We write the text for our website in English. The multiple language selection feature is an auto-translation by Google. This translation is not perfect; it sometimes uses peculiar words and even expresses things in a very different way than what we actually meant. So, if you’re reading in a language other than English, and you read something strange, switch back to the English version to read what we actually meant to write!
If you’d like a shorter/summarized version of our posts, read only the “Highlights” section below and stop before “The Captain’s Log“, which is much more detailed, more like a logbook / diary and contains information for our reference as well.
Highlights – the overview
Today we make our first bottle of drinking water from the water made by the water maker. The water from the water maker is fine and the measured values are good but it has a very slight taste. We can’t define what kind of taste… perhaps a bit chemical? It might be a residue from the preservatives in the new membrane.
Anyway, running it through our little R.O. system (with a sediment filter and a active carbon filter in front of it) removes this taste and the water in the bottle tastes and feels delicious, as usual.
The weather forecast for the coming days is windy: 25 knots from the NE. Although the anchorage is perfectly protected by the island in that direction, swell could curl around the island and it could get rolly here. We’ve seen there’s plenty of space in the the inner harbor so we decide to go there. After breakfast we lift anchor.
And move into the inner basin.
It’s spring tide. We have 10m of rope on the anchor retriever buoy but in the afternoon the yellow ball is drowning.
It’s a tough life, being a little yellow anchor ball! It needs to be able to hold it’s breath under water for long periods of time. 😅
In the early evening it surfaces again. Oh, no! A seagull wants to sit on it and poop 💩😩
It’s a tough life, being a little yellow anchor ball! 😅
But it’s a happy little yellow guy and always has a good attitude!
Yes, the weather has changed a bit. There are some clouds and even a few drops of rain sometimes. And a breeze gusting over the mountains. But the temperature stays 25ºC at night to 30ºC in the afternoon.
While Wim is working on rebuilding and updating his business’ website (https://new-energy.today), Sher spends time behind her sewing machines. Another cute top finished!
Last night, a container vessel came in. She’s bringing the stuff we bought on Amazon 😄. In the morning, the ferry arrives. It takes a nice maneuver to move her down the quay and squeeze her behind the container ship!
After exchanging a good number of containers, Jaime S heads to Lisbon. To go and pick up some more Amazon stuff for us 😄
OH NO!!!! Our little yellow anchor ball is gone! 😫 We thought it was just holding its breath under water, but no… We don’t know what happened to it. Maybe its line was caught by the anchor chain? Not very likely. We didn’t rotate around our anchor much. Maybe somebody sailed over it at night and got the line in his prop? The only way to find out is to hoist our anchor but we have such a good hold, it would be a pity to give that up. Especially because some more wind forecast for the next days (25 knots). So, we decide to check later… This little ball has gone through so much suffering already, he will survive this, too 😅 Sher thinks that maybe it ran off to join the circus… it would be an easier life than what it’s had with us, but it was well loved here aboard Dione IV.
We are having such a good time here. The weather is gorgeous, the atmosphere is super relaxed, and we spend our days enjoying doing our little projects and each other, having delicious food and drinks, the dream life! 🥰🥰
The outdoor sensor of our clock/temperature display is positioned in the cockpit under the mizzen mast foundation. It’s a good place: always in the shadow (so, measuring the right temperature) and sheltered from the rain. Only, during our passage here we got seawater in the cockpit and the sensor got wet. Hm. So, we have to keep it away from the cockpit floor… Let’s make a pouch with a magnet in it and stick it to the upper part of the mizzen mast foundation…
There it goes! A perfect place!
Look at those 2 funny faces in the upper right corner 😂
We run the watermaker for a couple of hours every 3 days. Not that we need the water, because we’re still finishing the water from Cadiz, but running it every 3 days keeps it clean. We have a TDS of around 170 after the first 5-10 liters. The first liter has a high TDS: 350 or so. So, we put the first 5-10 liters in a tub and use that water for cleaning purposes like dish washing or deck washing. We have noticed that the faint chemical taste has completely gone. Obviously that was the preservative of the new membrane. Good! 💦 🍶
Sher got great news! Her Portuguese residence permit got renewed! This means she can stay in Portugal and the Schengen countries for another 3 years (if she wants).
Hm. This means we don’t have to hurry out of Europe (across the Atlantic)… We speak to a lot of people here who have been to the Azores. They all say it’s the most beautiful archipelago in the world. You should not miss it! Well, it has always been Wim’s desire to go there… And now, Sher starts changing her mind (also triggered by her renewed Portuguese residency of course)…
So, let’s change our plans and stay another year (or two?)… spend the winter in the Canaries, then sail to the Azores in spring next year!
We’re still spending the lovely days on our little projects: Sher has her sewing projects, Wim is still working on his website, and Sher helps him with some fine tuning and her (very useful!) professional marketing and personal opinion.
This is Portugal! Delicious Pastel de Nata from the local bakery! 😋😋
Wim’s scooter (Thelma) isn’t charging from the external battery all of a sudden. We take her back on Dione IV to check what’s wrong.
Oops, the little charge connector is totally corroded 😕.
Sometimes we wonder why all stuff from China on Amazon is sold in bags of 10 or so… Well, this seems to be the reason… So, we have spare ones, and Wim solders a new one to Thelma. After that, she’s charging fine.
But it seems that Thelma has another problem: Error 03. Throttle error. We have a spare throttle device so let’s exchange it. Wim opens up the display to connect the new throttle. Hmm, there’s some corrosion inside there… Not a problem now but… hm… Thelma & Louise are obviously not waterscooters 😅
We order a new throttle on Amazon because it’s likely that this is going to happen to Louise, too… 11 euro’s 😏.
In the morning, the harbor master comes by. He asks if we can move because a big cement ship will come in and he might need some space to maneuver. No problem, there’s plenty of space in the bay. And: we can solve the mystery of the yellow ball when we hoist anchor! 🟡🙄
After lunch, we hoist the anchor. What a bummer! The little yellow ball is gone! 🟡 😫😫 The Dyneema line isn’t broken and the loop at the end of the line is intact. Hm. The small D-shackle must have come loose. It was firmly fixed so how is that possible?? Anyway, the wind direction hasn’t changed much since we saw the ball was gone so it must have been blown off to the rocks. Maybe it’s still there, stuck between the boulders. We anchor at the new spot and then we dinghy along the wall. But we can’t find it. Maybe it was washed out of the port by the tidal currents…and it’s at the ocean now, on it’s way to the Caribbean, on it’s way to new adventures…👋🏻👋🏻🟡🏝️. We’ll have to buy a new one.
Today, we make Bami Goreng with home made sate sauce. Everything but the chicken and the vegetables comes from the Netherlands, where the Indonesian kitchen spices are easily available.
It is super delicious! 😋😋
After dinner, we pour a glass of our great Mar7 Moscatel sherry and dedicate a toast to the little yellow ball, may it always be a happy little ball, and now, in freedom on its way to new adventures… off across the ocean? a new home with fishermen who may have found it? a new career as a circus ball? Good luck and fair winds, little one! 😄 🟡
At our new anchor spot, the ferry turns right at our stern when she comes in.
In the background, there’s the cement vessel. There wouldn’t have been any problem after all, as she didn’t come anywhere close to the anchorage area.
Wim connects a new display. Here we can see the power consumption of the watermaker. Not that power matters much, we have plenty of solar power. But we can keep an eye on it, and when the power increases too much, that means the membrane is getting blocked and it will need cleaning or replacement.
Okay, it’s time go on a scooter safari and see more of the island. We drive to the Pingo Doce supermarket first, to buy some drinks and some food for a picnic. We’re going to drive a round trip along the north side of Porto Santo and see 2 “Miradours” (view points).
After a gentle climb uphill we get to the first Miradour. Here we have a gorgeous view over the port, the bay, and of course Dione IV 🤩🤩. We have lunch with great fresh bread.
Lunchtime for the little lizards, too! They love the nectarine bits we feed them! 😄
After lunch, we continue. We get to some steep climbs, too steep for Thelma & Louise. So, we put the girls on cruise control 4-5km/h so they drive themselves and we walk. But of course there’s the same number of downhill tracks were we race down nicely while regenerating energy by using the motor brake system! It’s a lovely ride with gorgeous views!
There we go.
Here comes Wim!
Downhill…
…then uphill!
Then we get to the next Miradour. Stunning views over the ocean!
We continue on the road along the oceanside, and stop at several view points…
Somebody decided to build a house with a gorgeous view. But it burned down 😕
Delicious fresh figs at the roadside!
Then we descend to the suburb area where the airport is located.
Finally, we turn into the town of Vila Baleira and follow the road back to the marina. What a lovely ride we had!! We drove about 25km with many steep climbs and we used 40-50% of our external (super scooter battery packs) batteries.
When we get back on Dione IV, Sher wants to take a shower. She switches the inverter on and switches on the small boiler in the bathroom. Click! Everything off. Hm. The RCD (Residual Current Device) of the 230v board net has tripped. Ground fault?? Try it again. Reset the RCD, switch on the boiler and it trips again. Shoot! That means the heating element in the little 10L boiler in the shower has broken down. Bummer. We have to try to get a replacement. Sher has a cold shower…
An hour later, Sher starts cooking. Switch the inverter on, for the induction cooker. Click! Again the RCD trips. What? Even with the shower boiler switched off?? Wim thinks, hm. Only the phase wire is switched off. Perhaps the broken heating element short-circuits the neutral wire to earth? Let’s cut the earth wire. Reset the RCD. Again, after 10 seconds it trips. This is crazy. Let’s cut the neutral wire. Again, the RCD trips. This is crazy! So, the boiler can’t be the cause… It must be something else… But what?? Wim opens the electrical cabinet and starts disconnecting the 230v wires from all groups one by one. While Sher resets the RCD every time. Trip, trip, trip… until Wim disconnects a wire and after that, the RCD stays on. Ah, that wire is causing it! But where does it go? It has no mark or such… So, let’s see which sockets have no power. It appears to be the sockets in the galley. The coffee maker, the electric juicer, and the small hot-water kettle, are plugged in. So, one of these 3 is causing it. While we unplug them we noticed a pool of water behind the ridge that keeps them in place when we sail. The little kettle is sitting in the water and the water has penetrated it’s electrical connection in the base! Bloody! Then, Wim realizes he has run the watermaker for a short time this morning, to test the new display. He forgot to put the hose for testing water into the sink and that water has run under the kettle! Problem solved. We dry the water and the kettle will dry. We can start cooking! 🫡
The good news is, the RCD is working fine 😁. If it was not working we would have been electrocuted, touching that water.
The other good news is, there’s nothing wrong with the shower boiler. Wim reconnects the wires and has a nice hot shower 🙂
But, a few lessons: don’t forget that test hose. Have a spare heating element, it will break down some time. Mark those 230v wires, or even better, re-organize that system with a nice cabinet with circuit breakers for each group. That would have made it a lot easier to localize the problem. From now on, that’s on the to-do-list.
The Captain’s Log – the complete story
August 13.
Today we make our first bottle of drinking water from the water made by the water maker. The water from the water maker is fine and the measured values are good but it has a very slight taste. We can’t define what kind of taste, perhaps a bit chemical. It might be a residue from the preservatives in the new membrane.
Anyway, running it trough our little R.O. system (with a sediment filter and a active carbon filter in front of it) removes this taste and the water in the bottle tastes and feels a usual. Testing the TDS proves that: 15ppm. That is extremely low, as always.
The weather forecast for the coming days is windy: 25 knots from the NE. Although the anchorage is perfectly protected by the island in that direction, swell could curl around the island and it could get rolly here. We’ve seen there’s plenty of space in the the inner harbor so we decide to go there. After breakfast we lift anchor.
And move into the inner basin.
We anchor in 6m of water in the same corner as where we were before.
The water is a little bit less clean as the outer anchorage but still clean enough to the water maker. In the afternoon the Mid tank is 46%!
It’s spring tide. We have 10m of rope on the anchor retriever buoy but in the afternoon the yellow ball is drowning.
It’s a tough life, being a little yellow anchor ball! 😅
In the early evening it surfaces again. Oh, no! A seagull wants to sit on it and poop 💩😩
It’s a tough life, being a little yellow anchor ball! 😅
August 14.
Yes, the weather has changed a bit. There are some clouds and even a few drops of rain sometimes. And a breeze gusting over the mountains. But the temperature stays 25ºC at night to 30ºC in the afternoon.
When the clouds move away there are bright sunny spells. Here’s a kilowatt of solar power! 👊🏻
We decide not to run the water maker today and use the fresh water from Cadiz to do some laundry: some of the covers of the cushions.
Since we now know that we can cover our fresh water usage with the water maker by running it a couple of hours per day, we decide to empty our Port and Starboard tanks. The water is these tanks won’t be used when we use the water maker on the Mid tank so it makes no sense to keep it for a long time. It might get foul. So it’s better to empty these tanks and use them only on a long passage.
Decksalon cushion clean!
Today it’s Friday. Every Friday afternoon at 5 o’clock there’s a happy hour at the marina cafe with all the cruisers.
When we dinghy over we visit our poor yellow anchor ball. He’s under water at high tide 😅. Hang on, little guy! In a couple of hours you can breathe again! 😄
We have a lovely couple of hours at the cafe, with about 25 cruisers, hearing all those great sailing stories and discussing cruiser’s topics while enjoying a Sangria! 🏝️⛵🍹
August 15.
While Wim is working on rebuilding and updating his business’ website (https://new-energy.today), Sher spends time behind her sewing machines. Another cute top finished!
Last night, a container vessel came in. She’s bringing the stuff we bought on Amazon 😄. In the morning, the ferry arrives. It takes a nice maneuver to move her down the quay and squeeze her behind the container ship!
After exchanging a good number of containers, Jaime S heads to Lisbon. To go and pick up some more Amazon stuff for us 😄
August 16.
Our yellow anchor ball has gone! 😫 We don’t know what happened to it. Maybe its line was caught be the anchor chain? Not very likely. We didn’t rotate around our anchor much. Maybe somebody sailed over it at night and got the line in his prop? The only way to find out is to hoist our anchor but we have such a good hold, it would be a pity to give that up. Especially because some more wind forecast for the next days (25 knots). So, we decide to check later… This little ball has gone through so much suffering already, he will survive this, too 😅
August 18.
We have such a good time here. The weather is gorgeous, the atmosphere is super relaxed and we spend our days enjoying doing our little projects and each other, having delicious food and drinks, the dream life! 🥰🥰
The outdoor sensor of our clock/temperature display is positioned in the cockpit under the mizzen mast foundation. It’s a good place: always in the shadow (so, measuring the right temperature) and sheltered from the rain. Only, during our passage here we got seawater in the cockpit and the sensor got wet. Hm. So, we have to keep it away from the cockpit floor… Let’s make a pouch with a magnet in it and stick it to the upper part of the mizzen mast foundation…
There it goes! A perfect place!
Look at those 2 funny faces in the upper right corner 😂
August 19.
Every 3 days we run the watermaker for a couple of hours. Not that we need water because we’re still finishing the water from Cadiz but running it every 3 days keeps it clean. We have a TDS of around 170 after the first 5-10 liters. The first liter has a high TDS: 350 or so. So, we put the first 5-10 liters in a tub and use that water for cleaning purposes like dish washing or deck washing. We have noticed that the faint chemical taste has completely gone. Obviously that was the preservative of the new membrane. Good! 💦 🍶
August 20.
The underwater scrubber came with a 230v charger. But the problem is, it takes a long time to charge. 10 hours if the scrubber’s battery is empty. And we have the habit of switching off the inverter when we don’t need 230v. We forget about the scrubber charger and the next time we need it, it’s not completely charged. Hm. Keeping the 3000W inverter on just to power this 16W charger isn’t handy. Let’s make a charger that runs on the boat’s 12v system (that’s always on and charged by our solar panels). We order a DC-DC board, a transparent case and a switch at Amazon and install this in the lazarette.
Solved!
Funny fact: after the container ship was here, next day we got a pick-up notification for some stuff we ordered at Amazon (a lot sooner than Amazon said). Only, the address of the tobacco shop with a pickup counter was wrong (Wim scooter-ed over there but the lady said: no English, no Amazon!) Then, Sher went to the post office and found out it was another tobacco shop. The parcels were there! 😅
August 21.
Sher got great news! Her Portuguese residence permit got renewed! This means she can stay in the Schengen countries for another 3 years (if she wants).
Hm. This means we don’t have to hurry out of Europe (across the Atlantic)… We speak a lot of people here that have been at the Azores. They all say: it’s the most beautiful archipelago in the world. You should not miss it! Well, it has always been Wim’s desire to go there… And now, Sher starts changing her mind (also triggered by her renewed Portuguese residency of course)…
So, let’s chance our plans… Spend the winter at the Canaries and sail to the Azores in spring next year!
August 22.
We’re still spending the lovely days on our little projects: Sher has her sewing projects, Wim is still working on his website (and Sher helps him with some fine tuning and her (very useful!) professional personal opinion.
This is Portugal! Delicious Pastel de Nata from the local bakery! 😋😋
Wim’s scooter (Thelma) isn’t charging from the external battery. We take her back on Dione IV to check what’s wrong.
Oops, the little charge connector is totally corroded 😕.
Sometimes we wonder why all stuff from China on Amazon is sold in bags of 10 or so… Well, this seems to be the reason… So, we have spare ones and Wim solders a new one to Thelma. After that, she’s charging fine.
August 23.
Thelma has another problem: Error 03. Throttle error. We have a spare throttle device so let’s exchange it.
Open up the display to connect the new throttle.
Hm. There’s some corrosion inside there… Not a problem now but… hm… Thelma & Louise are obviously not waterscooters 😅
Getting the tiny connector through the handle bar isn’t easy. This is the trick with a little rope…
Close the display. It’s sealed with a double side glue tape. Not 100% watertight, obviously. Wim seals the edges with the silicone electronics sealant.
After that, the error is gone and Thelma runs fine.
Let’s disassemble the old throttle to see what’s wrong with that. It’s a Hall sensor, so what can be wrong with that?? Well, a wire has come loose! Impossible to repair. Too tiny.
We order a new throttle on Amazon because it’s likely that this is going to happen to Louise, too… 11 euro’s 😏.
August 24.
In the morning, the harbor master comes by. He asks if we can move because a big cement ship will come in and he might need some space to maneuver. No problem, there’s plenty of space in the bay. And: we can solve the mystery of the yellow ball when we hoist anchor! 🟡🙄
After lunch, we hoist the anchor. What a bummer! The little yellow ball is gone! 🟡 😫😫 The Dyneema line isn’t broken and the loop at the end of the line is intact. Hm. The small D-shackle must have come loose. It was firmly fixed so how is that possible?? Anyway, the wind direction hasn’t changed much since we saw the ball was gone so it must have been blown off to the rocks. Maybe it’s still there, stuck between the boulders. We anchor at the new spot and then we dinghy along the wall. But we can’t find it. Maybe it was washed out of the port by the tidal currents…and it’s at the ocean now, on it’s way to the Caribbean, on it’s way to new adventures…👋🏻👋🏻🟡🏝️. We’ll have to buy a new one.
On Amazon, we’ve bought an energy meter for the watermaker. Same as we already have for the fridge and the freezer. We’ve decided that it can have a place in the electrical panel in the salon. It needs a little sub frame for that. But cutting that is a challenge… Since we don’t have the jigsaw… The jigsaw had a malfunction when we were in Cadiz and we brought it to a dealer for a repair. It was fixed but way too late. We were already gone. Now, it has been send to a client of Wim who has a house in Valencia. But it still has a long way to go before it’s back on Dione IV…
So, by hand cutting and with some help of the Dremel Wim cuts out the frame. It takes a lot of time but the result isn’t bad.
Today, we make Bami Goreng with home made sate sauce. Everything but the chicken and the vegetables comes from the Netherlands, where the Indonesian kitchen spices are easily available.
It is super delicious! 😋😋
After dinner we bring out a toast with a great Mar7 Moscatel sherry, to the little yellow ball, in freedom on its way to new adventures 😄 🟡
August 25.
At our new anchor spot, ferry turns right at at stern when she comes in.
In the background there’s the cement vessel. After all, there wouldn’t have been any problem, she didn’t come close to the anchor area.
Big girl turning behind us
Wim connects the new display. Here we can see the power consumption of the watermaker. Not that power matters much, we have plenty of solar power. But we can keep on it: when the power increases too much, it means that the membrane gets blocked and it will need cleaning or replacement.
After that, it’s time go on a scooter safari on the island. We drive to the Pingo Doce supermarket first to buy some drinks and some food for a pick nick. We’re going to drive a round trip along the north side of Porto Santo and see 2 “Miradours” (view points).
After a gentle climb uphill we get to the first Miradour. Here we have a gorgeous view over the port, the bay and of course Dione IV 🤩🤩 We have lunch with great fresh bread.
Lunchtime for the little lizards! They love peach! 😄
After lunch, we continue. We get to some steep climbs, too steep for Thelma & Louise. So, we put the girls on cruise control 5km/h so they drive themselves and we walk. But of course there’s the same number of downhill tracks were we race down nicely while regenerating energy by using the motor brake system! It’s a lovely ride with gorgeous views!
There we go.
Downhill…
Uphill…
Then we get to the next Miradour. Stunning views over the ocean!
We continue the road along the ocean side and stop at several view points.
Somebody decided to build a house with a gorgeous view. But it burned down 😕
The remains of his diesel generator…
Delicious fresh figs at the roadside!
Then we descent to the suburb area where the airport is located.
Then we turn into the town of Vila Baleira and follow the road back to the marina. What a lovely ride we had!! We drove about 25km with many steep climbs and we used 40-50% of our external batteries.
When we get back on Dione IV, Sher wants to take a shower. She switches the inverter on and switches on the small boiler in the bathroom. Click! Everything off. Hm. The RCD (Residual Current Device) of the 230v board net has tripped. Ground fault?? Try it again. Reset the RCD, switch on the boiler and it trips again. Shoot! That means the heating element in the little 10L boiler in the shower has broken down. Bummer. We have to try to get a replacement. Sher has a cold shower…
An hour later, Sher starts cooking. Switch the inverter on, for the induction cooker. Click! Again the RCD trips. What? Even with the shower boiler switched off?? Wim thinks, hm. Only the phase wire is switched off. Perhaps the broken heating element short-circuits the neutral wire to earth? Let’s cut the earth wire. Reset the RCD. Again, after 10 seconds it trips. This is crazy. Let’s cut the neutral wire. Again, the RCD trips. This is crazy! So, the boiler can’t be the cause… It must be something else… But what?? Wim opens the electrical cabinet and starts disconnecting the 230v wires from all groups one by one. While Sher resets the RCD every time. Trip, trip, trip… until Wim disconnects a wire and after that, the RCD stays on. Ah, that wire is causing it! But where does it go? It has no mark or such… So, let’s see which sockets have no power. It appears to be the sockets in the galley. The coffee maker, the citrus press and the small water kettle are plugged in. So, one of these 3 is causing it. While we unplug them we noticed a pool of water behind the ridge that keeps them in place when we sail. The little kettle is sitting in the water and the water has penetrated it’s electrical connection in the base! Bloody! Then, Wim realizes he has run the watermaker for a short time this morning, to test the new display. He forgot to put the hose for testing water into the sink and that water has run under the kettle! Problem solved. We dry the water and the kettle will dry. We can start cooking! 🫡
The good news is, the RCD is working fine 😁. If it was not working we would have been electrocuted, touching that water.
The other good news is, there’s nothing wrong with the shower boiler. Wim reconnects the wires and has a nice hot shower 🙂
But, a few lessons: don’t forget that test hose. Have a spare heating element, it will break down some time. Mark those 230v wires, or even better, re-organize that system with a nice cabinet with circuit breakers for each group. That would have made it a lot easier to localize the problem. From now on, that’s on the to-do-list.
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