Cruising with Vida Dulce

22 October 2020
04 September 2020 | Loggerhead Marina, Hollywood, FL
22 August 2020 | Hollywood, FL
20 August 2020 | Greenville, AL
18 March 2020
09 March 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
29 February 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
14 February 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
14 February 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
13 February 2020
22 January 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
10 January 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
06 January 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
04 January 2020 | Islan Mujeres, MX
31 December 2019 | Isla Mujeres, MX
30 December 2019 | Isla Mujeres, MX
29 December 2019 | Isla Mujeres, MX
28 December 2019 | Isla Cozumel MX
26 December 2019 | Cay Caulker, BZ
25 December 2019 | Bluefield Range Cays

Progress On a Few Fronts

04 October 2017 | Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Susan / hot, humid, afternoon thunderstorms, 90 degrees F
Chris, the refrigeration expert on the Rio, stops by as agreed this afternoon to check out our inside (food) fridge, which started up when we arrived late afternoon Saturday, never got sufficiently cold on Sunday, then quit sometime Monday night after we’d done a bit of grocery shopping earlier in the day. The good news is that we hadn’t bought food much since it was a walk to and from town rather than what would have been a full-on shopping trip had we’d had an operational dinghy. The result of Chris’ investigation it that the electronic control module isn’t operational (compressor has power, thermostat tests fine; those darn “brain” parts just do not like lightening!). He replaces the fridge one with the freezer one (same compressor) but then the fan doesn’t work. Jerry has a spare fan, so that gets installed. Then just a bit of refrigerant (gas) is applied (still a good amount in the system). Result: compressor now running, fan’s running, fridge is starting to cool. If all goes well, it’ll be a reasonably working fridge in several hours.

While we wait for Chris (he’s one of the busiest business people here), we remove the current 4 solar panels from the arch and support structure so that Cesar, the local stainless steel expert on the Rio, can finalize the replacement solar panel support structure design, etc. with Jerry. We’ve already shipped most of the needed stainless steel to him from the States because good quality stainless is impossible to purchase here. We brought the remainder of the required pieces to install the new solar panels as checked luggage. We also remove the outside wet bar beverage fridge making room for the new one that should arrive in the Rio late this week, along with the (inside) freezer, solar panels and whatever else Jerry purchased for ocean shipping. In addition while I get some cleaning done, Jerry drops the bottom-end of our outboard motor into Solita and takes it to the outboard repair tienda that worked on it last season. We are of course hoping the parts we brought down are the ones needed to repair / rebuild it.

By the time all of this is accomplished, it’s nearly 4:30pm. We have only a little bit of fresh veggie onboard which somehow survived the fridge outage, and between it being mid-week when offerings in town are usually meager, the time of day and our flagging energy levels, we opt for another marina dinner. If the fridge is working solidly tomorrow, I’ll either walk into town in the morning or have Jerry drive me in Solita in the afternoon to find what can be found on a Thursday.
Comments
Vessel Name: Vida Dulce
Vessel Make/Model: Lagoon 440
Hailing Port: Seattle, WA
Crew: Jerry and Susan Barber
About: Jerry and Susan moved aboard Vida Dulce in late October of 2010. We are currently in the Caribbean.
Vida Dulce's Photos - Main
26 Photos
Created 20 October 2017
17 Photos
Created 2 September 2017
4 Photos
Created 15 December 2016
9 Photos
Created 17 October 2016
20 Photos
Created 1 September 2015
North Coast, West section 2015; Havana to Baracoa Bus Trip 2016
100 Photos
Created 15 May 2015
38 Photos
Created 11 March 2015
50 Photos
Created 25 December 2014
The road trip included 7 States: WA, OR, ID, WY, CO, UT, MT
16 Photos
Created 3 August 2014
Hurricane Season 2014
1 Photo | 5 Sub-Albums
Created 14 June 2014
Pictures of our stay in Honduras 2014
1 Photo | 5 Sub-Albums
Created 4 January 2014
10 Photos
Created 18 October 2013
4 Photos
Created 20 September 2013
Our Dec 2012 - Feb 2013 visit
55 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 31 December 2012
Happy Holidays from Isla Providencia, Colombia
11 Photos
Created 31 December 2012
Photos of my on-board garden
16 Photos
Created 28 September 2012
4 Photos
Created 26 December 2011
Pictures of our time in Panama, Sept 2011 - Dec 2012
1 Photo | 5 Sub-Albums
Created 29 September 2011
Pictures of our visit to Columbia, May-Oct 2011
1 Photo | 5 Sub-Albums
Created 15 July 2011
Photos of our series drogue and May 2011 practice deployment and retrieval
24 Photos
Created 13 May 2011
Pictures from our brief visit to Bonaire, Curacao & Aruba in May 2011
35 Photos
Created 11 May 2011
Pictures of our short stay off Isla Pelona in May 2011
17 Photos
Created 11 May 2011
Pictures of our time in Grenada, April 2011
48 Photos
Created 23 April 2011
Pictures of our island stops in the Grenadines, April 2011
36 Photos
Created 4 April 2011
Photos of St Vincent, April 2011
11 Photos
Created 2 April 2011
Photos of St Lucia March 2011
46 Photos
Created 15 March 2011
68 Photos
Created 7 March 2011
Photos of Dominica 2011
3 Photos
Created 7 March 2011
Photos of Iles des Saintes, Feb 2011
12 Photos
Created 17 February 2011
Photos of Guadeloupe, Feb 2011
49 Photos
Created 13 February 2011
Photos of Barbuda, Jan 2011
15 Photos
Created 14 January 2011
20 Photos
Created 30 December 2010
2 Photos
Created 26 December 2010
Photos of Red Hook, St Thomas and Vida Dulce getting a new bank of batteries and the installation of her new custom made arch which will support 4 solar panels.
28 Photos
Created 9 November 2010
Haul out of Vida Dulce in November of 2010.
23 Photos
Created 9 November 2010
Lots of photos of various places not in other albums. Most are included directly in a blog entry.
27 Photos
Created 31 October 2010
15 Photos
Created 11 September 2010
A "Working" Trip with Jim to start outfitting the boat for cruising.
31 Photos
Created 10 September 2010
11 Photos
Created 5 April 2010
34 Photos
Created 5 April 2010