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Larry's LogThe next day Diane and I went to PriceSmart, the local Sam's Club type store, in Port of Spain. Diane wanted me to go so I could see what they had and maybe buy some of the supplies I needed there at a better price. They didn't have much that I needed in terms of boating supplies but they had lots of American products that we couldn't find anywhere else. They were cheaper on some items but some things were very high, especially imported ones - like Doritos at $5 US for a large bag. We bought a bag anyway. We managed to spend quite a bit. When we got back to the boat, we found that the air conditioner wasn't working. It seemed to be failing the night before but now it was just blowing ambient temperature air. Diane called Shane but couldn't get him initially. She called an hour later and talked to him but he said he couldn't come until the next day; he was in the south part of the island and couldn't make it back in time to change out the unit. He said he would come tomorrow morning; first thing. That night, we really understood why we needed an air conditioner. It was hot and windless. The restaurant building that was in front of us blocked what breeze there might be. Also, people walked by the boat and had conversations in the restaurant (it was open air) so we heard everything. We didn't sleep very well. Thursday morning, Shane did come with a new unit. He wasn't there until about 10am but he did come and immediately changed out the old air conditioner and the new one worked well. He stayed and we talked for a bit about Trinidad and he said that yesterday he was working on a piece of land he had bought in the south where he planned to build a small house. That was why we couldn't get him on the first try yesterday. After he left, we went over to Tardieu Marina where Alpha Canvas was and looked at the foam we wanted for the mattresses. We then went to look at dinghies at Echo Marine. We had seen the Apex brand but wanted to see the Caribe as well, and they were the Trinidad distributors. We were interested in the differences between the regular and lightweight models and the salesman showed us both in their showroom. The difference in weight was only a few pounds but the floors were very different and the cost of the lightweight model was almost $200 less than the "normal" floor. The lightweight one had a single bottom with a "V" going only about 1/3 of the way to the stern. The regular model had a double bottom with the "V" extending all the way from bow to stern. The regular one was supposed to be more stable and gave a better ride, which made sense considering the full "V" of the keel. The salesman offered to take us out in them for a test drive, we just had to call a day in advance. Diane thought this was a good idea although I felt it was unnecessary. I guess we'll try to do it. Friday morning we went to the TrueValue Supermarket but first we went to a medical lab so I could get a blood test. Our friends on Piano suggested that I do this since Jan had caught his prostate cancer early by just getting a test as part of their preparations for their cruise. Since I was getting close to 50, I thought this was a good idea. After we got back, Diane went for a manicure while I continued finishing the chainplates. The next day was my birthday - 49th. Although I did some work, straightening out the boat from the chainplate work and getting the last of the chainplate bolts in, mostly I just relaxed. Diane went to the market early but when she got back she gave me 2 of the books in the Patrick O'Brian series (she bought them in Bequia) and so I was happy. Diane also made a great shrimp cocktail from the shrimp she bought that morning. In the evening we went to the CrewsInn restaurant for dinner - very good. Sunday was also pretty lazy although I did start the engine work. I needed to change the impeller in the raw water pump and I thought that I would remove it to check out the insides as well, particularly since I had seen some water weeping from it. My friend Joe said that a little was normal but there was some rust there as well so it needed to be inspected. It had also been about 18 months since the coolant had been changed so I wanted to empty the system, remove the heat exchanger and clean and inspect that, and then run some radiator flush through the system when it was back together before refilling the system with fresh coolant. I got all the tools and stuff together but then I just read my new O'Brian book. The next day was busy though. We went to see Alpha Canvas to pick out the foam for our new mattresses and also bring over some things to get fixed. We finally brought the weather cloths to get repaired. These were damaged from the boarding waves we took on passage to Bermuda! I also got the new ignition switch and a small piece of 2" white hose. The hose was to attach to the exhaust pipe to hopefully prevent the black marks on the transom that accumulated as a result of exhaust water dripping on it. When we got back to the boat, I started replacing the ignition switch and straightening up the wires from when I had to "jury rig" the wire from the batteries to the voltage regulator. Diane had lain down since she wasn't feeling well. When I finished with the switch and the wires, I started to raise the dinghy when I heard a knocking. It was Rex Stollmeyer, the guy that Diane had met when we were here last and who did volunteer work with the US Embassy. He had also kindly given us some fish he had caught a few times. Diane had tried contacting him again just to invite him over for a drink and we had missed him a couple of times. Finally, he just tried coming to the boat when he was in the area. Diane got up and we talked for a while. We invited him and his wife over for drinks but he said his daughter was coming in for a visit from the States so he said it would have to be in a couple of weeks. We said sure and asked that he just call us to say when he was available. That night was the monthly CrewsInn Manager's Party and naturally we went. The party was smaller than "usual" since most cruisers had not yet arrived in Trinidad and the marina was only 50 to 60 percent full. But we had a nice time and met some new people. Tuesday I started work on the engine in earnest and managed to drain the cooling system, remove the heat exchanger and raw water pump with out spilling any water or coolant (or maybe just a few drops). I dumped the water overboard and kept the coolant in a bucket until I could dispose of it (ethylene glycol is poisonous). Anyway, it took several hours to get the stuff apart. I had a rebuild kit for the water pump and I would need it since to get the seals off required destroying them in the process. New seals were needed anyway but it took about 2 hours just to get everything apart. Even then, the bearings would not budge from the shaft. I found out later, from an email to Joe, that these bearings are pressed on by a machine shop and that this was the only way to remove them as well. I was glad I didn't just take a hammer to them. Now though, I would have to find a machine shop that could do it. Luckily I thought I knew of one close by. The heat exchanger was a bit dirty but otherwise seemed OK. I had a small brush that I was going to use to clean out the little tubes. By the time I finished removing everything and taking the pump and heat exchanger apart, it was time for dinner. I cleaned up and that was all the work for that day. We went out to dinner with Paul and Vivian from Autumn Wind to a new (to us) Chinese restaurant and met Peter and Vicki from Halliday Girl there. We had a nice time but the food was only OK. The next morning, Diane went to the school where she had done some volunteer work tutoring some of the students who hadn't passed their secondary school exams. I stayed at the boat and waited for Carlos from Alpha Canvas to come over to make templates for the new mattresses. To make a template of the aft cabin mattress though, I first had to remove everything from the cabin. Since we called this area our "garage", there was quite a lot of stuff that had to be taken out before the old mattress could be reached. He came over with his 2 helpers and made a template with brown paper of the area for the aft cabin berth and the V berth. He also brought back the repaired weather cloths. He left around 11:30 and Diane came back about 10 minutes after that. After lunch, since I wanted to do a complete inventory of all the spares and equipment in the lockers under the aft cabin berth anyway, I decided to do that rather than continuing with the engine, particularly since I wasn't sure at that point what I was going to do with the water pump at that time. I finished the inventory of part of the boat while Diane took the sewing machine we had just bought from Ken and Vesta into a room at CrewsInn and tried making some slipcovers for the main cabin settees. She had bought some cheap fabric to do a test. We had been using large towels to cover the cushions to prevent them from getting stained, as it was difficult to get all the dirt and salt off every time we came below. Her test run was not bad and we would go in together at some point to pick out fabric that she would use for the "real" thing. I managed to put everything back in the aft cabin before dinner so we would actually have someplace to sit. We also got the results of my blood test - it was a slightly elevated reading, which meant that I should probably see a doctor. Diane was more upset than I was and immediately started trying to get a referral. I emailed my brother, a physician in California, and asked him for his suggestions. (I got a reply the next day from his wife, also a doctor, who said that the reading was not very high and if I was asymptomatic that I shouldn't worry.) Well, I was "mostly" asymptomatic so I decided to find a doctor here to get an exam. We got an appointment for early the next week. |