Ambition has been back afloat since the end of May. Sailing however has not been what has been keeping us busy - our to do list of repairs and replacement of parts has been slowly reduced. And a boat is never without its surprises either! Our fridge and freezer installed a year ago stopped functioning properly and without a good local technician, I ended up becoming a refrigeration technician on Saturdays as I tried to follow troubleshooting tasks provided by the manufacturer by email. A little picture for you - kneeling on the base of the aft cabin bed with my head down in the hole - working by flashlight and voltmeter and little wires - could use at least two more hands to hold stuff - holding the voltmeter probes like little chopsticks - the flashlight falls into the bottom - so forget the voltmeter because you can't read it without the light - stretch down to get the flashlight and my glasses fall off and slide underneath the air conditioning unit - reposition to reach my glasses and kneel on top of a screwdriver. Oh yes ..... I am really loving this new technician experience! A very typical boat project.
At any rate, after three Saturdays, many adjectives and a dozen emails - come to the conclusion that the installer in Florida installed the thermostats in the wrong position causing the faulty operation. We are back to having frozen margaritas again!
The other main task is to get Ambition ready for a mid September departure - yes we are heading south with her again into warm winter water. The first week of November - weather permitting we will be heading offshore from Portsmouth VA to the British Virgin Islands. We have signed up to travel with the ARC 1500 Rally. We are replenishing our spare parts inventory and also dramatically upgrading our onboard safety equipment to meet the Rally requirements.
Survival At Sea conference and Hands On Learning sessions have been completed as has the Red Cross CPR and First Aid courses successfully passed.
We also have squeezed in some sailing days on Lake Champlain. We are always impressed with how well Ambition sails even in the lakes light winds considering her weight.
