Mission aborted (for the moment)

It is sad for me to report that we have had serious electrical problems and have been forced to turn around and head back to Mexico. Basically what happened was that the ‘black box’ on the generator literally went up in smoke, leaving us with no no AC power, and this led to (or was caused by) problems with the two 24 volt inverters leaving us with very little electrical power at all. It is a complicated (or perhaps simple) problem, not even understood by the experts we summoned on the phone,(the Iridium handheld has been a godsend) so the chances of understanding it myself ,are nil.


What I do understand is that without power to the refrigeration, cooking, navigation, communications and radar equipment, as well as the stabilizing fins, lighting, and the water pump, we are unable to continue. We had gone around 400 miles and had another 2300 miles to go before reaching the Marquesas.

Something called the hydraulic alternator is supposed to act as as a spare generator, but that won’t work either, because of the problem with the inverters.

On the positive side, our engine is running well and we are in no danger, and will certainly make it back to Puerto Vallarta, from where I will upload this post (the internet is out too, but we have a limited amount of 12 volt power from the engine alternator.)

WE ARE NOT GIVING UP.



UPDATE. Situation somewhat improved.

Having talked on the Iridium to a man called with the curious name of Melt, from a company recommended by PAE (Nordhavn) called Raven Marine (British Columbia), Mike was able to at least get the hydraulic alternator online. We now have stabilization, (makes a big difference to our comfort level.) limited AC power, internet (always intermittent at best, which is how I am able to post these last two updates), navigation, and lighting, which is crucial to our safety as our navigation lights would probably have failed before we reached the shipping lanes tonight.

We  don’t dare to use some of the higher demand items such as the oven or the aircon, but at least we now can make tea and we have radar. Our generator certainly still needs to be fixed and alarmingly the batteries continue to be depleted due to a cause that seems as yet, to be lost on everybody, including Melt, but we are able to return to Vallarta (14 hours to go) in comfort and good spirits. We think that the generator and the other possible electrical repairs will take 8-10 days, as we will have to find out what parts are required, then order them, and then have them fitted. All four of us are very keen to continue as soon as possible.

It seems to me that this is the time to quote Robert the Bruce:

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”