August 1- 14, 2001 -- ISOTHERM - NOT A SYSTEM WE WOULD RECOMMEND Kevin came by to check on the new freezer system. He dressed the lines in and we closed up the aft stateroom. Jim came out with the new door for the charger system. He installed it, and it looks great! In the evening, we checked the new freezer system and one of the compressors does not seem to be working! On August 2, we went into town and picked up a few things. It was extremely hot , so we stopped early and headed to KFC for lunch. We then hit the supermarket and came back to the boat and tried to stay cool for the rest of the day. On August 3, we ran a higher gauge wire to try and resolve some of the problems we are having with the DC freezer. While the voltage improved slightly, it did not help the performance of the freezer. We think there is a freon leek somewhere. In the evening, we went in to hear the steel band, then the jam session that followed that. On August 4, we took it easy most of the day, it was very hot again today. It will probley be that way for the rest of august, since we are less then 800 miles from the equator. We painted the coweling that Mike had been working on. Got a big run in the darn thing, we will need to fix that. Otherwise though, it looks good. On August 5, we started working on our interior varnish. It should look good in a few weeks after about 10 coats! August 6-8 were a repeat of the fifth. On August 9, we did everything we did on the 5th. Neil from Enza Marine came out to talk with us about the freezer issues we are having. He gave us the answers we were looking for. He told us that whether or not Isotherm warranteed the system, he would make sure that we had an operational system and a warrenty. In the evening, we headed over to Blind Date for sundowners. Jackobite, Full Montey, Masade, and Galadriel also attended. It was a fun evening. On August 10, we went back to sanding and varnishing. Kevin came out in the morning and stuck gauges on the freezer system. The system was extremely low on freon. He topped it off and we fired the system up again. On August 11-14, we continued working on varnish work

Today, we focused on getting the boat back in shape. There is a tropical wave to the east of us that shows promise of forming up. We did this as a precaution in case we need to run for either Trinidad or Margarita. We also reviewed possible hurricane holes where we could move the boat to provide us with additional protection in case the worst occurred. Of course, Grenada hasn't been hit by a hurricane in 55 years so insurance companies consider it a safe place to be. On August 16, the system formed up to close for us to run. We reviewed our options and decided to move the boat around to Clarks Court Bay. This bay offers 360 degree protection. We anchored the boat in a little cove on the western side of the bay since the weather forecasters were calling for 25-35 knots of wind out of the south southwest. Not really a lot of wind, since at times the trades blow 20 to 30 knots. After we anchored the boat, we continued monitoring the weather. The system started curving south! By evening, the system was approximately 60 nautical miles to the east northeast of us. Fortunately, at this point the mid level circulation fell apart and the system was reduced to a tropical wave again. On August 17, since the winds never swung, we relocated the boat to the east side of the bay. This got us off the lee shore we were anchored on for the predominate winds. After getting settled, we removed the NMEA multiplexer which seemed to be having problems. Then we took a look at the apparent transmission problem we were having. It appears to be a sticky valve or a clogged strainer. As we were doing tests though, the problem cleared up. On August 18, we considered moving back to Prickley Bay. However, after watching several boats bouncing along, we decided to give the seas one more day to quiet down. While it is only a 6 mile trip, the deepest water we would be moving in was about 50 feet. Shoal areas and large swells make for an uncomfortable trip! So, we spent the day relaxing and napping. Clarks Court Bay is right on the 'unsettled weather path' for Grenada. Approximately 4 or 5 times each night we would watch the squalls on radar hit Clarks Court, then move north of Prickley Bay and hit St. George's! This made for a fun night! On August 19, we moved the boat back to Prickley Bay. We had had enough of the squalls! It was still a lumpy trip, but it was preferable to spending another miserable night in Clarks Court. Just a little side note. This is the overview of what happened during the period that Tropical Storm Chantel threatened Grenada. We want you to understand though, that when we refer to monitoring the weather, we had our ears glued to the Single Side Band every 6 hours for up to 3 hours at a time in order to get all of the information we could. This is an exhausting process. We have a mini-cassette recorder that we use to record the information because, by the end of day two, we were running on about 2 to 3 hours of unbroken sleep, maximum! Watching the weather is one of the single most difficult things you can do, especially when you are simply waiting for it to hit. This incident would help us to redefine our hurricane plan and to dictate our future actions

Today, we worked on removing the bimi top from the boat so that we could drop it off at the canvas shop at Spice Island Marine. It has some frozen zippers that need to be replaced as well as 2 zippers that have been blown out. This is not an easy process. Our solar panels have to be lifted up in order to free the bimi top. Fortunately, they don't have to be removed and can be lifted one area at a time. As we were removing the last of the connections, we discovered the second problem with our bimi top. The canvas is actually integral to the solar panel supports as well as holding the shape of the frame! We found this out the hard way when we unzipped the last zipper and the solar panels fell on my head and Mike's shoulder. (No Mom, my head did not dent the solar panels) We went inside to rest a bit before running the bimi in for repairs. As I got up so we could leave, I discovered that I had hurt my left knee! For no reason at all, it would work fine for a bit, and then would just buckle on me. We decided that we would take the bimi top in tomorrow. On August 21, we inflated the small dinghy because the roll was to bad for us to drop the big tender. I went into the marina to drop off the bimi top to be fixed. After that, I headed into the market to pick up a few fresh supplies. Mike stayed on board, since the wind was supposed to be up a bit and we just got back to this anchorage. We don't like to leave the boat, until the anchor has had a chance to set well, so we also leave one of us on board for the first little bit until we are sure of the anchor holding. Mike and I discussed who would go into town, it ended up being me since, the chances where greater for more damage to my knee, if something happened and the boat started dragging. It turned out to be a great day with winds of about 10-12 knots. We wanted something different for dinner, so we picked a recipe out of one of the cookbook CD's and tried it. It was nasty, big time... Mike actually ate more of it then I did; I took one bite and could not eat anymore. Mike ate about 6 bites of it. So as usual when dinner fails, we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Thank god I had remembered both bread and milk! On August 22, we spent the day relatively quietly. We changed the oil in Ling-Ling, then checked her capacitors. Patty and Mike from Galadriel stopped by a little bit later with chocolate cake and a computer problem. All in all, it was a very quiet day. On August 23, we went into town. We wandered around and checked out the various shops and markets there. On August 24, our bimi top was completed; we picked it up and reinstalled it. That took about half a day to do and it was so hot and windless out that we collapsed afterwards for the rest of the day. On August 25, we went back to work on the varnish edging. It is really starting to look good

Today, we went to the games day at the Boatyard restaurant. It was a fun time with lots of different games. On August 27, we went into town and re-newed our visas. On our way back to the boat, we talked with a kid from another boat who goes up the mast about changing spreader lights and add radar refelectors, he will come out tomarrow. After we got back, we put another coat of varnish on. That evening, we went over to Jackobite for drinks. On August 28, we equalilized the batteries. The kid came over and went up the mast and did the work up there for us. He is about 18 and weighs about half of what Mike does; cranking him up there was a lot of eaiser then cranking one of us up! On August 29, Mike worked on varnish while Carol from Blind Date and I went to the doctor about our knees. It seems that many boaters are having knee problems right now! The doctor told me that I had abbrated the underside of my knee cap. This occurred while we where taking the Bimi down, working on top of the pilot house on my knees with the boat rolling side to side. He gave me some anti inflamatories and asked me to come in for x-rays to confirm his diagnosis. I arranged the x-rays and the doctor's appointment for Friday. Carol also had the same problem; however, she was planning to leave on Friday for Los Testigos and opted for a cortizone shot instead. On August 30, we went to the supermarket, and did some varnish work. Patty from Galadriel organized a farewell dinner since there were several cruisers that would be leaving over the next few days for various parts unknown. Some were flowing to visit home while others were moving on in their boats to continue their carribean cruise. On August 31, we took it easy. I had my doctor's appointment, which confirmed the doctor's diagnosis