Coopers Quest

[David Fox]

Not a lot happening on the two boats as they are in quarantine also as they cannot move down the island chain, they have stocked up with food, even though a lot of the businesses are closed apart from supermarkets, pretty much like here.
The difference being there is no shortage of things unlike Britain, US and a few other countries, perhaps they are used to this due to hurricane season or they cannot afford to waste money buying enough toilet rolls to fill the attic, unlike here.

[David Fox]

Gerry & Nicky are at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVirgins.
They managed to get a bit of sailing in and with the mainsail taking the wind, pulling a good 7 knots for a short time. Its wait and see time again. One time when Gerry got bored, he managed to get thecsingle sideban radio working, just by cleaning terminals. Being a yatch they can always find something to fix.
Here is a shot of Opal under sail taken from Gypsy Palace the catamaran.

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[David Fox]

The Coopers Quest Sail blog has been suspended until the end of April until they can start to travel again as rstrictions are lifted.

[David Fox]

The Coopers are still at anchor in the US VI.

Despite Gerry's rerouting of the SW cooling to the reefer condensers the time has come to replace the reefers, the compressor motor wasn't starting everytime and as the system is 30 years old its done its duty in perhaps mainly high ambient conditions so has done well.
Gerry is awaiting on a quote and availability. Hopefully it can be fitted before they lift the movement ban.
Other than that they are keeping healthy and amused along with the CAT and another Cruiser in a near anchorage.

[David Fox]

View of Reefer Compressor in the pit

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The Reefer people will have to decant the gas in the system before Gerry can remove the old compressor.

He has not a lot of room to work in, so there will be a few Anglo Saxon words and Sailor speak being bandied about, but then as we know it all helps to get the job done and stay sane.

Further view

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Auxiliary Engine which was new before setting off from Florida, another big lump and a hole in the bank account.

Aux Engine

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Mfr: NexGen UCM 3.5Kw.&

[David Fox]

Ready to lift out of the Lazarette

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Gerry added some new fibre glass to the Fridge Flat.
Sounds vaguely familiar of Brine tanks on the A boats rotting the Stbd ME Gear flat deck.

[David Fox]

As Gerry has a way with machinery, so his wife Nicky has a way with words fit for polite company, so I will let her bring you up to date.
The Floor is yours Nicky.
We have been hoping that a couple of the islands might open their borders before the end of the month so we can get moving out of the hurricane zone but it looks like nothing is going to happen before the beginning of June when it looks like Grenada might be the first to relax their restrictions on boats wanting to head out of the hurricane path, fingers crossed!
Our biggest frustration of the week has been the ongoing saga of the fridge and freezer, or lack thereof. In preparation for the new compressor and motor Gerry kept himself and Dale busy with diving into the lazarette and disconnecting all the wiring to said compressor and motor, and removing the control box. I have to say at this point they did a very unmanly thing and actually consulted the wiring diagram - not that it was correct of course as previous owners had added wires and Macgyvered the system!

Grown Men reading Circuit Diagram

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Just how difficult is this circuit diagram

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The tweaker twins removed the excesses and beefed up the required wiring and updated the wiring diagram to show the correct schematics (maybe!) As always there were tools from one end of the cockpit to the other so I stayed out of the way as much as possible during this time. Once the wiring was sorted out Gerry was keen to get the compressor and motor out of the lazarette so that he could beef up the shelf that the new one would be sitting on, but to do this he needed the refrigeration guys to come to the boat and de -gas the system, he had hoped they would show up to do this on the Friday - yeah right! We waited most of the day and no one showed up - I didn't like to say I told you so but I had a feeling that would be how it would go.
So we now have no fridge or freezer and have to buy bags of ice each day to try and keep everything cold enough to not rot or go rancid - its times like this that we wish it was a bit cooler! Anyway the marina, which is close by, sells bags of ice for an extortionate price so we don't have to go too far, just need an overdraft to keep our cold stuff edible.
The supermarket was quite empty but we still had to wear our face coverings - it really has become a joke but we complied with our boat appropriate bandanas - see photo.

A couple of right pirates

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[David Fox]

Monday rolled around with the hope that the fridge guys would come to degas the old compressor - not a chance in hell! Gerry ended up calling them in the afternoon as he wanted to get it done so that he could remove the old compressor and motor and reinforce the shelf - they would come in the morning. Sure enough Gerry got a call at about 8.30 the next morning, the guy was at the dock and could Gerry come and ferry him out to the boat. Off to the dock and he was soon back with the guy in tow. Back on board and they prepared to empty the gas from the system, almost. The guy had left a crucial hose in the van at the dock - not a great start! Back in the dinghy, ride to the dock , collect the hose, back in the dinghy and ride out to the boat again, this time with all equipment necessary to do the job. Gerry climbed into his favourite spot - inside the lazarette and did all the hooking up of the hoses etc. as the guy wouldn't have been able to get in the lazarette if he tried. The gas was successfully removed - I thought that was it for the day but Gerry thought otherwise. The company charges 2 hours for every attendance at a boat and the guy had been there for less than half an hour (and done next to nothing) so Gerry decided on the spot that he could help remove the compressor and motor from the lazarette and take it away with him. The hoist was already in place so Gerry hooked it up, undid a few bolts and then instructed the guy to operate the hoist. It was a bit of a struggle to get it out as it had to be turned slightly to negotiate the lip of the lazarette and the water maker but it came out and no damage done. Next thing the guy asks for some water - he's sea sick! The anchorage is a bit rolly but it's by no means rough, how can he possibly work on boats under those conditions? Anyway we heaved and lifted the compressor and motor to the side of the boat and used the dinghy hoist to lift in to the dinghy, packed all the company gear into the dinghy and Gerry took him and the gear back to the dock and unloaded it all - if we were going to pay for 2 hours we were going to get our money's worth! I cleaned up the cockpit whilst they were gone.

[David Fox]

The good news, Gerry has got his new reefer compressor installed and running, maintaining -7 to -10°C, with shorter running times on the ON cycle so a saving of battery power there, plus everything is cold and one thing less to worry about when he sets sail. Obviously it made Nicky happy such that she doesn't have to throw food away.
Photos will appear shortly.

[David Fox]

New Compressor

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The best news this week is that we once again have a fully working fridge and freezer - thank God. More of that in a minute.

Our week began with Gerry checking the drive belts on the main engine alternator because it had been a while since he had checked them. They were a little loose but in good condition so nothing needed doing there but at the same time he found a small leak coming from the water heater outlet hose which only required tightening up to come good once more.
After searching he also found a cable rubbing on the alternator frame so that was cable tied out of the way. Gerry rang the fridge guys to see where our new compressor and motor were and when they were coming to fit it - the short story is that it was MIA, having been shipped via the US postal service but not yet arrived into St Thomas.

Compressor in place

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[color=#FF00FFOn his return he decided that we should haul the dinghy up onto the davits and inspect the bottom of it. WHY? I hear you ask, well if you look hard enough for a job one always rears its ugly head.
What did we find? A garden was growing on the bottom of the dinghy, thick green weed and slime had turned the grey/white bottom a lovely shade of almost fluro green, it certainly needed its bottom scrubbing!
This was not going to be a simple task as reaching the bottom of the dinghy from the boat is a bit of a challenge even with a long deck brush. The "find a job" turned into a 3 day marathon!

We discussed what might remove the stubborn growth and thought that the chlorine tablets we use to keep growth out of the strainers for the air conditioning cooling system might actually kill off the growth so we dug out the chlorine tablets and tried to dissolve one in warm water - it took forever! By late afternoon the tablet had dissolved enough to pour the solution into a spray bottle and apply it to the bottom of the dinghy nearest the boat (we had only attacked one side up to this point as we would need to turn the dinghy around in the davits to reach the other side) and left it overnight to do its thing - if it was going to.
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Pulling a Vacuum to test for leaks.

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We set to with scrubbing brushes and hose and had some success, the chlorine tablet must have had some effect as it was easier to get off today. By midday we were wondering what else might work and I suggested that we try Bar Keepers friend, after all it is meant to get almost anything off of everything. With a pot scrubber and the bar keepers friend the bottom finally began to look clean at least on the side facing the boat! It was time to turn the dinghy around to reach the other side, at this point Gerry "found" another job - the dinghy hoist has always been an annoyance as it doesn't lift straight, it is comprised of 2 triple turning blocks one with a becket strung with a line (the correct word is reeved for anyone that cares!)

Monday came with the news that our compressor had turned up and they would be coming tomorrow to fit it hooray! We filled the day with the hoist back in action we turned the dinghy around to be able to reach and clean the second side which went much quicker as we now knew what to use to clean it.

We also had good news from Grenada on Monday - they are opening to cruising yachts from June 1st, with a lot of red tape and restrictions but we are finally able to move on from here. The first hoop was nominating and applying for which of several dates we were going to arrive on, once accepted we have to fill out health forms, arrive within 48hrs of our nominated date, notifying them 48hrs before arrival of our imminent arrival, go to a designated quarantine dock to check in, self-quarantine on our boat in a designated spot in the harbour for 14 days then get a Covid test done before we are allowed to go ashore.

I just have to make sure that we have enough provisions and Rum to last for that long! Our intention is to move on to Trinidad if they open their borders up but for the moment we just have to wait and see what happens. Grenada has told us that there will be quarantine WIFI, let's hope so and some arrangements for provisions if we run short - that had better include rum!