We have been living on the boat for two months now and it has been a busy time, especially for David but I have been helping where possible.
David is amazing as he never seems to get tired when he is in a project, and nothing can stop him.
First he renewed two toilet pumps, and then he started on the major project being the new watermaker, which can produce 20 gallons per hour comparing to 4 gallons from the old one. All the parts we brought along from Panama. But of course there was couple of fuses missing which we managed to receive when a fellow cruiser returned from the US. However, one of them was wrong. Hopefully the company, Defender, in the US, has sent the right one to Hans Christian, my brother in Denmark who in flying out to join is tomorrow.The watermaker cannot be tried as we are moored up river and it requires good sea water. We have to be patient till we are back out in the open Pacific Ocean again.
In servicing the main engine we found that it wouldn't start. A good local electricial engineer managed to find the fault and fixed it. Thank goodness for that!
The toilets on a boat is always a worry in case it or both pack it in. We worried that there was a problem, and rightly so. Both tubing systems were clogging up! ( we have two heads/ toilets on the boat). Over time (alkaline) urine and calcium in the water calcify / crustates inside the tubes. We thought we had avoided the problems, as we always pump 20 times and occasionally put vinegar through and also hydrochloric acid. ...............Not so! The toilet systems had to come apart and cleaned out. A job we do not wish to repeat in the near future!
Our liferaft needed to be serviced, so we took it to a company in Manta, 97 km from here and saw it being blown up, quite a sobering experience, which I hope I shall never see for real.
Yesterday we cleaned the bottom of dinghy on the beach. Even if we lift the dinghy out of the water each night there was quite a growth of seaweed and barnacles. We also cleaned the dinghy chap (cover) in fresh water so it's all as good as new.
I have been repearing sails and bimini cover on the sowing machine. So now we are almost ready to leave.
A problem has arisen with one of the batteries. We have tried to get them all replaced but with no luck. Gel- batteries seem to be unavailable in Ecuador. David has disconnected the duff battery and so far so good it is working.
My brother Hans Christian flies out tomorrow and joins us for the next step of our our adventure: THE TRIP TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS.
We have got our visas extended so that we can stay in Ecuador for another six months. The reason for this is that we are planning to spend around two months in the Galapagos Islands. We have contacted an agent on the islands and he has sorted out all permissions and paperwork for our stay there.
Darvins islands, the Galapagos, are 600 Miles due West from here, mainland Ecuador. It will take us six days to get there. This week we have arranged for a diver to clean the bottom of the boat. It has to be spotless on arrival. The authorities send down a diver to check, and if they are not happy they will send you 40 Miles out to clean the bottom.
We are also required to have a fumigation certificate to certify that we do not carry any illegal creepy-crawlies such as cochroaches, woodworms or termites.
Hans Christian leave us again mid December.
I look forward to the Galapagos Islands as a child looks forward to Christmas. I am sure it will be really great.
Our planned day of departure from here is Friday 27. November.
I I have a new hat with logo: s/s Aros Mear
David is on the foredeck with our dinghy. He is fixing the wheel - brackets, so we can run her up sandy beaches.
David loves polishing. Here he is giving the cocktail shaker a new look!
This is our cabin as it looks when there is no projects on the go. I just love.
It's mango season. Every second tree is a mango tree.Yum- Yum!
David is in the midst of clearing the wc tube with hydro-cloric- acid.Nice job!!
Our liferaft is being serviced.
