Since half of Europe doesn't get above 50°F anymore, we are still at 63°F here in Rome, at least during the day. During the night the thermometer sometimes scratches the 50°C, which doesn't matter under the warm blanket, if it wasn't the dew point. If the temperature is at or below the dew point, the air starts to condense. This is an extremely unpleasant characteristic, as you suddenly notice how much water can be in the air. So you have to cheat the dew point by trying to keep the temperature above the dew point. This is usually done with a heater. We have an Eberspächer Airtronic D4. It heats with diesel, of which we have plenty, and got by us last year or at the beginning of this year. The air hoses lead the warm air into the sleeping berths and into the lounge. There they first blow down into the two companionways, so that the two swimmers are also heated. On level two it is extremely economical and needs 0.25l per hour, sometimes it even gets almost too warm. As I said, last year it worked wonderfully. So I put it into operation last week, admittedly with light pressure from the outside, and... it didn't work of course.
My wife forced me to buy a fan heater until I could solve the problem. After the fan heater was purchased, I started to search for the problem. The heating started, the diesel pump ticked away, it does that every time it pumps diesel out of the tank, the fan starts and after a while there is actually warm air. However, the heat output is more than modest and after five minutes the whole system switches off. Great, I tried the diesel first. It's a hell of a mess, but the easiest to check. With all other tests the diesel heating must be removed, because otherwise you cannot get to the things cleverly as it is on such a boat. So I had no choice but to remove the heater. The cheapest part of this heater is the combination temperature sensor, if you can speak of cheap. After all 74€ for a little sensor and 12inch cable. During the examination the ohmic values did not agree with the chart. Still hoping to solve the problem with on-board equipment, I measured a second time. Unfortunately it didn't get any better, and on closer inspection it was also clear that in the advanced corrosion the rust had almost eaten up the thin wire of the conduction. So I had to get a temperature sensor quickly if I didn't want to mess it up with the Capitana. I was given five days off. The repair went then relatively fast, after the new sensor was on board and the heating runs as usual, which brought me again some plus points.
Our canteen, as already mentioned in the last blog, is a real enrichment. At noon you sit at a table and eat together. Even though we only speak a little Italian and the others little English, everyone tries to make themselves understood and sometimes interesting conversations take place. Just as we used to have to memorize Schiller's "The Guarantee" or and "The Bell", here in Italy they memorized Dante's "Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso" or at least extracts from them. Our table neighbor impressed at least with considerably long passages from these pieces. And that is exactly what motivates us to undertake this journey, to get to know other people, how they live, what they think. In any case it is a lot of fun for us.
Our new neighbours, the 42ft catamaran that was taken out of the water last week, have unfortunately already left again and the 40ft catamaran that is still to come has not arrived yet, let's see when it comes. But now the support points of our Katinka have finally been moved. The game starts all over again. Scrape off, sand, prime, paint. Thank God there are only small areas left, which are no longer so time-consuming to work on, but as already mentioned, the weather has become very unstable in the meantime and we have to get the right window. Today we have already built a device for the rudders to paint them in one piece. We put a scaffold under our catamaran and fixed a wooden post at the top in such a way that it rises one meter above the scaffold at the front and at the back. We then hung the rudders from the pole with ropes. Now we can paint everywhere.
Last sunday we were fortunate with the weather again and went to the Marina Porto turistico di Roma in Ostia with our folding bicycles. The marina is located south, immediately after the mouth of the Tiber at the sea. The marina has 833 berths and numerous shops and restaurants. On Sunday there was a lot going on, although many shops are seasonally closed. We liked the generous layout very much without knowing what a mooring costs. We are in good hands here and don't need any space.
The next week we'll write on Glen's world how it goes on with us and whether we have caught the right weather window. Until then always fair winds and keeps the ears stiff.
The next week we'll write on Glen's world how it goes on with us and whether we have caught the right weather window. Until then always fair winds and keeps the ears stiff.
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