Wonderful! The water maker works!

I completed the last connection for the desalinator at 2:30 or so this afternoon. Tom, our friend, the guy who introduced us to the device, dropped by and asked if we wanted to start it up. Well, YEAH! After chasing a few leaks, Tom fired up the device and it made excellent, neutral and safe water. Wow! After WEEKS of effort the thing made water. We were amazed! It's louder than we had hoped, but it's sitting in a resonance chamber: a tiny hanging locker. Be sure to see the photos of the installation that I posted on our site..

I apologize for the enthusiasm, but this is a HUGE task for us to complete. We need to run the machine for two hours or so to be sure that we understand the device and its operation. The ability to make drinkable water from sea water makes a huge difference in what we can do. No hauling jerry cans of water on our dinghy, no wishing that we had more water to use for laundry or cooking. It's a new world.

Although a smaller victory, we tried Chips' toilet and it does NOT leak! So, Chip has a his own toilet and we have a toilet for bad conditions. The forward head, shall we say, needs a seatbelt when the seas are up. The bow moves a lot when the seas are high, and sitting on the throne when the bow rocks like that isn't easy. Having the toilet in the aft berth operating is great for all of us.

So, tomorrow, I work on the AIS antenna, while Conni and Chip work on varnishing and sails. Our friend, Jeff, will arrive and help us with the sails, the installation of the new Raymarine wind instrument, and installing some other safety items.

I do feel like we'll make it now. I need to contact our importers and see if our whisker pole has arrived. We have many more tasks to complete before we leave, but all pale in comparison to the water maker.

Conni is, very kindly, preparing a nice meal in celebration of the event, and we'll continue to work, but this particular task is successfully completed.