Thanks to all the encouragement I received I am feeling a lot better and am ready to move on. On Saturday I leave Tyrrel Bay, once again headed for Union Island’s Clifton Harbor. At first I plan on just motoring the two hours, charging the batteries in the process and running the water maker. But it turns out to be such a beautiful day with sun and a solid 16kn of wind and I can’t resist. Off goes the engine, up go all the sails and and with a beautifully balanced sail plan and almost zero lee helm (the boat’s tendency to want to head upwind when not properly trimmed) I enjoy a lovely sail – and thanks to the sun can still run the water maker and charge the batteries. At one point I notice the sun’s reflection off the silver “Moody 49” model name plate on the gangway plank – looks cool, no?

I love the anchorage in Clifton Bay and pick exactly the same spot as last time I was here. The bay is calm and protected by a big shallow reef which looks beautiful and breaks the surf, which creates a low, soothing background noise of crashing waves. At the same time the win blows in unimpeded which gives great airflow and cools down the boat.

Sunday morning I feel refreshed and, after quite a few days, I feel up for a morning swim again. I venture out over and along the reef, that is just deep enough to swim and offers lots to see along the way. It is windy and choppy which makes breathing a bit harder. But I still make it all the way to Happy Island, walk around it once, and swim back. What a lovely way to start the day.

After breakfast I go ashore to once again clear customs into St. Vincent. That turns out to be a bad decision. Since it is Sunday, both the Customs and Immigration officers, while being super friendly and without much to do, gladly charge an extra fee for weekend processing. Should have waited until Monday. Rookie mistake!

It is a lovely day and I walk around a little and enjoy the views, buy some fresh fruit and veggies, and do some research into my next project. More on that later. Feeling much better, I can’t help myself not to take this picture:

Maybe I shouldn’t have? Because just as soon as I get back onboard JACE my patience and resolve get tested again! This time it is the fridge and freezer that are failing. Can you believe it? After some initial problems (see my earlier posts), it has been running without problems for weeks. Well, not so today.

First I notice that the ice cubes in the freezer are watery. Wait a minute, so I test the fridge…way too warm at 15 C. What is going on? Woah, the whole unit is off. I turn the switch off then on again. The compressor and cooling water pump come on and all seems normal. I check water flow and then if the coolant line is getting cold. But it isn’t. What’s going on? I am not sure. And while I still am looking at it, the compressor starts making loud rumbling noises and then shuts off. Wow!

Can you believe it? Generator down, freshwater running half pressure and unreliably, and now the fridge and freezer go down. I actually laugh. I think that’s a good sign. My mindfulness training is working. I text my fridge guy Tevin from Grenada who even gets back to me on a Sunday but so far no solution and the noise you hear in the video is ominous and sounds rather expensive, if you ask me. But let’s see.

I quickly take stock of what meats and other foods now need to be consumed and start cooking and planning. I turn most of the half frozen ground beef and some eggplants into a pretty good pasta sauce that should last for a couple of days, stuff my face with as many burgers as I can (specifics shall not be revealed), and determine that the chicken will make it until tomorrow when it shall be turned into a curry. So I should be well nourished for the next few days and I hope all the frozen bread will last long enough. If only the water pump holds up, I should be able to last 3-4 days here, even without refrigeration.

And then, just as I sit down to eat, my trusty Apple watch gives out. The screen goes ballistic, flashing in all sorts of colors and patterns, and the watch is no longer responding to anything and can’t even be forced into a reboot. I do some quick googling and so far it sounds like a fatal hardware failure.

What do you make of this? I swear it is a test and I will not fail it and just shrug it off. After all, I am sitting on our beautiful boat in an amazing surrounding and get to do what I love and don’t have to work. I better not be complaining … !

But let’s see what tomorrow brings!