Russ & Robin's cruising rule # 1: You never get to leave for a cruise on schedule.
Case in point:
Today is June 19, 1996. Robins Nest is tied up nicely in a slip at White Bay Marina in Whitehall, Michigan. It's a picture postcard day, as we look out our ports we can barely see the municipal marina through the fog. All the boats near us appear to be ghost ships shrouded in gray. The water looks like a mirror, not a ripple. Life is grand!
There is only one problem with this scene. We had intended to leave on our long awaited cruise on June 15, we are now already four days behind schedule. This statement brings up Russ & Robin's cruising rule # 2: Never set a schedule when you are cruising. We discovered this the first year we cruised but I keep forgetting my own rules.
Why are you still sitting in a slip in Whitehall you may ask? Well it's a long story!
When we purchased our Panda 34 we had compiled a list of equipment that would be on our new boat. This list included all the nice things our previous boats didn't have. Our list included: wheel steering, diesel engine, hot & cold running water, roller furling, radar, refrigeration, and a cabin heater. Unfortunately, when we saw Robins Nest it was love at first sight! We overlooked the fact that she only had the first three items on our wish list. We have been chipping away at the list for the last four years and had finally gotten to the refrigeration.
This leads to Russ & Robin's cruising rule # 3 . . . . Never install major equipment on a boat unless you have enough lead time to work out all the bugs.
This rule had always lurked in the back of my mind. We purchased the unit in February, lugged it out to the marina through the snow in March. We were silly enough to think that the mechanic would install the unit during the extended winter and when the boat splashed down on April 24 all would be fine. WRONG!
Every week I'd call the marina and every week I'd get the same story. "We didn't get to it yet but you're first on the schedule next week!" This scene was repeated over and over, Memorial Day rolled around and the beer still wasn't cold! Finally we were told that a subcontractor would be hired to install the unit. Great I thought!
June 8, one week and counting until our day to cast off for the North Channel. Still no refrigeration. We were assured that the job would be done. June 14, the system is actually installed but the unit would be charged tomorrow and we could be on our way. June 15, the installer arrives around 1:00 pm, so much for first thing in the morning, and injects the freon. The system actually works! We have cold beer and are actually making ice cubes.
But our start date had already been moved back to Monday. It seems that the marina didn't get around to rebuilding our leaking water pump. But it would be done first thing Monday morning. Believe or not, the work was done by 9:00 am.
Monday morning was a rather rainy day, in fact some areas had over 7" of rain. Even though it would be a miserable day, maybe we should leave? However in the back of my mind rule # 4 was being created.
Russ & Robin's cruising rule # 4 . . . . Never leave on a cruise with a new major piece of equipment until you have tested it thoroughly.
The water pump was fixed, the fridg had been working fine for two days, we were finally going to leave! Wrong again!
Our refrigeration system is an engine drive system. We fired up the engine, turned on the fridg timer and - - - - clunk, bang, grind. Something was wrong. The marina mechanic was still on board, he started checking around. When he touched the compressor unit he received a major shock. Apparently the installer had forgotten to ground the unit!
By seven pm on Monday evening the installer showed up and grounded the unit. Next he turned on the timer and everything worked. Everything worked that is until he drove out of the parking lot! The system shut down and would not run for more than ten seconds. After several phone calls to the installer, and the manufacturer we had narrowed down the problem! And actually found a way to solve our problem. It seems that the cooling unit for the fridge was installed too high and when we started the motor at idle speed, the water pump couldn't get the water to the cooling coil. We found out if we rev the engine up a bit, then everything worked out. The installer will lower the pump when we get back. Of course we had also wasted one more day!
Now it's Wednesday morning, I think we'll actually start our cruise today. As I glance out of the companion-way I can actually see across the lake. Maybe this cruise will actually begin soon?