Jolly good spot

We have spent a couple of days here in Jolly Harbour and they have been very enjoyable, it being a surprisingly good destination for all sorts of reasons. The Marina is sheltered and well serviced. The cross section of shops, restaurants and bars is very extensive and the overall ‘feel’ of the place is relaxing and comfortable. We have met a number of interesting ‘cruisers’ who all sing the praises of the lifestyle and Jolly Harbour in particular.

Today we ‘hauled’ with the very competent and confidence giving staff and we have been doing all the necessary work to leave Hejira ashore here until the end of April. It was interesting to note that the travel lift ‘load cell’ registered over 16 British tons with full tanks, all our spares and stores but, bear in mind that was with me still on board!  We have knuckled down to the myriad jobs including the fitting of a new through hull fitting for the water maker intake.

This turned out to be a bit of a breeze having made the unique unit back in the UK over Christmas and the drilling for the larger aperture could not have been simpler in that it only involved drilling over the existing unit having centred the drill with a bung driven up the small original opening.

 

 

 

 

The new solution is an adaptation of a log impeller through hull.

The water maker will only be used on long ocean passages so we will be able to ‘blank off’ the opening with the ‘plug’ for most of the time. This will allow the yacht to ‘take the ground’ unimpeded by the necessary intake extending beyond the hull surface which is recommended to eliminate picking up bubbles which are the curse of water-makers.

 

Unfortunately Northshore had installed a traditional strainer which would work well in port but, on passage picked up small bubbles which collected in the top of the unit and were released as a large bubble when heeling on passage. The larger nature of this intake of air meant that the pump could not hydraulic the water through the membrane as the air would compress, diminishing the pressure and stopping the unit from producing water. We overcame the problem on our Atlantic crossing by dropping a weighted tube down the keel aperture but a more permanent solution was required.

 

So it’s home tomorrow, earlier than intended but happy that our Southerly is in a good place and in good shape.

I just hope that I have a comfortable flight as my crew John, being a retired BA pilot is (confidently) expecting to be able to stretch out ‘up the front’ having paid nothing for his ticket while I languish ‘down the back’ having bought my ticket twice!

I will resume the account towards the end of April.

Nick