I started the day off with the morning VHF network and then, sufficiently woken up by my second cup of coffee, replaced the thermostat on the freezer. The original only allowed freezing temperatures and the replacement from Frostline covered a range of +30 to -30 Celsius, allowing me to use the freezer compartment for storing such things as drinks without running risk of them freezing. I’d e-mailed with the factory about this change and they said that it would work, but since the plate is designed for lower temperatures I might get more frequent cycling and also more condensation on the plates. The work went quicker than expected, since I could use the old connections and didn’t have to crimp anything; in addition the original cables were long enough to allow a straightforward replacement.
Thus emboldened, I attacked the next refrigeration project by adding the Merlin device to the fridge compressor. This optimizes the power consumption during the cycles and can result in large power savings. I had a similar device on the old boat and that worked like a charm. But once I opened up the compartment with the compressors I was surprised to discover that a similar device (called “Smart Speed”) was already installed and thus I put the new electronic gadget back unused and planned on returning it later in the day.
My shopping list had gotten smaller, but I still managed to spend a lot of money at the Cash-and-Carry (3 cases of San Pellegrino), Island Waterworld and ELECTEC before having my credit card declined at Budget Marine (I still don’t know why it was declined, perhaps too many purchases at different stores in a short period of time) but I had sufficient cash to make the final purchase since I’d gotten cash back from the return of the fridge power device.
Back aboard I stowed the purchases and filled the new fridge to capacity with the San Pellegrino and turned it on to let it cool down while I ran the generator for an hour. After my batteries were once again charged I took a quick shower and headed back ashore for some snacks and to ensure that I got a good seat at Calmos Café before the crowds swooped in for the Thursday night Salsa event. Unfortunately last year’s singer was no longer part of the band, but the replacement singer was quite good in her own right and it was a fun evening.
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