I arrived Sun and it is already Thursday night. Where did the past four days go? The answer (mostly): fixing the freezer and fridge!
Monday is a bit of a dead day – it is Jan 1 and all stores are closed and all the tradespeople are off. No way to shop for food or make progress on the fridge. So the day turns into a fairly relaxing day. I don’t have much to eat onboard so I go out for very nice tuna tacos.
Tuesday is all about tracking down Tevin. He is the island’s best (and kind of only) marine HVAC guy. He’s worked on my fridge before and has been great help, even remotely. During my Christmas break while in Germany we were already texting and planning the repair. Today my mission is to track him down, get him to resurface from his new years break. And to do so without being a pest. By midday I succeed and he asks me to go to St.George’s to buy the parts we need. Brad is nice enough to come with me and be my driver – what a nice guy! Thankfully the parts are there. With no refrigeration I can’t buy much so I only get enough groceries to make dinner.
Wednesday Tevin is supposed to come at 10a, the time he suggested. That becomes 11:30 and then he disappears for some time. It is 4p when he finally rocks up with a big smile under his dreadlocks and lookalike young helper Sai in tow. Now JACE is turned into a workshop and the three of us labor until 9p to get the new evaporator plate installed into the freezer, both copper lines (to/from) connected to the compressor, and the electrics hooked up. We test and it works. So the freezer is back in action. It cost some freezer volume (the new evaporator is inside the unit while the old was behind but it would require to take out half the galley cabinetry to get to that) but now it is a lot colder and more efficient. I am happy with it.
Thursday is supposedly “just” the small job to drill a few big holes between freezer and fridge and put a thermostat-controlled fan over it. I am a bit skeptical but Tevin assures me that will cool the fridge very well. Since Tevin lives far away he organized his local buddy Dwayne to do the job. I am feeling optimistic enough to go shopping in the morning. I hire my friend Winston the taxi driver and we go on a tour. With five big bags of goods I am back on the boat by 1p – but still no Dwayne and no fridge. Ouch! I get impatient and start doing the job myself. The small holes for the screws to attach the fan are easy. But the five finger-thick holes drilled straight through the stainless metal plates of both fridge and freezer are another matter. I sweat and swear but little by little I progress. I complete 4 of 5 holes by the time Dwayne finally calls me and asks to be picked up. But I am glad he does as the electric wiring for the fan is more complex than I thought. It is past 7p when everything is finally done and I drop off my helpers. Back aboard I clean up and load my no-longer-frozen goods and all that yoghurt I bought.
Now we will see how well that new setup works. Four days of (mostly) work. But now I am ready to head out again. Tomorrow morning I’ll leave early for the long sail to Union Island, if I make it that far. Stay tuned!