Tag: Domino

Getting better on Sava

A couple weeks ago we posted about the issues on Sava. Overheating engine, freezer not working, Domino, battery challenges, and more.  And that was before we hit our lowest point yet with the electric head!

Well, we have good news: things are looking up right now.

The Engine

When we were in Tortola we hired a diesel mechanic, Wilbert, from Parts and Power. Wilbert and I worked for three days to diagnose and fix the overheating problems. We systematically went through the whole raw water coolant system and discovered that the pipe that fed water through the transmission was almost completely clogged. Three days of hard work later we cleaned it up and replumbed the system to prevent the clogging in the future.

Continue reading “Getting better on Sava”

A Guest On Board Sava

Recently our friend Traci joined us as a guest on board Sava for her first time on a sailboat. We broke her in with a tough trip! Her sovereign sail was one of the region’s most notorious crossings: The Mona Passage.

In addition to sailing from Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, Traci continued with us between ports and over land.

For someone who had never been on a boat, to go through what she did, Traci was a trooper. She got sick and didn’t complain, and helped any way she could, even bringing up the anchor on her own by the end of the week.

We have new guests joining us today, and hope more of you spend time on Sava. Find out what Traci thought of her new experience and her recommendations to those planning to be a guest on board Sava, or any boat!

Continue reading “A Guest On Board Sava”

What’s Broken On Sava

You may be under the illusion that everything works fine onboard Sava. Not true. While our autopilot is still going strong, a lot of other boat parts don’t work. Below, a comprehensive accounting of what’s broken on Sava, and some things that broke and got fixed.

Also, I am not a handy person so my explanations are very basic because that’s my level of understanding. Thankfully Brian is at a much higher level than me. If he wasn’t so handy, we wouldn’t have made it out of Florida. Brian also recommends a good resource for these jobs, the Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual.

Freezer

We thought we got this fixed after the engine debacle, but this freezer is finicky. A couple of times we noticed it was off and we are now very vigilant about ensuring the freezer is plugged in. We also keep the vents clean – got to get rid of the cat hair.

Yet still the temperature regularly creeps above freezing. This is understandable when we haven’t been under power or it’s cloudy, but we don’t know why the freezer doesn’t work when the solar charge is full and we run the engine.

This freezer is driving me crazy. I obsessively check the temperature, which is not easy to do. Because the freezer is strapped into our salon sofa, we have to peek under the table to see the power and temperature indicators.

freezer
A view under the salon table of our freezer indicators
Continue reading “What’s Broken On Sava”