Since the time we made our first passage on the Amel, I have been unconvinced that the cooling system on our Perkins diesel has been working as well as it should be. Even though we seem to be getting good water flow from the exhaust, I only seem to be able to keep the engine temperature (measured on the gauge, not a heat gun) within the operating range if I run the engine at a lower RPM than it is…
During my internet wanderings yesterday, I stumbled across what I felt was an interesting video. Along with a bit of comedy, the clip tries to answer the question "Can a flare gun be used effectively for self defense?" I have to say that I was surprised at the outcome. Surprised because some friends of ours tried a similar experiment of their own which we were present for, and if I recall correctly, their results were no where near as dramatic!…
On the day we were scheduled to leave Grenada, while on shore doing a few last-minute errands, a friend of ours who we were saying goodbye to introduced us to another cruising couple who happened to be there with him. Obviously apparent through our conversation with our friend that we were heading to Trinidad, the male half of that couple inquired why we were going there to have work done (as opposed to remaining in Grenada presumably). I told him…
Yesterday afternoon, with some time to kill, Rebecca and I hopped on the dollar bus and took a trip to the mall. Yes, unlike most other Caribbean islands, Trinidad has full-blown shopping malls, some that would rival many in North America. Outside of obtaining a local SIM card for our phone, and paying for some internet connectivity, neither of us had anything that we were willing to trade our money for. We did enjoy the air-conditioning though, and the scenery.…
We've now completed three passages to Trinidad, one overnight Thursday-Friday, one this past September, and a prior one on ZTC. Surprisingly, it has taken me this long to realize just what a B!TCH the northwest setting current effecting these waters really is! All smiles at the start. Will she stay that way? Right out of the gate we had this guy cross our bow. Coffee in our new Tervis glasses, not cocktails! Adding layers of clothing. Believe it or not,…