Boat problems and sad farewells

Yesterday we farewelled "Giselle of Argylle" (David and Mary) as they left here to return to NZ. We first met them a couple of years ago in Urquarts Bay, Whangarei and since then we got to know them during our periods at Norsand Boatyard where they had extensive work done on their boat. And of course we cruised with them in the last few weeks around New Caledonia. It's entirely possible that we may never see them again and that's one of the downsides of this cruising life. One makes very good friends over a period of time and then suddenly the ways part. They are returning to Scotland to rebuild their house which was very badly damaged by fire some months ago and so their world cruising days are over for the foreseeable future.
In the meantime we are having a frustrating time dealing with various issues which have arisen as recently as this morning.
The first is that our battery charger which is supposed to keep the batteries up has packed it in. It was supposed to be the best we could get when in Whangarei only about 18 months ago but it is now KAPUT and we have to get another here. The local electrician says that the brand we have is not the best as was claimed to us and that we can get much better here - at a good price!! This is starting to become quite a repetitive refrain and more and more we are losing faith in the peripheral equipment installed in NZ. This is a long weekend here and so we are going to have to wait until Tuesday before anything happens. In the meantime we are running the engine 2 hours a day sitting on the marina!! We have already apologised in advance to our very pleasant neighbours.
The notable exception to this is of course the craftsmanship of Noel at Norsand for whose work we have the utmost respect. In this vein we must also mention Tom Johns (engineer) and Russ Robertson (mechanical engineer).
Then there is the ongoing issue with the watermaker. We will conduct an experiment suggested by the Opua supplier to hopefully further narrow down the possible issues but feel fairly confident that we will have to sail from here with it non functioning and get something done in Australia. At least the switch which was overheating can be replaced here because the electrician has given us a couple of much better quality switches than those originally installed and he has said the originals were rubbish!! They were a definite fire risk as they were
The galley sink drain pump has split another diaphragm. We are now seriously wondering whether it was ever a suitable pump for the job as it has now split 4 diaphragms in the last 3 years and for much of that time the boat was not being lived in. Once again we'll get it repaired here and just hope it lasts as far as Australia. In the meantime we have sent a message to Jabsco.com to seek their advice.
Our masthead nav. lights are not working. The fitting is to some extent "homemade" and so once again we will buy a proper factory fitting which includes a strobe light in Australia. In the meantime we will use our deck level lights. They can't be seen anywhere near as far as the masthead lights but we'll take the risk. At least they will be legal.
The head (another Jabsco product) which is barely 2 years old seemed to partially block as we were coming into Noumea 2 days ago. Fortunately we had a repair kit on board and when we took it apart we found that a valve which had been factory installed was the wrong way round!!! It's a wonder it ever worked.
The big problem with many items of equipment on boats now is that, while they may be well known and previously respected brands, they are now almost universally manufactured in China and quality control has gone out the window. The issue with the head is a definite case in point.
All this is depressing and very disruptive. As an example, to get at the watermaker we have to dismantle the front of the engine box and the whole galley sole - then you have to have somewhere to store the bits until it's all back together again.
Well, that's enough of a moan - hopefully it's all downhill from here.
Lotsaluv from us
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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