Yesterday, I predicted it was going to be a bad day, and unfortunately for Jeff and the crew on Sans Souci, I was right. Although to be fair, you can also say it was a very good day, in that as I type this the crew is arriving safely in port, while headlines around the world are highlighting a nearby cat 4 hurricane.
Jeff spent much of yesterday in the boat’s lazarette trying to solve the electrical problems. When the air conditioning died, it caused some wiring to fry in the electric panel. That said, we’re still not clear whether the air conditioning system caused the electrical problem, or an electrical problem killed the air conditioning. That was the subject of much debate yesterday and this morning.
I contacted Nordhavn early yesterday morning, and within minutes they had the designer of the boat’s electrical system on the phone with Jeff. Being a Murphy’s Law kind of day, the sat phone stopped working. Nordhavn could hear Jeff, but he couldn’t hear them. I had one conversation with Jeff where he was never sure I was on the line. I called and he read me part numbers, and symptoms, even though he had no idea whether I was actually on the phone or not.
I tried emailing information to Jeff, but the Skymate system stopped working, and Jeff’s computer fried. The extreme heat and humidity inside the boat was making life miserable for the electronics. The boat has two navigation charting systems. One, the Navnet system, failed completely. No idea why.
Through all of this Jeff was working in the lazarette to try to diagnose what was happening in the electric panel. I normally keep the lazarette cool, because of all the electronics. Jeff said it was so hot that it was burning his feet just trying to be in there.
Finally, he gave up and decided the crew should just relax and watch a movie. 10 minutes in, the movie locked up.
It was one of those days…
On the positive side, it appears that Hurricane Norbert will track far enough north that Cabo should get nothing more than a little wind and rain. Sans Souci will be tied deep in the marina, which claims to be a good hurricane hole (it is a new marina, and as yet untested).
The crew will be moving to a hotel. Finding a room will not be a problem. With the hurricane coming, I’m sure the hotels are empty. Over the next few days, we’ll solve the problems, let the hurricane blow over, and life will be great again on Sans Souci.
-Ken W
PS Here’s a link to the latest issue of Latitude 38 .. with a bit more about the hurricane, but also an interesting article about the Maltese Falcon a GIANT sailboat getting t-boned by a smaller sailboat yesterday:
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-10-08&dayid=178
 |
 |
Jeff spent much of yesterday in the boat’s lazarette trying to solve the electrical problems. When the air conditioning died, it caused some wiring to fry in the electric panel. That said, we’re still not clear whether the air conditioning system caused the electrical problem, or an electrical problem killed the air conditioning. That was the subject of much debate yesterday and this morning.
I contacted Nordhavn early yesterday morning, and within minutes they had the designer of the boat’s electrical system on the phone with Jeff. Being a Murphy’s Law kind of day, the sat phone stopped working. Nordhavn could hear Jeff, but he couldn’t hear them. I had one conversation with Jeff where he was never sure I was on the line. I called and he read me part numbers, and symptoms, even though he had no idea whether I was actually on the phone or not.
I tried emailing information to Jeff, but the Skymate system stopped working, and Jeff’s computer fried. The extreme heat and humidity inside the boat was making life miserable for the electronics. The boat has two navigation charting systems. One, the Navnet system, failed completely. No idea why.
Through all of this Jeff was working in the lazarette to try to diagnose what was happening in the electric panel. I normally keep the lazarette cool, because of all the electronics. Jeff said it was so hot that it was burning his feet just trying to be in there.
Finally, he gave up and decided the crew should just relax and watch a movie. 10 minutes in, the movie locked up.
It was one of those days…
On the positive side, it appears that Hurricane Norbert will track far enough north that Cabo should get nothing more than a little wind and rain. Sans Souci will be tied deep in the marina, which claims to be a good hurricane hole (it is a new marina, and as yet untested).
The crew will be moving to a hotel. Finding a room will not be a problem. With the hurricane coming, I’m sure the hotels are empty. Over the next few days, we’ll solve the problems, let the hurricane blow over, and life will be great again on Sans Souci.
-Ken W
PS Here’s a link to the latest issue of Latitude 38 .. with a bit more about the hurricane, but also an interesting article about the Maltese Falcon a GIANT sailboat getting t-boned by a smaller sailboat yesterday:
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-10-08&dayid=178