20112015.3 Stuff’s not working

stuffFriday November 20th, 2015

Some of my stuff has stopped working. Lets begin with the freezer or of late the ice storage and melting chamber. It seemed to work fine when we first started it up then not so much. We filled in 25% of the thing to make it easier to freeze and it still isn’t quite right. Like most sailors I know a little about everything and my years in the arena business I know a little more about refrigeration.

So I added a little freon. Just a burp, enough to make it wake up and smell the melting chicken. Then the freezer began to exhibit symptoms of too much freon in the system. Now I have to belch and burp the thing to get the cooling just right. It was so much easier when we could use R-12 (notwithstanding the friggin ozone hole and that stuff). Now we use 134A. At this point I think it should be 134C- but that’s just my opinion. I have gained half a degree this morning…things are looking up. The controller I presently am using is twist two wires together and the freezer comes on.

Just when I thought the freezer was working ok, the thermostat smoked. A small but noticeable puff of smoke likely caused by the salt air around these latitudes. Now I am in trouble. You can’t find parts for anything here. I sourced out a new controller/thermostat in Maryland. Shipping 100 real bucks and that’s a bargain. This part is coming by UPS. I could have tried to use Reggie’s air service.

Reggie flies from Miami once a week in his Sopwith camel but the logistics of getting the part to Reggie seemed too complicated for my raging Irish temper. People say that Reggie is great but I need someone to explain how it works…

The part left Maryland yesterday and arrived in Miami this morning. The UPS projected delivery is next Friday at the end of business. Seven days to go 280 nautical miles…it must be traveling by cruising UPS sail boat. 7 days to go from Miami to Nassau and to Georgetown…BY AIR. Whenever I feel this frustration I have to remember; no snow, warm water for swimming, shorts and flip flops all day… šŸ™‚

My laptop; I was having trouble with my laptop before we left. So I changed both hard drives and installed windows 10. Windows 10 seems to suck in my opinion. I had to remove the second hard drive just to get the thing to start. Where is my 286 from the old days or even a Vic 20 or a commodore 64…

Weather: We have been under the influence of a lot of wind and waves for 7 to 10 days now. There will be a slight reprieve this afternoon but the wind will come back up tomorrow and then another cold front comes in and we will have to hunker down for 5 or 6 days next week.

Yesterday I had a fun ride to town in the dinghy and then more fun with Les (taxi 12) going to NAPA to get… wait for it… FREON. Les is an enthusiastic guy who drives like most of them here… almost NASCAR and on the wrong side of the road. He hangs out the window as we pass any female and stares. During these episodes I am left in control of the taxi without any controls on my side of the vehicle. A woman slowed to turn into the church and we came within inches of rear ending her. Les promptly jumped out and a heated discussion… a teaching as Les called it was required to convince the lady that the near miss was her fault. No real damage, only the sunscreen imprint of my face on the windshield.

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