On the way home we stopped and checked on Blowin' Bubbles.... It took some time to get near her and when we did we discovered that there was so much snow and it was so cold, the solar panels were covered and no longer charging the batteries.... Now for the bad news... 2 of the 4 6 volt Trojan House batteries had frozen solid and had split wide open.... They are now under the boat waiting to be disposed of in the spring... Fortunately the other two were dead but ok. I scrapped off the solar panels and replaced the main fuse for the staring bank (I guess it blew when the house system went for a poop...). When we left the combiner was working and hopefully all will be well enough for us to get home. We had planned to replace the 4 house batteries with a new bank of 6 this spring anyway....
We also picked up paper charts for the Western Caribbean and the South Pacific. Not cheap but we still think that our electronic charts need to be supported with paper... at least for now.... We ended up really enjoying a few wonderful days together...
We also picked up a bunch of bits and pieces to help me build the solar hot water heater, including a 2 gallon expansion tank and all the valves and fittings I might need to build the prototype... Hopefully this week I will have time while I am on a short vacation. We also picked up our solar oven, it looks really NEAT!
When we got home I build a "steady cam" bracket for our Nikon/GoPro cameras... we think it look pretty cool...
Anyway, with a little more patience we will make it the 130 days we have left before we start our great adventure....
Hi guys, where did you winter this year? Not at Shipshape, I would have noticed.
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