We left with the tide this morning, motoring north towards the islands again—finally. We stopped off at Costa Brava Marina for the cheapest diesel in town. Which seems like an odd statement considering that Steve Jobs yacht was in there last month, and that famous British couple that live in the castle were there for a pre-wedding roll a while back. Hoity-Toity.
When I filled up I discovered that my starboard tank—the one I thought had gone empty on our crossing last month—was actually only half dry. Which is good, in that we didn’t actually burn 3 gallons an hour like I had feared. And which is bad because it leads me to believe that the fuel pick up in that tank is no longer reaching the bottom. Most likely it rusted right off inside. Of course replacing that tank is at the top of the haul-out list for this summer anyway, so not a big deal right now.
We motored a whopping ten miles before calling it a day at Puerto Balandra—the super shallow bay we always stop at for the kids to play.
After a crazy calm afternoon the coromuel winds kicked in at dark and blasted through in wicked gusts all night long. I don’t know how Ouest sleeps through the noise up in the forward cabin. The anchor chain grinds along the bobstay (is that the right word?) all night long as the boat swings back and forth. I can’t come up with a workable solution to avoid it. We’ve got the bridle run out, so the chain is just hanging there limp, but still, every big swing it just rides along that thing clanking away.
6 Comments on “Cruising North”
Take some photos and video of the chain grinding and the equipment on your foredeck. You should be able to run a snubber through a cleat on the side to act as a shock absorber and quiet things down at anchor. Should reduce the effective load and protect the windless as well. I will look for a good link.
Wait a sec. That first picture there….. That has to be from someone else’s galley. Not a bag of Doritos in sight! 😉
Mexican Doritos are terrible, super spicy. And not a good spicy either. Otherwise…
Have you thought about buying a small generator and use the AC function on the frig?? Small Hondas are quiet, less than $400 and small..running it twice a day would be less hassle. And serves as a backup to charge batteries if it’s ever needed..all you need is a regular car battery charger unit!!
PS I have been following your exploits since you bought Bumfuzzle.. opted out for the VW stuff but now I am back.
Our AC system is not efficient at all. Runs like 14 hours a day on shore power.
Has the insulation been changed or is it original? Perhaps it is just needing new insulation. Ours was original and it had drooped to about 1/2 down the side of the box. After replacement it made a world of difference. However if your system is more than about ten years old it will soon start to leak even more. They corrode inside out, so even if you fix a leak in one place another is just around the corner. A lot of people on the east coast are changing to Engle. Just easier but venting heat into a hot boat is not my idea of a good time. Been reading (and loving) your blog for years. Where does the time go?