Shore Power Breakers

Shore Power Breakers

After the problems with my shore power I replaced the entry breaker (on the right) for the original 30 Amp circuit. I also added a second 30 Amp circuit (for heat/air conditioning someday) (Left) at the same time.

Merry Christmas.

Fair winds and following seas.

Life Raft Maintenance

The Raft Opened

Life Rafts are required to have maintenance every five years. Since I want to stay alive and expect to do some more ocean crossing I decided to have my raft checked. I took it to Vane Brothers in Norfolk, VA. Tim and I took the raft up to Norfolk. When we dropped it off they asked if we would like to see it inflated. Of course we said yes. I got to pull the lanyard and off we went. You can see from the picture that the raft itself was in very good shape.

I turns out that opening and repacking a life raft is inexpensive, about $200. What it expensive is replacing all of the gear inside the raft - emergency food, first aid kit, flares (a big expense) and so forth. Total bill - $1700. Wow. At least I can feel that the thing will work if I need it.

Fair winds and following seas.

New Power Plugs

Furrion Shore Power Plug

A frequent form of failure of shore power cables is that the female plug melts when there is a short. I have three cables that have had this failure. I decided to replace the ends and went to Defender to purchase replacements. I found Marinco Replacement Plug for $50.99. I then discovered that Furrion sels the same package for much less Furrion Replacement Plug for $43.99. It works just fine.





Fair winds and following seas.

XO is Home

After yet another few days and another operation XO is finally home on Reboot. I spent a long night with him waking me up every few minutes to make sure I was still there and to get rubs and hugs. I hope that he will recover quickly and get back in the black.

Fair winds and following seas.

XO's Sympathy Sickness

As those who follow this blog know I have been suffering with a kidney stone for several weeks. Over the past few days XO has been acting more and more strangely. Finally yesterday I took him to the local animal hospital. The diagnosis: he had a blockage in his urinary track. They gave me a choice: an expensive (for me) surgery or put him down as the blockage would result in his death within a couple of days. I have now joined the ranks of those who have spent a large quantity of money on a animal. I elected the surgery. They put in a catheter. The also gave him antibiotics and pain medications. After the surgery his urine was draining and although uncomfortable he is recovering. (It will take a while for my bank account to recover!) He will spend another day in the hospital and should come home tomorrow.

Fair winds and following seas.

Shore Power Again

The shore power inlet to the boat burned (literally) out a couple of weeks ago. Apparently this failure mode is commonplace. It destroys both the inlet socket and the end of the shore power cable. After getting the parts together for both the shore power and the primary circuit breaker Maury and I replaced the shore power inlet. It is nice to be able to have hot water and use the microwave again.

Fair winds and following seas

Why people hate cell phone companies

Today Maury (Gypsysails) took me to Radio Shack to replace my lost cell
phone. I was able to get a new phone for $19.95 with a $10 time credit. I
also paid $6 for an extended coverage plan. Normally I would not bother but
cell phones on boats don't do too well. Radio Shack also provides a
military discount (thank you Radio Shack) so my actual out of pocket cost
with the tax was under $20. Maury also needed a new cell phone. His phone
is on a family sharing plan so Radio Shack could not help him. On we went
to the Verizon store. The Verizon store is not run by Verizon, rather it is
run under contract to Verizon. Skipping to the chase as they said that
Maury could purchase a refurbished phone* exactly like my new one* from
Radio Shack for the low low price of $100. But wait, there is more. He
qualified for a $50 discount. Such a deal! But there is more - you get the
knives, the vegetable steamer, the cutting boards - all for the low low
price of ....

Yes, it really seems like a scam.

Fair winds and following seas.

Oh Well

I think I have done something to really annoy the higher power. Now I have managed to lose my cell phone. They say that bad things come in threes - I hope this is number three.

Fair winds and following seas.

Continue to struggle

Yesterday I decided that even though I felt terrible I needed to get some work done on Reboot. I did get a small project completed. Then the kidney stone pain hit again. A long night with pain meds every 4 hours. I did not think that I could still be in pain (much less awake) after a dose of Oxycodone. Last night I proved that I was wrong.

Fair winds and following  seas.