3/22/2024 Marina di Scarlino
Up with the sun with great anticipation of a generator
technician arriving today! No word from Boma so I assume they will be here today. I
was getting excited every time a little service truck drove by and happily,
they showed up at about 0945. The technician spoke enough English for us to get
by. I had opened everything up for access and they quickly got to work. He
busted a knuckle in the process of disassembly, made me feel like a
professional as we compared war wounds. They ran their tests and concluded that
the control board would need replacement. The technician called Cummins in
Milan and they confirmed the replacement and located a new control board in
Belgium. He expected to have it in his office at Boma by Tuesday and return to
install it on Wednesday. They buttoned
up the generator and went on their way. I was very optimistic.
With the day half gone we stopped for lunch and then moved
on to one more rigging issues, the main sail. We unfurled and lowered it to the
deck. I changed the head shackle arrangement and we hoisted it back up. It
looks promising, but only a sail will tell if we succeeded. Enough work for one
day. Perhaps we sail tomorrow.
3/23/2024 Marina di Scarlino
Up with the sun for a beautiful Saturday morning. Spent a
good bit of time looking at the weather since we are scheduled to depart this
marina at the end of the month. That and we want to check out the islands. With
40 knot winds predicted for Sunday starting early morning we decided we would
not be doing an overnighter. The hull was in need of cleaning so we launched
the dinghy, cleaned and polished the port side for a bit of an arm work out.
Since we had not really seen Follonica on the weekend we decided to go for a bike ride and check out the town after lunch. First stop was the Brico, our favorite hardware store, for some things that Suzette needed for her art project. Next, we headed downtown and found lots of people walking the main street and the walk along the beach front. There were an endless array of venders lining the walk and lots of happy people enjoying their day off. We witnessed lots of friendly greetings as neighbors hugged and talked along the way. We found an interesting shop; wine, fine spirits, cheeses and meets. The shop owner engaged us at the door and without speaking a word of English, lulled us in for a classic 5 cheese bread, a specialty for Easter. We bought the cheese bread and a giant chocolate Easter egg beautifully wrapped in foil. We are planning Easter brunch for our Italian friends on Raffaellesco, so we are looking for traditional Italian foods to serve in addition to our traditional foods. On the beach front a woman was selling nuts and dried fruits, we bought almonds, dates and candied papaya. As a kid my dad loved to get the jellied and sugared fruit slices on the board walk, this candied papaya reminded me of that happy memory.
Everything needed to make wine is available at the hardware store, except the grapes
Last stop was Conad to buy eggs and some color rich vegetables to make dye and dye Easter eggs. We also stocked up on ingredients for our brunch. It was nearly 1800 and starting to get cold for our bike ride home. We were fairly well loaded; Suzette with a box of a traditional Easter sweet bread on her bike rack and me with two paniers and a backpack full of goodies.
Back the boat the neighbors on our starboard side were on
their boat and greeted us, but it was a short conversation as they do not speak
English. Our bikes fold easily and were quickly stored in the work room while
Suzette stowed our provisions and started dinner. We enjoyed a new cocktail
that we discovered in Florence, a version of Negroni made with Amaro, Rosso
Vermouth and Gin in equal parts with a wedge of lime. In Florence they used a
wedge of passion fruit.
It was a trifecta of games for the night; Train Game (I
won), Backgammon (I won) and Pinocle (Suzette won). I mention the winners only
due to the fact that Suzette more often wins, she is a shrewd game player. Another
late night for us, but with high winds predicted for early morning we figured
we would be sleeping in.
3/24/2024 Marina di Scarlino
The wind arrived as promised at about 0400 and howled
through the rigging. Lots of gentle motion in the water and creaking of lines
as they were pushed to their limits. With big boats on either side, we were
nestled in and I slept well. Suzette was up early and continuing to plan her
easter brunch, she loves to make a meal for guests. There was no point
venturing outside, even though the day was bright and sunny, the wind would
knock you down!
We tinkered away the day; new screens in the ports of the VIP cabin, a light in the engine compartment, progress on piping the table drain and a trip to the marine store to pick up some spare fuses. As I find new fuse types and sizes, I like to keep a spare for all of them. The wind finely died down about 1700 and the sky turned pink and yellow as the sun set. Homemade lentil soup and some reading rounded out the day.
3/25/2024 Marina di Scarlino
A bright sunny calm
day dawned. I decided to test the anchor windlass and bow thruster a bit more thoroughly
after having replaced the fuse. No bauno, there was still an issue, this time I
noted that I was getting no output from the alternator. I also noted, much to
my embarrassment, that the high loop that I dutifully checked last week, was
leaking into the engine compartment. The problem was quickly identified, the
air vent hose connection on the high loop was not properly seated because the
tube was too tight. In the process of fixing it I managed to drop the little
rubber one way valve out of the vent and somewhere into the engine compartment.
We looked for hours using the endoscope and flash lights, but it was nowhere to
be found. Looks like we will be buying a new high loop. As for the alternator
the output was fine, but the water splash in the engine compartment fried a
relay. Replacing the relay would allow us to test the systems. Of course, it
was bewitching hour and nothing would be open, so we had lunch.
After lunch we headed to the marine store. The closer store
closes on Monday afternoon so we had to walked to the other store. They had a
high loop, but not the right relay. I needed double pole with a resistor, but I
bought theirs anyway to see how it tested using my multi meter. Back at the
boat I robbed the one-way valve out of the new high loop and put it in my
existing unit, perfect fit. Next I fitted a Relay into the alternator circuit
that I robbed from the generator vent fan circuit. Fired up the engine, no
leaks, the anchor windlass worked and the bow thrustor was working as well.
This time I truly believe that I have fixed the problem. I meant well, but sometimes I am my own worst
enemy. Now I just need to find a new relay.
With the sun still shining we set about cleaning the
starboard side hull. There was some nasty tar looking swirl that required a lot
of effort to clean up, but at the end of the day it all looked great. The sun
was setting and the clouds building for the impending rain overnight, time to
get below.
Homemade pizza for dinner. The rain started at about 2000
and continued on and off through the night.
3/26/2024 Marina di Scarlino, Italy
Slept in as the rain softly pelted the cabin top. A lazy
morning with time to kill down below. I decided to get educated on these relays
and how they worked. After a few you tube videos, I decided to open up the bad
relay. It was clear that the salt water had gotten into it and ruined it. I
decided to see if it could be cleaned up and made to work. Using a brass wire
brush and a can of compressed air it seemed to clean up and looked like it
might function. Using a 12v extension
cord I had fashioned at home I put power to it and it seemed to test ok for
continuity over both poles. Testing the resistor, it showed an ohm reading
higher that the spec for this relay, but that will simply provide more
protection not less. I think I will plug it in for the generator exhaust fan
and see what happens. I think I know more now than I did this morning, but just
enough to be dangerous.
For our next trick we decide to
work on Suzette’s fish sculpture. The rain continued as we worked. The
sculpture has been months in the making, but is now complete and gracing the saloon
wall. This is a scaled down version of the sculpture she made for our house in
HB.
The larger home version of School of Fiji FishThe rain did finally subside and we were able to go for a walk to the gourmet store for a few grocery items. I had been resisting paying their price for our favorite Gin and Rye, Hendricks and Bullet, but I gave in and bought it at 61 euros apiece, no one else carried it here. Dinner was a mixed bag of things that needed to be eaten and leftovers; roasted cauliflower, homemade humus, roasted tomatoes and rice with bread from the gourmet store.
3/27/2024 Marina di Scarlino
The rain began in the early morning and came down hard. On top of that it was cold. The generator repair tech was due this morning, but it was 1000 and he was a no show, so I sent a note to the office. The office responded and said that it was too rainy and they would be arriving on Friday instead. Thanks for letting me know. We whiled away the day reading and playing cards, Suzette was unbeatable. This was the first day in a long time that I could not believe how slowly the day was passing, clocked seemed not to move as the rain came down. We hardboiled and dyed Easter eggs in preparation for the weekend.
Finally, about 1400 the rain stopped and the sun popped out
to warm the day. We walked to the Marine store to see if they had the relay I
needed, but no luck. As we passed the marina village shops we could see the
progress they were making toward opening for the season. The yacht club had
deployed their tables, chairs and lounges. There was a crew cleaning out the
swimming pool. Perhaps they will open on easter weekend.
Suzette made another delicious homemade soup for dinner.
Soup is the best for warming the cabin and warming the body and soul.
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