Date First Posted: 12/30/05
Log Entry Start Date - 2005
Log Entry End Date - 1/5/2006
Location(s) Covered - Antigua
Present Location: Jolly Harbour, Antigua
Latitude: 17 04.1N Longitude: 61 53.0W
Weather: 80 F, Scattered Clouds, T-storms, Wind E 22
Distance covered since last entry: 0
Total distance traveled since departure from Antigua: 0
Commentary:
Encore
II waits at the dock while we are home for Christmas making our final
preparations for departure. We spent two weeks on the boat in early
December relaunching her after she was in storage for the hurricane season.
We worked nearly every day unpacking a shipment of 6 boxes from home,
repairing and installing equipment, and cleaning.
We had problems with our autopilot last winter, so this year we repaired some broken parts of the old system, but then took all of the system out and installed a new system which is rated much higher. The old system will be our backup. This installation took much longer than expected as several other connected devices decided to stop working at least temporarily. We didn't get a chance to test out the new system, and this is our biggest concern for when we return and start off for Panama.
We also had problems with our brand new bank of 10 house batteries. They were overheating due to overcharging and possibly permanently damaged. We ran tests, consulted various suppliers, and returned home without knowing if they had to be replaced or not. We're hoping they are OK, otherwise we'll have to have batteries shipped to us.
Although there seemed to be many more challenges getting the boat ready this time than in the past, our schedule is more flexible, so we shouldn't be quite so stressed. We did get in 3 rounds of golf, 2 beach days, and several trips to the pool. We never did start up our freezer or refrigerator, or stove, so we had to eat out or with friends every night.
We
spent a lot of time with our friends, Desmond and Sue, who let us stay in
the guest villa while Encore II was still in the boat yard. They were
in Antigua when we left in 1997 for the Expo '98 Rally, and gave us a
farewell party then (shown at right), and repeated the party with several
other friends for us this year.
We are now only days away from returning to Antigua (Jan 5th) and hope to be able to leave on our voyage within a few days from then.
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This site was last updated 01/04/06