LIfe in the Marina, so nice!

We are enjoying the luxuries of a modern five star resort and being in a marina for sure. Great wifi, amazing swimming pools and exercise facility and a great town just a hop away. This gives me the chance to chip away at “the list” of work on the boat, a list that grew exponentially on the last voyage. Also a chance for some “me” maintenance, some long overdue. http://www.suteraharbour.com/v4/index.php/forum/marina

For the boat, we isolated the electrical problem on the engine to a short somewhere between the engine and the master ignition breaker. Finding the short was not possible so rerouting the power source cured the problem. There is still a problem with the Smartcraft as they are not getting any engine data. When i ordered the boat i decided not to put in the optional analog gauges, something i had not missed until now. Cummins is looking into the glitch and i am sure it will be resolved.

The battery mystery was a puzzle and not sure we have cured it but i do have a temporary solution. i have killed three sets of batteries in the last 4 years, yikes. i was reluctant to buy any more batteries until i sorted out the system. i pulled out the 12 batteries i had on the boat and found 4 in good shape and hooked them back up, they seem to be holding well, time will tell. Once i am confident that there is no systematic glitch i will get new batteries and install some solar panels. As i plan on always being in the sunny parts of the world solar panels make real sense, i can cut my battery use in half with two panels.

The anchor windlass chain stripper had been ripped out of its mounting and that caused the malfunction and the chain mess. It had been bolted through the fiberglass right at the edge of the hole where it was very weak and the bolt pulled through the glass. i had a stainless steel plate made to mount it on deck and bolted the stripper to the plate, a much stronger mounting. We will remark the chain and the anchor projects will be done.

A list of minor repairs are also almost complete, new float switches for the bilge pumps, hatch hinge repairs and the likes. We have received the needed parts to repair the stabilizers, and will haul out soon for the bottom paint and to repack the fins. Kota Kinabalu is the first place we could get propane in 7 months so topping up the bottles. In the “if i was starting again” list, i would have had European propane bottles installed, it is a constant challenge filling the American bottles, i did pick up two more so we carry a huge supply.

So Furthur looking good and major problems reduced or gone, time for the people. A few months of great cooks onboard and easy living at anchor had not done good things, i was not in the best of shape. We started a competition on the boat, each workout was a point, running, long walks, gym or swimming got a point. The girls became competitive fast, racking up 3 points some days. i got two a day sometimes. Soon i was back to my one hour runs or even more and solid weight lifting. The Spiritual side got its tune up also as i revisited the local AA group.

As with the boat, some of my parts are wearing out, haha. i seem to have remarkable eye sight for my age, still no glasses! But my hearing has suffered the toils of rock and roll, motorcycles, diving, engines and all the things i have done to destroy my ears. I have known i needed some help for a while, laughing at my mythical story of my hearing loss; “Four years ago and angel came to me and told me i would be surrounded by beautiful women on my cruise, and asked, do you want to see them or to hear them?” the choice was obvious, haha. As i am surrounded by often foreign girls with thick accents and angelic soft voices, i was missing most of what was said. So the practical side took over and i went to the hearing aid guy. i know have a new set of “lolly oggles” as Sam calls them and wow i can hear!

Sam dove head long into her arts and crafts projects, she is doing some amazing things in jewelry from coconut shells and sea shells. She has also mastered Batick printing on fabric, resulting in me getting some cool pillows. i especially like the one marking my chair and warning trespassers.

So in a week we leave this oasis of luxury and go to Kudat to haul out, from sublime to sub human in comfort for sure. Then we are off to a new adventure, the Philippines!