Armageddon – Long Island, Bahamas, February 27, 2022

And suddenly, we are Amish.  Imagine the song “Taps” playing in the background right now.  The AC inverter is dead and during its death it also took out the DC portion as well.   Zero power, black screens, nothing.  How did this happen?    Somehow we ended up with a mystery water leak under our sink.  No big deal, right?  Well, guess where our inverter and DC systems are mounted…under the kitchen sink.  This is the worst possible scenario when your boat depends on electrical power.  Things in our boat that run from electrical power…nearly everything.  This includes hot water (unless we run the diesel engines), water pump, oven, stove, refrigerator & freezer, washing machine, our electronics to see any weather updates & navigation.  Imagine sitting in your car with your eyes closed, and needing to drive across the state without opening your eyes.  No fun.  

What is not powered by the electrical system, the grill, our diesel engines, we can run the water maker with the gasoline powered generator, and the sails.    The positive side is we are anchored a very well stocked place with a fantastic marine store, awesome grocery store, fuel dock, and restaurant within walking distance!    In desperate times we also have peanut butter and rum.  This will be an expensive fix if we must replace the inverter but certainly possible.

Sailing husband has never met anything he couldn’t fix and had already started working on this one.  After the first few attempts, the inverter is truly dead.  He was able to get our DC power back which means we can charge a few devices, I have cold water (the water pump works) & drinking water, fridge & freezer, and our electronics (navigation).  He is currently scouring the internet for an option to ship here but our worst-case scenario is still very livable and if we have to simply do without it, it is possible for a few months until we get back to the states.

Where do I start?

The moment of terror high power, water and sweat!

 We had hoped to leave for Conception Island this morning but at this point, I am unsure if we will go or not.  The marine store opens at 8:00 and we will be lined up at the door to see our options.  Even a smaller inverter (like a 400 watt) would help us so we will see what they have.  Ours was 2,000 which has been difficult to find, and I have to assume impossible here not to mention the associated duty (+45%) we have been unfortunate to experience once already.  Let the Long Island adventure continue, I guess.  The cherry on top…no internet on Conception Island.  There is never a dull moment on our boat!