Is the Repair to the GenSet Within Sight???

October 4, 2012
We arrived back to Shelter Bay on Tuesday after having spent 18 days in the San Blas Islands.  Our pantry was looking a little bare and I think we were all starting to grow fins and gills from spending so much time snorkelling and swimming.  It was also time to do some serious laundry.  And, the best news - we heard from Fredrik who had just returned from a couple of weeks traveling and ... he had the spare parts for the generator (or GenSet as it is referred to).

Why do we need a generator on board?  And how have we managed for so many months without one?  Good questions!  We use the generator to charge our batteries which powers our fridge and freezer, lights, and our navigation equipment as well as our autopilot.  Options to a generator would be wind and/or solar power, which we don't have.  Another option of course is to run the engine which also charges the batteries.  So, why don't we just run the engine?  Well, it's quite noisy and also consumes almost twice as much fuel as the generator would.

We have been using the ship's main engine to charge our batteries whenever we are not connect to shore power ever since the GenSet went on the blink way back when we were in St. Martin.  It takes about two hours a day of charging to provide us with the energy we need.  As you all know,  I have had to forgo the use of my hair dryer while at sea and we also don't use the microwave or the air conditioners (which is really sad cause sometimes the nights are really hot and sticky; but somehow, we have survived) otherwise it would probably be more like 4 hours of charging.   We have toyed with the idea of investing in solar and/or wind power but are reluctant as it seems like bit of overkill if we have an operating generator.  So, this is our last kick at the can - if the parts we ordered don't fix the generator, then we'll review our options again.

We took the bus to Panama City today to meet up with Fredrik and pick up the parts.  Tomorrow we travel back to Colon and ... keep your fingers crossed ... Jens will fiddle with the generator one more time and with any luck, we'll have a fully operational GenSet once again.  You see how exciting life on a sail boat can be?