Regulator Failure

Sunday night was a musical evening at Wainunu Club where the Fijians held a Fijian Buffet for $10 each on their dock not far from the ferry dock.  I watched the BC Ferry leave on its Sunday night departure.  Later we would bid farewell to our friends as we were to be off for a week of sailing after our regulator arrived.

However, Monday night will find us still at the dock.  As I type this on a beautiful sunny and hot afternoon with a gentle breeze blowing, we are waiting for Michael to return to his boat so we may return the solar panel voltage regulator that he built today.  It does not function.  I hooked it all up as specified, not complicated at all, but the voltage from the panels ran well over the 14 volt cutoff.  We now have towels clipped to the solar panels, reconnected to shore power as, except for the regulator installation we were all set up to leave.

Morning was spent in the town buying provisions at the market.  Lynda is a thrifty shopper.  Jim dealt with customs and dinghy fuel.  I hauled groceries and did some banking.

Today was Lynda's day to blow up at Jim.  Part of her concern was that he had no apology to make to me for the issues I raised before.  The other would be that Jim asked Lynda for her weekly payment.  But it did prompt him to do a few things on the boat.  He agreed to move the two dead outboard motors off the stern rail which was progress even if it was me who got to carry them to the "marina office". 

The "office" is a space with a sink and a freezer which is basically used to make ice for the boaters at this one slip marina.  Odd that the dock itself is concrete with water lines and power with a decent ramp to shore.  At that point it is pretty much undeveloped territory.  A one stall toilet that flushes connected to a one stall shower which together look like one out-hoouse in the mosquito grasses.  Apparently this development and a condominium with a nice wharf closer to town are both owned by an absentee who has lost interest or has run out of money.

Now later toward sundown, we have just returned from two visits to Michael.  The first was to return the regulator which was not regulating.  Then a trip to a town dock to do the only thing possible amid such disappointment - buy more beer.  Even if I had to buy it.  Beer here is $5 for a 750 mL bottle so you can drown a lot of sorrows quite cheaply.  On returning to Intention (I have renamed it Deception), Lynda advised that Michael had radioed to say that the regulator was ready.  Seems that there is nothing wrong with the regulator but Michael suspects that there is another negative path to ground on this boat..  That short circuit I now need to find.  Of course you cannot test solar panels at night.

I have given up being bitterly disappointed, it is now just a comic opera of whatever else may go wrong.  My friends in Bluewater will remember the apron which reads "If It Ain't Broke, Just Wait".  Well, no need to wait here - it's broken already.  The trick is to find and fix the breaks.

Again tried to attach a picture, one of the bearded Michael and his gadget but it would not upload.