Tragedy in Savusavu Bay

I was up at 6 am before the sun to try and find the negative leak that Michael thought would be the cause of our problem.  I met Leon on the dock and he told me he was heading into town to learn more about last night’s boat explosion. 

As the sun rose higher and the radio came on with the morning net we learned that very sadly Shaun and Sharon’s boat Oblio suffered two explosions and burned about 8:30 the previous evening.  We are to far down the harbour to have heard anything.  Anatoly on nearby “Puppy” did a very courageous thing and kicked in the companionway and was able to get Shaun out.  Sadly Sharon died in the fire.  Shaun was badly burned on his arm and his back and in extreme pain.  Brian came by and as Shaun jumped into the water, Brian got him to shore.  He is in hospital and we hope he will recover.  Shaun and Sharon were living aboard their boat and ran a T shirt and clothing business in Savusavu.

I determined that there was no negative ground leak in the solar panels.  All terminals on the negative buss bar were very corroded and Jim admitted that was something which he had neglected.  I took them all apart and reinstalled the regulator.  But, as I said to Lynda, to do the same thing and expect different results is a definition of insanity.  Sure enough, the regulator does not function.  Jim will have to get Michael to visit the boat to see for himself.

So we now have a low-tech regulator.  If the voltage gets over 14 V on the meter, we tie towels to the panels.  The variables are whether or not the fridge is cooling or whether the fans are running.  Of course the intensity of the sun varies as well.   As I sit in the cabin under the fan, I can keep cool and just listen to the fan speed.  At night it won’t be a problem, there won’t be any unregulated solar power, none at all and as our batteries cannot keep a charge, there will be no fans and no fridge at night.

But I get ahead of myself.  At about noon today I had voted myself off this boat.  Too many dodgy electrical issues and nothing would make the solar regulator work, Jim won’t buy new batteries, his fire extinguisher is expired and his flares in storage date back to 1995.  Jim makes no apologies but talks about conserving resources, he doesn’t have the resources that I obviously enjoy.

However, I was persuaded by Lynda to stay with the boat for a short trip along the coast to a snorkel site called Split Rock.  It would be about as far as going to Portland Island at home.  And this is a beautiful place , I would like to see more of it and I have nowhere else to go.  So I agreed.

Nice sailing, close hauled, with just the mainsail, me at the helm.  Lynda has been here before with Jim, her only sailing trip before I arrived.  Issues happened when we tried to anchor off Cousteau’s Resort which is a short dinghy ride to a buoy marking Split Rock coral reef.  There was not enough power to use the windlass to lower the anchor.  For some reason, the voltage regulator on the engine is not allowing alternator current to flow.  So the anchor went down with a winch handle and will have to come up the same way.  Jim is experimenting with the wiring.  I am confident that we are safe because we can always start the engine now that we have the isolated starter battery.  But when we look at the problems other people have, we have none at all.

This land is beautiful, so lush and green.  Yes, it rains a lot but that just makes for the amazing vegetation.  The people are so respectful.  The young people all so well groomed and polite.  The children look scrubbed and polished in their school uniforms and while they have so little, they seem very happy. 

Cell phones are big here and while I can eventually get most things on this internet connection, Lynda’s  Iphone is so quick as is her Ipod.  Vodaphone and Digicel are the main companies here and the rates are comparatively cheap.

5 pm time for a rum and coke.  That might make the cook a happier camper as the technicians try to squeeze the last volts out of the sun.  As the sun fades and the rain pours, we try to cook before there is not enough house battery for the gas solenoid.  Whatever the creation will be, it will have lots of onion and garlic.