and one closer(has the chain) for a more backward pull should the need arise for it. We're not going anywhere. At least we hope not. I guess we will see at the next blow.
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