When will Sailing be Just Sailing?

It has been a week now since I arrived to Fakarava. My days here have had a healthy balance of work, R&R and socializing. As I arrived to Fakarava, I noticed that my fairly new (2 year-old VIctron Supercycle 170A) batteries overheated while motoring for 5 hours in through the Fakarava Channel. I noticed this as I dropped the anchor. Of course, for me, it is a reason to panic, but after getting talked off the shelf by a friend and calling marine stores in Papeete, I realized that it is just money. Having said that, the concern is WHY the batteries overheated. Marine services sent three new Victron AGM Deep Cycle batteries on the cargo ship COBIA III, which arrived 4 days later together with a ton of Fruit and Veggies. Double Score! While waiting for the batteries, I changed the oil, fuel filters, dropped laundry off, filled propane tanks and began filling the water tanks with water from the desalination system in town. I soooo want a water maker…

Transporting batteries from COBIA III was entertaining, but with some proper “deadlift-form” I managed to lower them into the dinghy and lifting them onto the boat. It took some thinking and visualizing how to lift the old batteries out on my own, but at the end I mangaged to install the new ones. I still have to figure out why the old ones overheated. I have a feeling that my alternator regulator, ARCO ZUES, was poorly caliberated. It is a good reminder to always make sure to keep a close eye on items that were set up by others and really understanding your equipment on the boat. But at the time of installment of the alternator, I left this up to the installer as I was overwhelmed with getting soooo much on the boat ready for departure. LIVE AND LEARN!

With this done, I am now getting the boat ready for sailing. A friend, Tatjana, is arriving from S.D. to join me for three weeks. Our plan is to sail from Fakarava to Rangiroa via a few atolls. I am excited to have company!

It has not just been about work… Every morning I walk, gather coconuts, swim, have lunch with folks from other boats, share stories and de-clutter Sarantium. Every day I go in to fetch water, I meet people from all over the world; Belgium, Toronto, CA., and a ton of Danes.