SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

Vessel Name: Panta Rhei
Vessel Make/Model: Able Apogee 50
Hailing Port: Seattle
Crew: Larry and Karen
Social:
18 September 2017 | Seattle
23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert
15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory
19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK
17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK
03 June 2017 | Seward AK
03 June 2017 | Denali
25 April 2017 | Seward AK
23 March 2017 | Seward, AK
11 March 2017 | Seward, AK
23 January 2017 | Seward AK
06 December 2016 | Seward AK
12 November 2016 | Seward Alaska
14 October 2016 | Valdez, AK
21 September 2016
05 August 2016 | Seward, AK
26 July 2016 | Whittier, AK
19 July 2016 | Valdez, Alaska
05 July 2016 | Seward, Alaska
Recent Blog Posts
18 September 2017 | Seattle

We are back in Seattle

It feels like home. Of course we are not in Silshole. Maybe we will be, someday, but there is a list and we are on it. In the meantime we are at Bainbridge Island Marina.

23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert

The dinghy holds air again

It wasn't very nice of the bear to tear the fabric across a seam. We were worried that we couldn't patch it but tried anyway. The glue had a job to do and it did it!

15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory

A Grizzly Bear damaged our dinghy

We were visiting the Anan Bear Observatory south of Wrangell. It is one of the best places to visit in all of SE Alaska BECAUSE it has bears. But (as we learned) there is a dark side to this bear concentration. And of course, there is a story to tell.

19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK

Moving On

"No matter where you go, there you are" (unknown reference). By now we have been there and done that. Most recently that included Cannery Cove on Admiralty Island. The photo shows the quiet grandeur of the setting with Ron and Suzie's boat SV Tango in the foreground. It has been like that for the last [...]

17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK

We are in Hoonah, SE Alaska now

We got something resembling a high pressure ridge so we moved expeditously across the Gulf of Alaska. The crossing took three days and weather stayed as forecast. That was a very good thing. The weather changes in the far north far more rapidly and dramatically than we ever experienced in the more southern [...]

03 June 2017 | Seward AK

Crossing the Gulf of Alaska

We are still in Seward, AK. Now that spring has come, why not start south?

Why is the water pump running?

12 July 2012 | Tied to a mooring buoy at Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Larry Nelson
We heard the water pump cycle once last night with no explanation for why. This has happened before and it is always a "wake up" moment. But we couldn't find an explanation. We should have looked under the quarterberth. This morning the hot water heating element ejected itself from the tank. Our water pump started pumping a lot of water and Karen wondered why she couldn't get any hot water? We turned off the water pump, dug under the quarterberth, and shut off the water to the hot water tank. Then we recovered the water pump so the rest of the boat can continue working, just without hot water. That is not a big problem here, but it will become one in New Zealand. I hay have to have an element shipped in.

This is another boat lesson. The hot water tank is stainless steel, but the heating element is galvanized steel and it rusts away. When it finally fails, it fails all at once, taking all your fresh water with it. We were aboard so we stemmed that problem, and we have the good fortune to have a working watermaker now and to be in a spot where we can make water. Boat Lesson: Replace the heating element every three years whether it needs it or not. Also, carry a spare. We are in French Polynesia where the power is 230V 60Hz. They won't have 110 volt heating elements.

Today the wind is blowing to about 26 knots. We'll go to the Bora Bora Pearl Beach resort and swim in the pool and eat lunch. Tonight we are going to the drumming and dance festival in town. Maybe tomorrow I'll remove the bolts that hold the remnants of the heating element into the hot water heater, put the quarterberth back together, and get on line to search for a replacement.

Oh, yes. I think we will make some more water, too. Boat work, it never ends.

The picture is of the dance and drum festival at Bora Bora.
Comments

About & Links