procurement of spare parts
Believe it or not, life under sail and palm trees is sometimes a matter of nerves!
Because everything that can break on a ship will break one day. (Unless you have the spare part on board ;)
Getting a special part out of the way is one thing, finding a reasonably capable mechanic around here is quite another!
As soon as someone owns a screwdriver, he is already a self-proclaimed specialist without fear of even the most complicated tasks.
What should I do....I needed one after one of our alternators stopped performing at 100%.
"No Problemo Senor" Well, that sounds great.
So we move to the filthiest marina of our trip for the short repair (60 US dollars per day!) and remove the thing, because our specialist only had his screwdriver with him.
In the hope of getting the part back repaired the next day, we let him go with it.
The next morning our "yacht electrical specialist" came on board with a rather glum expression and told us that he couldn't fix it, but "No Problemo Senor, nuevo Alternator, solo 200 US Dollares".
Hmmm a new boat alternator for 200 instead of the usual 1000 dollars. Done!
Payment in advance!
You can probably imagine that the part didn't fit, but we're in South America and what doesn't fit is a hammer; Saw and file made to fit!
After the "modified" alternator is installed, nothing works anymore.
"No Problemo Senor" allegedly only the regulator does not fit the generator, so buy a new regulator - but that doesn't work either.
The days go by and only our sly "Marina" owner Nene rubs his hands, because every day costs.
After 3 days of inability and costs, my "yacht chief electrical engineer" starts to remind me of my tax consultant ("No problem Mr. Bühring")
The provisional end of the song:
Nothing but expenses and the alternator, which was working at least 50% before, is now completely over.
Now I have to try somewhere in the world an org. Get a replacement part and have it flown in here.
Sequel follows!