Ahh, boat life!

" So, how long are you planning on cruising?"

"As long as it is fun."

"Is it still fun?"

"Depends. What day is it?"

Cruising is often described as repairing your boat in exotic places. The days that require more repairs are definitely the days that are less fun and have us muttering to ourselves. Then there are more amazing days that reinforce why we are doing this, pushing the pain of repairs out of my head. 

We have had a few weeks of back and forth emotions going on. It started with our inverter going out, then our freezer and then our watermaker. The inverter is what takes the electricity from the batteries (12 volts) and changes it to regular household power, which for us, and most Americans,  is 110 volt. Without the inverter we cannot plug in any appliances, or plug in our Starlink (internet connection). Fortunately our stove is propane and that takes care of meals. In addition we have the ability to charge our devices the same way you would charge your phone in your 12v car receptacles. Thus, it is not a dire situation, just an inconvenience. 

The watermaker is a greater problem.  Without our watermaker we have to either fill up jugs of water on shore and haul them back to Rhapsody,  or we have to go to a marina and fill our tanks with a hose. The freezer is the least of the problems,  we cruised for over 3 years without a freezer, but it is a luxury we have certainly come to enjoy. 

Fortunately the freezer was a fairly easy fix, which is a good thing, because our freezer was full. Bob discovered a loose wire behind the breaker panel and was able to quickly fix it, thus saving our precious frozen goods. The next two issues were not so easy. 

We made the decision to sail back to Savusavu where we could find an electrician to help us. We were able to get the watermaker fixed right away, just another wire connection gone bad, but much more well hidden. The inverter problem was caused by a broken switch (less than 3 months old) and would have to be ordered.

10 days later the switch finally arrives, but it is not exactly what we wanted. We wanted a bigger, more robust switch, and what we finally got was the same switch that had just failed so soon.

So much waiting, and frustration and worry. This is the "not so much fun" part of cruising. We weigh this against the beauty of things we see and places we get to experience. 

The pattern of unforseen and suddenly necessary repairs often gets in the way of plans. It seems to me that every time I get my water colors set up to paint,  something breaks and then my painting studio/station looks like this:

When living on a boat things get tucked away under the seats and under the table and when something out of the ordinary happens, everything has to be removed from the area to be worked on, much to Bob's chagrin. It seems like an explosion of items to be dealt with.

But the good things far outweigh the bad, such as watching the local school bus/boat cruise past Rhapsody with lots of smiles and friendly waves.

Or when the marina staff welcomes you into your slip with music:

and a very enthusiastic "Bula!" the Fijian all purpose greeting.

Repairs are done, for now, we are off to explore some more, and yes, I finally did get some watercoloring time in!