13th November

12 00 N
61 46 W

Weather; showery and humid, wind n/a, waves n/a

BLACK FRIDAY GREETINGS!

With it being Friday the 13th you would be forgiven for thinking that we sat around and did nothing all day in an effort to avoid tempting fate, if this applies to you then you don't know us very well - we thrive on the thrill of the unexpected happening to us! I have to admit I was more than content to sit around and read, do puzzles or watch TV but Gerry had his "let's get busy" hat on, I swear he has ADHD! Anyway he couldn't sit still if he tried so he decided that today was the day to start with tearing the fridge and freezer apart, removing all the old gear that made it work ( or not!) and clearing everything ready for the new components when we decide what they are going to be and purchase them. Out came a whole load of tools - after all you never know what you are going to need, and you can almost lay sure fire bets that what you got out isn't what you end up needing anyway.
The first thing to be tackled was the fridge as this would seem to be the easiest, it is more easily accessible than the freezer and was the first place you reach anyway. The storage bins, shelf and any other bits that weren't physically attached were removed and placed in stupid places that we would need to get to later and would require relocating a second time! This left a clear view of the eutectic plate that was next in line for removal. This plate was attached to the back wall of the compartment with 4 large screws: it also had copper pipe work coming out of the top of it which led off to the compressor - bringing liquid from the compressor to the plate and taking gas back to the compressor to return it to a liquid. These copper pipes had to be removed first as the plate wouldn't come out of the compartment whilst they were attached, although they were held in place with bolts it wasn't possible to undo the bolts to remove the pipes - time to find another tool!. Out came the electric angle grinder and Gerry, with safety glasses in place, proceeded to cut through the pipework until it was free to pull out of the compartment and dump into the waiting trash bag. The plate was now free of all encumberments, all he needed to do was unscrew the thing from the back wall and pull it out through the hole, this all went very smoothly and we were soon admiring the weight and size of the plate that was supposed to keep our fridge cool. Next job was to remove the rest of the copper pipework from under the floor by the fridge, we had spent an age insulating this way back when we had the previous issue with the fridge so not only was it a case of removing pipework but we also had to remove our carefully installed insulation, none of it was salvageable so it all ended up in the trash bag but we managed to get all of the pipework out without too many problems. Not content with having the fridge compartment done Gerry then turned his attention to the freezer, this wasn't going to be anywhere near as easy. As you may recall, if you have seen the kitchen photos in the past, the freezer is a smaller box stuck in the corner which I really can't reach unless I climb on top of the cabinetry. To make things even worse the freezer compartment opens at the top in a square but as you delve into the compartment it slopes inwards narrowing the available space down to about half of the opening space. The eutectic plate was located on the sloping wall and went all the way to the bottom of the compartment. Gerry began his assault on the plate by unscrewing all the bolts and then trying to lift the plate out using the copper pipework attached to the top of the plate as leverage - it wasn't a happening thing! I peered into the hole and suggested that he needed to remove the fan and associated poly pipe out of the way to create more space and avoid breaking the fan and poly pipe, that was easily achieved. Next it was a case of getting the sensor wiring out of the way so that it didn't get caught up and damaged by the plate coming out - another easy move. Next it was time for Gerry to try lifting the plate out once again, still no luck as it became obvious that the plate would need to come out at a kitty cat angle going from corner to corner to get it to clear the surround at the top. The plate dimensions were such that it was going to be a tight squeeze at best, add into that the fact that it weighed far more than the fridge plate making it VERY heavy and there was no way that two people could do the job due to lack of space and the sailor speak came to the fore with a vengeance. It was at this point that I called time out and produced some lunch and a drink, giving us time to review our options with a bit of brain storming, we came up with a few ideas including using the main halyard threaded through the port above the kitchen and hoisting it out - discarded this as there was no way the plate would clear the space between the porthole and the top of the fridge, cutting off the pipework and bolts at the top of the plate - good idea which needed expanding as we needed to have some leverage to get the plate out. How about good old cable ties and a rope - too flimsy so that was discarded but then Gerry hit on the idea that he might have a small enough shackle to fit through one of the small holes at the top of the plate which would give us enough holding strength to pull the plate up. Out came the box of shackles - ranging from enormous to one which looked like it would fit as a mouse harness but seemed to me to be a bit flimsy for the job at hand. Gerry was confident it would work and put it in place and attached a rope to it. It was then a case of brute strength, slight twist to get the plate kitty corner on and one massive effort of hauling up wards to clear the top of the freezer - success was Gerry's - the plate was out of the compartment! Staggering backwards under the weight he deposited the plate on the floor, I couldn't even lift the thing it was so heavy and Gerry had to take it out into the cockpit in short hops with me protecting the boat steps, paintwork and anything else that was in the way with towels underneath it, we got it done and it currently resides in the cockpit until we can find the energy and strength to take it ashore and dispose of it. The freezer compartment was now empty - should we stop at this point? Hell no, there was still the compartment for the new compressors to clear out. Up came the floor board and a seemingly never ending series of pipes, insulation and wiring were handed to me to deposit in the trash bag before I had to grab the vacuum cleaner to finish the "cleaning out" of the under floor space. Once that was done it was time to return the million and one tools to their rightful homes. As it was now mid-afternoon Gerry decided that he had time to make a quick run into the yard and dispose of the trash bags and the eutectic plate from the fridge, the freezer plate would have to wait until he was feeling like the hulk or a time when we would both be going ashore to be able to manage transporting the damn heavy plate. He arrived back having dumped the trash and taken a side trip to the mini mart which is a short walk away - all up-hill going, where he had bought essential supplies of 2 small bottles of coke, and 2 bottles of wine. When I asked if he had checked to see if they had any vegetables the response I got was " no I didn't look" - it's probably the only thing we really are short of but I suspect there weren't any there anyway - it's more a cigarette and drink place!
The coke came in handy as we got to late afternoon and sundowner time, the only problem now is that we have used up the last of our rum supply - it's time we went shopping again!
I had the camera at the ready to snap the wonderful sunset but again it just didn't happen - it was more of a fizz than a bang!
I have however put a few photos of the fridge /freezer process in the gallery under "series 2" for you to admire. I'd like to think that all the prep work is finished but I know full well that Gerry will be at something again tomorrow - watch this space!