Keeping our food cold and our minds sane!

The Two Sweeties on a quest

This is it! We have had enough, enough, enough of problems with our built in cold plate refrigeration system on ORION. It was slowly driving us insane...when connected to shore power at the marina the units worked just fine, but ever since moving off the dock we have had intermittent problems trying to keep temperatures in the lower levels! Having had to run the Diesel engine sometimes for as much as a few hours in order to keep things cold because the wind and solar could not keep up with the power drainage...we finally decided that..yes...enough is enough! We (again) researched boat refrigeration on the net for alternative solutions and decided on a portable compressor driven unit that would work both with a 12 V system and a 110 V system. West Marine in Fajardo looked promising for the purchase of such a unit.

Ferry ride from Culebra to Fajardo

So this morning...the morning of my birthday...my sweetie and I took the ferry from Culebra to Fajardo...and so our quest began. There are several portable compressor driven refrigeration/freezer units for RVs and boats on the market. Our two finalists were ENGEL and DOMETIC...both extremely reliable companies with reliable products! We ended up going with DOMETIC, because that's what West Marine had available to take home with us...and we wanted it NOW...we NEEDED IT NOW...our sanity was at stake!

Our new refrigerator...on top are water jugs...

Here is the unit we bought...a 52 quart Dometic compressor driven refrigerator/freezer, which works either with 12 V battery power or 110 V power. The unit can be used either as a freezer or as a fridge...we will use it as a designated fridge. We ordered a 24 quart unit also, which we will run as a designated freezer. These units are compressor driven just like a normal fridge, but they make hardly any noise and use hardly any power. They are not cheap, but they are the solution to our problems :) And they are excellent for combining with solar and wind energy!

We took the unit home with us, which is an entirely different story by itself...suffice it to say that we made it back onto the ferry, and with the kind help of a local publico (public transportation car) driver to our dinghy, and with determination back onto ORION :)

The new fridge is already running like a charm! We plugged it in, adjusted the settings, filled it with the food stuff from the now demoted cold plate system and within one hour it had reached the set temperature of 37 degrees Fahrenheit, using only 7 Amps! Best of all...it is so quiet that we had to check and re-assure ourselves several times that the unit was in fact running...WOW! We are very happy so far...will give it a few days to find out how things will progress...don't want to jinx it, but hope that this will be it my friends...

For now we got our sanity back...I am happy and so is my sweetie :) Living on a boat has its challenges...we hope that the refrigeration challenge will no longer be a challenge...as usual please stay tuned as we adjust to being on the sea full time. We are in beautiful Culebra still and will start sailing to nearby little islands soon...we love to explore and we love to share it with you through this blog...God bless!

happy

happy

 

From Vieques to Culebra

This morning we watched a beautiful sunrise over Vieques...there was no wind at all and we debated whether to wait for some or to go ahead and motor to Culebra. In the end we decided to motor, knowing that we could always raise the sails should the wind come up.

Well it is a good thing that we decided to get on the way under motor, because the wind did not come up at all...nada, zero, zilch wind!

We arrived in Culebra around mid day, having motored all the way from Vieques...the sea was like glass most of the time...kind of unusual, but we are not complaining, because it made for an easy relaxing ride...much better than having to fight our way against the wind :)

We have been to Culebra many times with our kids when we still had a power boat...and we always enjoyed our stays there...Culebra is a very special place to us...there are no big shops, no fast food chains...just pure and simple living on an island...heaven!

Over the years Rick and I always dreamed of one day going to Culebra on our own sailboat (!)...so now our dream has come true and we are extremely happy and grateful.

Our first anchorage in Culebra is by the DRNA dock, because our friends Bob and Judy (and their little dog Leo) on SV Adastra are anchored there, and they have invited us for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow afternoon...woohoo :)

This is SV Adastra, which is also a Morgan 41 but a Classic (ours is an Out Island)...we met Bob and Judy (and their little dog Leo) in Salinas a few weeks ago and became good friends...so here we are meeting again :)

The cruiser life is full of such pleasant surprises...it's a community out there and,we are all part of a big family...happy, I may add :)

wind generator and solar panel on ORION

By the way...our KISS wind generator and the solar panel are doing their jobs nicely...producing juice to run our fridge/freezer...so far we have not had to run the generator to top off the batteries (!)...wind and sun energy at its best and we have not even had much wind lately!

This is it for today! I am trying to update our blog more frequently during our new life as full time cruisers. We shall see how it goes once we are out of US waters, but wifi is available throughout the islands we have been told, so I will post updates whenever possible :)

Special greetings to Rick's Dad Harvey Klumb, who at 93 years young loves to follow our adventures through this blog...We love to have you onboard Dad :)

Greetings also to all our family and friends...you know who you are :) We are blessed to have you!

Wishing everybody a wonderful Thanksgiving...until soon again...

 

We are underway :)

My captain at his element

Hooray hooray...we are underway! At last we are moving on ORION :) Many thanks to our friends Richard and Mercedes, who will take care of that last piece of mail we are awaiting in Ponce thereby freeing us from having to wait around seemingly endlessly (!)...you guys are the very best :)

There will be a separate post on our friends soon :)

We left Ponce Harbor for Coffin Island, stayed there another night and all of a sudden we decided that it was time to really move on now! Just like that :)

I guess when it hits you it hits you...and my captain and I didn't waste any more time to think about it! We are fully provisioned and as ready as can be...and "the bug" has caught us at last...the being free sailing bug, hahaha.

Vieques and Culebra here we come!!!!

Coffin Island is beautiful and it will remain in our hearts forever...

We left Coffin Island and set sail for Boca Del Infierno by Salinas. Boca Del Infierno is a so called staging area for cruising boats...meaning that it is a perfect place to arrive late in the afternoon, stay the night tucked in behind the reef and then get on the way early the next morning...refreshed for the journey ahead :)

This is exactly what we did!

We left Boca Del Infierno (yes...refreshed) in the morning and set sail for Puerto Patillas...another staging area when sailing to Vieques or Culebra.

We arrived at Puerto Patillas late afternoon...

Puerto Patillas is a small fishing harbor and during the week it is very quiet there...only on weekends and holidays there are a few too many jet skies for our liking!

We arrived there late afternoon and spent the rockiest night ever (!)...Puerto Patillas is usually a calm anchorage, but not for us this time! Ah well...sometimes it's okay to rock'n'roll and there was nothing we could do about it, so we enjoyed,the night anyways...but honestly were glad to leave the next morning :)

Today, Tuesday, November 20, 2012 early in the morning we set sail from Puerto Patillas to Vieques where we arrived early afternoon :)

 

 

 

 

Green Beach, Vieques

We are now anchored off Green Beach, Vieques...a heavy thunderstorm just moved through, but our anchor is set good, so no worries...tomorrow we shall move on to our final destination (for now)...Culebra, one of the finest jewels in the Caribbean and home to some of our good cruiser friends, who are awaiting us :)...Life is good.

 

Cutting the dock lines for good...we are freeeeeeee!

We did it...We cut the dock lines for good on Saturday, November 10, 2012! We are now free as birds, but not homeless, because we take our house with us wherever we go :)

Our first destination was Coffin Island, where we will stay until Monday morning when we will sail to Ponce...we are waiting for some mail (!), and as soon as it comes in we shall be on our way to Vieques and then Culebra, both of which are part of Puerto Rico...so we are still in US waters.

Here are some pictures of our first two days as full time cruisers...life is good!

We have no schedule...we will go wherever we like...whenever we decide...and we will stay as long as we like it!

FREEDOM HERE WE COME

By the way...we are still pinching ourselves :)

 

 

Time to play!

Woohoo...after all the hard work over the past few weeks we at last have time to play catch up with friends again...and play we must, because we will soon be "outta here"! Our social calendar has been busy this week with brunches and dinners on Orion...

We are happy to have a few new cruiser friends, some of them even own a Morgan 41 similar to Orion :) It is always fun to meet new cruisers...we can learn so much from each other and we love to compare the neat little things we've done to our boats that make them unique to us :)

We are looking forward to meeting many more cruisers on our journey...the ones we have met so far are all fabulous and best of all...we shall meet most of them again somewhere down island in the foreseeable future :) It's a community "out there"...life is good!

 

Provisioning...provisioning...provisioning

Thank you Richard and Mercedes for the Tshirts!

We are leaving the dock on Saturday and the days are passing quickly! Luckily we are as ready as can be...only had to do provisioning, which means buying lots and lots of food, mainly canned goods, so that we can survive out at sea without missing grocery stores too much. Most food is available everywhere down island, but some food is best purchased in bulk here in Puerto Rico where prices are reasonable and supply is abundant! So off we went to the various stores and returned with masses of canned goods...over the past three years of living aboard Orion we have experimented with different types of food and now know quite well what we like and what we don't like.

As far as canned food is concerned here is what we love (and bought lots): Hormel roast beef hash (not corned beef...roast beef), chicken breast in brine, pork in gravy, beef in gravy, tuna fish in water, Danish luncheon meat, Danish ham, green beans, sweet corn, carrots and peas, garbanzo beans (for making home made hummus and as an addition to almost everything we cook, because garbanzos are 100% protein), pink beans, white beans, black beans, Italian style cubed tomatoes, green olives, black olives, red peppers, cocktail sausages, cured pepperoni slices, cured salami slices...more roast beef hash and more garbanzos, because we can never have enough of those, hahahaha!

Then we also got a good amount of Nestle media crema, which is a canned half and half cream that can instantly be turned into sour cream by adding 2 teaspoons of white vinegar (!), some UHT rice milk, some coconut cream (great for making piña coladas), canola oil, olive oil, vinegar, and canned fruit like mandarin oranges, pineapple, and fruit cocktail. Other supplies we got are noodles, dry white and brown rice, potato pearls (for making mashed potatoes), Bisquick (for making quiche), flour, and "Ready Rice", which is rice already cooked and vacuum packed in small bags (great for throwing in the frying pan with veggies and some meat without the hassle of having to cook the rice first...or for making a rice salad in no time at all...for those lazy days).

Coffee is another item we like to buy in bulk...we found an excellent brand, which is made in Puerto Rico called "Del Patio"...it is vacuum packed into little bricks that store easily and will last for years. We bought a lot of it over the years and just found out that our dock neighbor at the marina knows the owner...can you believe it? When he heard that we were leaving this coming Saturday he gave us a present to remember him by...lots of bricks of Del Patio coffee...wow...we shall remember Angel and his wife Carmen every morning over a cup of this excellent coffee no matter where we are on Orion :) Thank You!

We love this coffee...made in Puerto Rico :)

So yes...we are fully stocked up now...but where to put all the stuff? Orion is a Morgan 41 Out Island and Morgans are known for their great storage capacities...but really and truly you never feel like you have enough storage! After filling up all my pantry spaces with cans and more cans we were left with...you got it...more cans! My solution is a "provisioning can", which consists of a 26 quart plastic trash can with handles and a snap on lid...placed behind the companionway ladder in the aft cabin it makes a fine storage for the surplus of cans we like to have onboard :)

This simple solution also takes care of using up cans bought first first and cans bought last last...since I am using the ones in the pantry first and then stock up the pantry from the "provisioning can" there is no need to label with dates etc., because the provisioning can always contains the cans bought last...

hmmmm...we are at the beginning of the learning curve and experience will show if my system will work as described!

This is it as far as canned goods are concerned.

We also stocked up on some perishable food that we keep in the fridge/freezer...especially things like "half moon cheese", which is a vacuum packed cheddar cheese (great for cutting into strips and eating with crackers), grated cheese, Manchego cheese (totally delicious), Brie, Muenster, Havarti, and cream cheese. Together with the cheese we store 7 grain bread and fresh vegetables and a few vacuum packed smoked turkey sausages.

Crackers and crackers and crackers are something we like to have lots of...we often skip a hot dinner for crackers with cheese and pepperoni (salami for me) and a sliced apple or as an accompaniment to my home made hummus :)

We get a variety of whole wheat and whole grain crackers that are vacuum packed in individual stacks.

They also make a great lunch :)

canned German whole kernel bread

Already onboard we have canned German Vollkornbrot that my brother Willi sent us two years ago (it lasts almost forever in the unopened cans). Thank You Willi!

 

We made a decision!

at Bob and Joan's house in Ponce

Yes...the decision is made! I can not tell when it actually happened, but the idea popped up after a wonderful visit with our friends Bob and Joan in Ponce. Maybe we realized that we need to break the invisible chain that keeps holding us in Salinas? And after all (and totally unrelated) we do cut each others hair now...in other words: we are ready to move "out there", hahahaha. We will leave Marina de Salinas next week Saturday, November 10, 2012 for good! Yap...no more hanging out on the dock :) We will sail to Coffin Island and on Monday morning continue to Ponce. There we will meet with Fraito from Ponce Sailing Center...he will check our roller furler as well as our brand-new Quantum main sail, which we purchased through him :)

our dear friends Bob and Joan

We hope that the check will have arrived by then...if not, we will sail back to Coffin Island and stick around Ponce area until the frecking check is here...then we'll deposit same frecking check and then we are free at last to start our journey to Vieques and Culebra and beyond...FREEDOM HERE WE COME NO MATTER WHAT...weather depending of course, but no more dock...WOOHOO :)

We have enjoyed our three years at Marina de Salinas and in general have only good things to say about everybody and everything here! The wonderful staff made us feel right at home from day one and we thank all of them from the bottom of our hearts...it will feel strange for us to not come back to the dock, but since we are trading a dock space for freedom the choice is easy and we shall overcome fast, hahahaha.

Joan's delicious snack tray...thanks guys :)

There you have it! We made a decision...it feels good... WOOHOO...life is good!