Cambridge, Rainman

Deformed impeller

Today I work on running the water maker for the first time, since the water is very clean here. I can’t get the Rainman water maker to work properly. After a little study and a few emails to Rainman, I realize that the impeller in the lift pump is shot. After a couple years of soaking in pickling solution the rubber impeller has swollen and some of the rubber blades are to deformed to pump water. 

 

 

I reverse the impeller so the now permanently curved blades are pointing in the direction that in impeller rotates. That does allow the impeller to now pump water, but the swelled impeller make the electric motor work harder and draw more current than our generator can supply making the generator go into over-current. 

 The Rainman folks also recommend doing some unloaded runtime since the high pressure pump has not been run in sometime or using a higher wattage generator. Hopefully when we get to Georgetown I can find a spare impeller among the 300-400 boats that are currently there..

We had planned to go snorkeling at the “Aquarium”, but it is overcast and since we have been there many times before we pass. We go for a hike on Cambridge Cay around Bell Rock. We have been here when the seas were rough enough that waves were crashing through the hole in Bell Rock. 4 years ago we had the unusual experience of being here for a couple days of dead calm and were able to walk out and climb up Bell Rock, something I would of never considered before. 

 

Bell Rock

 

 

 

 

 On the beach were we landed our dinghies we see the "raft" made up of plastic jugs. I hate to think what the story is for its existence.

 

 

 

 

Cambridge, Hike

Today is fairly windy and a little overcast, good to be in the protected Cambridge mooring field. We head to the south side of the Cambridge Cay and hike across the to the very rough channel between Cambridge Cay and Compass Cay to the south.

After afternoon of dominoes and cards. I make pizza for dinner and use some goat cheese along with the mozzarella. The goat cheese put the total salt content over the top and Linda though it was horrible.

Cambridge

 Wardwick Wells to Cambridge Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

 

We leave at 8:30 for a short trip to Cambridge Cay and arrive around 10:30. Today the winds are fairly moderate and we head out the ocean side instead normally calmer shallow banks to the west. Sea Vu Play gets the last mooring ahead of us, but as we arrive a catamaran leaves and we grab that mooring. After lunch I defrost the refrigerator. Mark and Karen comes over to play dominoes later in the afternoon.

Bell Rock, Cambridge

 

WW, High Wind

This morning I work on sealing our mast to deck seal better. In some heavy seas a week or so ago we had a lot of salt water in the bilge and I assume some came down through the seal there that was lacking. Later in the day after we return from the “phone Booth” from our daily cell connection, a wet ride back due to high winds, I notice the temperature in the freezer/refrigerator is rising and the compressor is not running. I turn up the thermostat from the coldest setting and the compressor start running again. Unfortunately the refrigeration was off long enough to melt some of the frost build-up on the freezer, so I will have to defrost the freezer and clean the refrigerator. I have to defrost every two to three months, but just did that task a month ago.

 

"The Phone Booth"

We have a “pet” Barracuda that seems to like our boat and has been hanging out by our for the afternoon. Because of the high winds and choppy water we stay on the boat for the rest of the day. 

 

Park Office

WW, Beach Day

I rebed the other leaking port this morning. We spend the afternoon at the beach on the lounge chairs and swimming.

 

Mooring field

Later back on the boat, I purge the water from our front water tank back into our 5 gallon folding water jugs. The water in these jugs picked up a little salt from the waves pounding on them the other day coming to Wardwick wells which I did not notice until after I poured them into our front tank. A little too salty to drink but good enough to wash with so I pump the tank dry back into the jugs.

WW, Get Together

Linda spends part of the day cleaning and using Armor-all for removing surface mold. I rebed one of the ports that have been leaking over Linda seat. Tomorrow I will rebed the other leaker. We have not had much rain, so most of the leakage has been from heavy seas with salt water washing down the decks.

After lunch we head in the Park Office for our cell connection. The are 12 other cruisers there doing the same. Its like one big phone booth.

At 4:30 there is a cruiser get-together at the pavilion on the beach. I bake brownies. Lots of good food. We have an WW interesting conversation with Susan and her husband Andy from Southwest Harbor Maine. They have a 34 Catalina, “Chickadee”, which they haul out for the season at Green Turtle in the Abacos, Bahamas. They have another boat back in Maine. They run an RV park in Maine in the summer so we may see them then.

 

Cruiser gathering

On days that we don’t do any motoring which also heats our hot water heater, we use a solar sun shower. I hang the shower bag over the overhead hatch in the head with the shower head dangling through the hatch. A couple years ago I added a shower curtain ceiling track, with a wrap around nylon fabric shower curtain. The curtain contains the water and keep the rest of the head dry, but is not waterproof. The non-absorbant shower curtain drys very fast and a shammy cloth quickly drys the floor. Very little clean up.

WW, Sand Bar

Another day of leisure. Dinghy to the Park Office to connect to there cell repeater, to update weather reports, emails, texts, etc. Linda plays Wordle with her sister, but with the low data speeds they can only text back and forth. Played dominoes in the afternoon on our boat with Mark and Karen.

 

Panoramic view from the "phone booth" on the Park Office deck

Dinghy dock

 

Later in the afternoon at low tide we dinghy over to "Sea Vu Play". The mooring field is in this deep, but narrow channel where the boats are in single file. At low tide, if the wind is right you can almost jump off the stern of your boat onto the sandbar. Mark is getting concerned that their rudder is getting very close to the sandbar. We also walk around on the sandbar. At one point we start backing up as this nurse shark comes towards us to check us out.

To get on the sand bar Mark & Karen stepped from boat to dinghy to Sand Bar

 

Watching the Nurse Shark watching us

Salmon on the grill for dinner tonight.