This morning the gremlin in the 30A shore charger came back. Not the end of the world since we can always plug in the 15A charger but really frustrating since I would like to know the cause. By 1400 the gremlin seems to have gone back into hibernation so I am not going to touch the system and wake him up again and see what happens. I have an idea that the charger will reset itself after someone like me bungles around with it so operating under the theory - if works, don't mess with it - I will leave it alone. No. That didn't work either. The gremlin woke up after all. I have one more thing to try tomorrow AM just to give me something to do.

On another topic, I keep reminding myself of our luck and trying not to brood on things that don't go right. If we hadn't laid Nelleke up for two years all these problems would most likely still have occurred, the only difference being we would have had one of them every couple of months rather than all of them in a couple of weeks one after the other. Although greying we are both in good health and although my brother is dealing with some unpleasant treatments he is making progress so illnesses in our family are things that are being dealt with.

Today I have two issues: I am awaiting the mechanic to help me with the electrical issues on the diesel and I desperately need a haircut. The haircut was easily accomplished, the results of the visit with the mechanic? Not so much. Turns out my clever idea to patch off the lower 12V of a 24V battery cell won't work properly and that, in fact, the two 12V batteries that comprise the 24V system will never properly balance themselves. What I need is a 24V to 12V conversion transformer that the alternator will see as a 24V system but which will, in fact only be there to charge an additional 12V. The tricky way to do that is to actually have a 24V battery bank that the alternator thinks is its cranking bank, but then to run this through a step down transformer to a 12V bank which is the actual cranking bank. The starter is connected to the 12V portion. I guess I should learn to listen to that nagging little voice in my head. We have ordered the 24-12V 1200W 100A step down transformer through Amazon and it's supposed to be delivered within 2 days. Then we'll see.

Meanwhile, we are hiding out in the shade of our cabin with a little clamp on fan doing double yoman's duty trying to move the air around. The climate here is incredible! Barb just drew my attention to the fact that in most of the community newspapers and a lot of the handouts that you get from the marinas there are pull out sections on hurricane preparation! I suppose that there are a lot of things you can do but short of simply moving away how can anyone possibly be fully prepared for something like that. Even without the hurricanes, the heat is enough to melt you. There have been several times that I have been almost seriously concerned that was what was happening to me - great salty drops cascading from my brows, the lobes of my ears, and off the tip of my nose.

"Ahhhh! I'm melting! I'm melting!"

How anyone, man or woman can wear their hair long in this climate is beyond me. I am even considering shaving off my wee little goatee just to have bare skin. If you come by our boat be sure to knock before peering in the portholes. We have a tendency to be underdressed these days, if you know what I mean. On the other hand, we are getting very good at this serious business of siesta. In this weather our evening meals will be prepared on deck so as not to add to the heat below. Just another excuse for me to show off my culinary skills to the world at large.

G'night all.

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