Time in Almerimar
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Fri 26 Aug 2011 16:21
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Monday 22 to Friday 26 August 2011
There was a very strong westerly wind blowing
through the marina on Monday so we were so pleased to have made the
trip the day before. It must have been very unpleasant off Caba da
Gata.
Most of the time was spent topping up the
provisions, arranging delivery of goods and post to Gibraltar and - trying to
resolve the persistent problem with the freshwater system. I emailed a guy
who is a recommended fitter of Hydrovanes who was last known to be in
Portugal. He replied promptly and was actually in Gibraltar where the
Hydrovane was going to be delivered. I telephoned him and made tentative
arrangements for the work to be done next week in Gibraltar.
The attempts on Monday and Tuesday to fix the water
system both had promising starts but both eventually failed. This is
getting very frustrating because all the time I am 'repairing' the system has to
be switched off and simple things like rinsing your hands, making a drink,
cooking and washing up are not possible so it's very disruptive.
On Wednesday I replaced several sections of
water pipe in the area near the pump with clear hose so that I could try to see
which section was letting in the air. This was traced to the pre-filter
where closer inspection showed a small crack. The crack didn't look as
though it would let in air but in the absence of better information I changed
the filter. That exact filter isn't made any longer and the new one
required different connection joints but after several visits to the chandelry
and rearanging the circuit in the pump locker we got it going again. The
problem seemed to be resolved or at least much improved. All the right
noises were now being made when the taps were being operated.
But on Friday the system was letting in air
again! Not chuffed. But the clear pipework showed that the problem
was slightly different to before and it looks as though air might also be
getting in through the pump.
The weather forecasts suggested that Saturday and
Sunday would be best time for the passage to Gibraltar so the water system would
have to wait until later.
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