That’s what my catamaran does with only a single engine to get her out of port.  If I were in the open ocean, I’d be fine with a sail up and a single engine.  But here, in port, It’s fairly cramped quarters,  and I need room to maneuver with the single-engine handicap.

That’s also what the last few days have been like – going in circles.

 

Going In Circles

The prevailing wisdom when chasing electrical malfunctions/shorts is that it’s often in the connections.  Especially when you’re chasing the issues in wiring harnesses, over-engineered by Volvo Penta.  So I thought I figured it out.

But after removing the problematic (I thought) connection entirely, we were back at square one.  Engine still starts by itself.  Not cool.  So we pulled every piece of the damn harness out and cleaned connections and checked the resistance (for shorts).   Guido found a couple of very minor issues with two of my harnesses – and since he had a couple extra, we spliced them in and made it all permanent. Just to be safe.

Of course, we checked resistance along the way to be sure we weren’t wasting our time putting in faulty harnesses.  Eventually we managed to get it all connected, and tested it.  Boom!  It worked, the engine and glow-plugs started, RPM’s were showing correctly.  We were in the clear.

So we all (Austin, Guido and I) opened beers and started lying to each other about past accomplishments, like a trio of warriors having finished a victory over a resilient enemy.  And right then, the damn starboard engine started again.  The wiring harness wasn’t even plugged into the panel.

Beers flew as grown men scattered around the boat pulling wires. Guido was cursing in a Spanish, German, and English.  Austin kept saying “I don’t understand.”   F**k.   We played with some things and Guido came to believe it was likely the starter solenoid.

 

Part-Hunting

The next day we (Austin and I) headed into Colon searching for this starter solenoid.  Nobody had it.  We tried every parts-store in every sketchy, back-alley in Colon.  A couple of times I was sure we shouldn’t be where we were – but both being larger than the average Panamanian (and male) we risked it.  I’m happy to report we didn’t get stabbed, mugged, or beaten.

The next day I stopped by Guido’s and told him about our crap luck on the part-search.  He told me he thought one of the parts I described would work.  I hauled ass to Sabinitas (45 minutes) to grab it before the store closed.  With the part in hand, I thought I was back in the game.  It was Sunday, so the rest of the afternoon Austin and I re-tested the wiring, then ran my new wiring harness through the boat (which is a challenge, I found).

The next day I was at Guido’s early, helping him clean out my starter and re-assemble it with the solenoid.  Of course after a bit of work we found the solenoid I purchased in Sabinitas wouldn’t fit.  And nobody else had the solenoid.  My last hope was a shop in Panama City (2.5 hours away) that may/may not have it.  The only way to know was to go, bring the parts, and hope for the best.

I immediately left for the shop.  It was after noon, I had a long drive ahead of me, and the shop closed at 5PM sharp.  Some white-knuckle driving and a couple of hours of listening to my car fall apart around me found me in the right place.

Where I found the solenoid…

And guess what?  They had the part.  Thank whatever God you’re inclined to believe in.  So I decide to make use of my time and pick up that two-person fishing kayak I wanted and price a Yamaha 2-stroke 15HP outboard for my dinghy.  Done and done.   Productive day.

 

Parts-Trophies

Returning to Guido’s I held up the solenoid like a trophy.  We celebrated.  The next morning Guido came out and we installed the solenoid and connected everything.  It worked!  All gauges, the glow-plug, and starter worked like a charm.  Time to celebrate.  I think about kissing Guido, my savior.  Rather, I settle for a handshake and listening to some of his stories about his bike-gang days.

Guido wants a cold drink.  I only have cold beer.  He drinks cold beer, despite it being morning.  For this, I love Panama.   Then the starboard engine starts again.  F**k.  Again – we scramble, beers fly, and the cursing marathon begins in multiple languages.  For a solid 10 minutes we couldn’t get a sentence out without a healthy dose of profanity.  Mostly German and Spanish.

Well, we’re all out of guesses:

• We were hyper-vigilant when checking the wiring harness as we attached each section, and then again before and after we installed it.  Can’t be that.


• All the connections are fine.


• The starter and glow relays are new.


• The solenoid is new, and the starter is fine and we just serviced it.


• It’s not the panel (or the switches on it) as the engine starts without it connected.

So we pull every piece of the wiring harness we just built and installed.  Then we push twelve volts through it, where we can get our hands on it.  And we discover that while it wasn’t shorting when we were checking it (Olms?), the harness was shorting (in the center, not at a connection) only when we ran 12V through it.  The chances of this actually being the problem are so damn slim, it’s near zero.

But then Guido and I both remember the previous owner had a lightning strike a couple of years ago – which is the only way a short inside of the wiring harness would really happen (says Guido).  The fact that this is just now becoming an issue makes little sense to me (it’s been two years).  But whatever – the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

Now I’m back to square one.  Rewire the starboard engine.  Guido can get the Volvo Penta parts, but it’ll cost me a pretty penny and delay me another two weeks.  He says he can build one for half the cost, and without any connections (far less failure points) through the boat, in a day or less.  Deal.

But Wait…

Of course it’s now afternoon again, and the store closes soon.  And I have to drive back to Colon for connectors and wiring.  Naturally, my car battery is dead.

There’s a fish-farm home-based here (Puerto Lindo) with a bunch of University of Miami guys there – so I get their attention to give me a jump.  No dice.  So I remove the battery and hook it up to a 110V charger.  While I was waiting I watched Germany kick 4 goals in like 10 minutes, and the Brazilians in the stands started crying.

Then I put in the battery again for some more white-knuckle driving to Colon.  When I get there the store (and the others in the area) don’t have the connectors I need.  Some improvisation needed.  I’m getting pretty good at that though.

And today, I wait on Guido to come out and hopefully, finally, help me install the wiring.

How one eats breakfast before starting a day of wiring…

 

It’ll all be new, with no unnecessary connections, sealed appropriately, and likely as good or better than Volvo Penta’s.  At ¼ of the price of the parts alone, and an even smaller fraction of the original quote from the “mechanic” at Andromeda.

 

Wish me luck.

Going in Circles

Going In Circles

Getting Settled, In Puerto Lindo

The last couple of days have been relatively uneventful.  I could venture out for a daysail, but I really want both engines functional for that. A sailing catamaran is so much more maneuverable with both engines.

The big accomplishments include:

• testing my new underwater LED light (designed to attract fish)


• catching a small dog snapper for dinner (the aforementioned light works as designed)


• getting my fishing gear organized


• breaking down (and more importantly:  putting back together) my 9/0 Penn reel


• restringing my 9/0 Penn with new line


• taking a couple of pictures


• not getting bit by an eel (more on this later)

My other list (the to-do list) is so long, I’m not even going to attempt it here.  It all consists of minor boat projects and getting settled in Puerto Lindo.

Getting Settled in Puerto Lindo

Yesterday was a horrible day – cloudy, overcast, and pouring rain most of the time.  I didn’t feel all that well either.  But the day before was glorious.  A little cloud cover, but not a drop of rain, sunny, and hot.  Which is exactly what I needed to dry/air the boat out.  The rainy season here is always wet.  Humidity, rain, or sweat.

I spent the majority of that glorious day pouring sweat below decks organizing the under-bunk storage and tossing a bunch of things I didn’t need.  I spent some time with my neighbors – a French couple that is repairing their trimaran for the crossing back to France.  When I left here in May, they said they would be gone by early June.  Now it’s looking like it’s going to be late June.  But that’s the way boat repairs go.

 

Neighbors

The guy, Michelle, is a good dude.  He’s a fellow spearfisherman and was genuinely surprised when he learned I enjoyed freedive spearfishing.  He said it’s rare to see an American that enjoys freedive spearfishing.  Apparently it’s a much larger sport in Europe.

Full Frontal

Anyways, I woke up yesterday morning kinda early and took a look around.  Michelle was out on the back of his trimaran having a shower – nude.  He saw me.  I waved, he waved.  He went back to showering.

I went below decks to give him a little privacy, but when I came back up his wife was in the same spot showering – also nude.  So I gave up and went around the boat hanging clothes off the lifelines.   This happened in May when I was down here, almost exactly the same way.  I’m not quite there yet, but I’m sure I’ll be taking showers on the back of the boat somewhere along the way.

After their showers I motored over and we talked dive spots.  Apparently there are a couple close by.  Not great, but decent.  Michelle says the fish are smart and small.  I prefer big, dumb fish.  But I’ll give it a go when I’m done with the dog-snapper in the fridge.  There’s also a nice reef out in the open water, off of Isla Grande that I learned about from the French girl that works at Panama Reef Divers.  I don’t know what it is about this place, but the only people I seem to meet are French and Dutch.   I’ll take a whack at that spot when I have both engines functional.  Hopefully Thursday or Friday.

 

Fishing in Puerto Lindo

So, about that eel.  Day before yesterday I had such a great day that I decided to pour myself an early rum and Coke.  Well, that rum and Coke turned into a couple.  And then I got a little bored so I decided to try out my 12V underwater LED light.  At night it is supposed to attract fish.  And it does.  That thing is bright.  A fun toy to liven up the night, which can get a little boring when sailing around by yourself.

Back to the story.  So here I was, a couple rum and Coke’s into the night, playing with my new light.  There was a ton of bait gathered around it so I decided to throw a hand-line out.  In about twenty minutes I had a good pan-sized dog snapper.  Not bad.  I refilled my drink and went back at it.   A little play on the line convinced me that there was something on the other end.  I jerked, it jerked.  I pulled really hard and eventually it gave way.  When it got into the light it looked like a ball on end of my line.  It was a damn eel.

 

Destroyer of drinks

I put it up on deck to remove the hook and it starting writhing all over the place.  Enough that it clipped my drink.  I watched, in slow motion, my cup tip over – spilling my fresh rum and Coke, and bouncing down the steps into the water.  What a disaster.

Now I had to get the hook out of this slimy, writhing, toothy critter without getting a handful of teeth.  Eels have a nasty bite; a friend of mine suffered a bite going after a lobster and it made him pretty ill.

Long story short:  I got the hook out and didn’t get bitten.  I’ll chalk that up as a win, despite sacrificing a rum and Coke and one of my four glasses onboard.

Another recent discovery is Monkey Beach – I named it that.  Apparently it has no name, and so that’s the name.   You can hear the howler monkeys all night, but they don’t come down from the hills.  On the other hand, on Monkey Beach – you can occasionally see Spider Monkeys out messing around.  I’m going to head over there one day when it’s not pouring rain and see if they’ll let me sneak a picture or two.

Monkey beach

And with that, it’s time to get back to the boat.  The boat projects are piling up and I’m finding it takes 300X as long as it should to do anything onboard. And there is some exploring to do, between the rain showers.

A beach that needs to be explored

Getting Settled, In Puerto Lindo