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
Twice a week the big Ro-Ro vessel from Tenerife comes in here. She brings our delicious Platanos de Canarias! Fresh bananas from the Canary Islands. Not the ones from the Caribbean that have been in a cargo container for half a year. We can really taste the difference. We enjoy the bananas at lunch and Sher makes delicious banana bread when they get very ripe. 😋
June 27 is our “together birthday” (Wim at June 25 and Sher at June 29) so we invited our friends from “Bird Song” and “Smile” for a falafel party! Home made falafel from an Ottolenghi recipe 😋.
Our wind speed sensor is working again! We compare the displayed wind speed with our neighbors at Bird Song and is seems to be the same value. But speaking about wind…
Since we still have trouble to stop the wind generator at wind speeds above 20 knots, we decide to fix a 4mm Dyneema line to the tail in order to pull the rotor away from the wind.
Wim climbs up the mast (while Sher securing the halyard on his safety harness) and with some trouble he manages to make a bow line knot with one hand (while standing at the mast top, holding himself to the wind generator mast with the other hand 🫡), fixing the line to the tail.
Let’s see how this works… Of course, the line will twist around the mast when the wind generator turns into different wind directions so we will have to keep an eye on it and untwist it every now and then.
Sher has been watching some YouTube videos about splicing eyes (loops) onto the 12mm Dyneema lines. The so called “Mobius Brummel” Locking Splice seems to be the strongest and safest method. We cut the 15m line in 4 equal pieces, 2 for the chain hook and 2 spares.
Sher found fresh white asparagus at the Hipermarket! Yummie-yummie! 😋😋 With a delicious Chardonnay!
Giant cruise ships move in and out of Cadiz daily at this time of year. They come in at the early morning and depart in the early evening. This is the “Herald of the Seas”, one of the 3 biggest cruise ships in the world. It carries 7500 guests and 2500 crew. It has electric propulsion and of course a huge hotel load. So, it’s a gigantic floating power plant: its generators do 91,2 Mega Watts. That’s the amount of energy a small city ( of 100.000 inhabitants) uses … It has a kind of water adventure park on its upper deck. Crazy.
Happy birthday Sher! 🥳
a little present (and idea) from Wim’s mother: a 50 euro note wrapped around a little bunch of flowers. Wim had to drive a few km’s on his scooter to get the little flower 😂
The next day, Wim has to go to optician where he bought his glasses (in Viveiro, at Alain Affelou). The transition color on the lenses is fading away and uneven after only one and a half years… but there’s a 3 year warranty. The closest Affelou store is across the bay in Puerto de Santa Maria, so we make an appointment and go there by the small ferry.
Once we get to Puerto de Santa Maria we try get a taxi to the big shopping mall where the optician is located. We see many taxis but no driver stops for us! Since we have an appointment at 12 o’clock we decide to start walking and try to hail a taxi on our way. No taxi is stopping! So we walk 4km in the blistering heat…🥵🥵
Soaking in sweat we arrive 15 minutes late at Affelou. No problem. Yes, they can replace Wim’s glasses under warranty. But that’s going to take about 3 weeks. And we won’t be here another 3 weeks… Bummer. But they have a store at Tenerife. We’ll be there long enough to do it there so we decide to postpone the replacement.
Meanwhile, Sher is looking around in the store and she finds a beautiful pair of Etnia Barcelona eyeglass frames that she likes so much. And they have a great offer: buy one, get another for 1 euro and give away another one to somebody for 1 euro! So, Sher can select another pair she likes and give away another to Wim! Well, the offer changes a bit when it concerns lenses with a prescription (50% discount on the lenses) but it’s still a great offer. So we consider this our birthday presents 😄
At the shopping mall we need to get a bite of lunch, but no good options until we see that there is a “Spot Picnic”! We go into the huge Carrfour and buy bread, jamon iberico, and drinks, then make our way to the picnic zone, which is under a tree outside. Before leaving, we find out that there’s a very convenient 10 minutes bus ride to the ferry! Back to Cadiz. Good to know for when we pick up our new glasses!
Time to get back to work… We have to mark the positions of the solar panels precisely to make sure that the connection lead fit the holes in the roof. As we already noticed, we have to shift the panels carefully to match the existing holes. While Wim watches the leads from the inside, Sher shifts the panel outside and tries to come to old position as close as possible (we can still see where the old sealant was). Holding the panel in that position, we draw a line around it. Like that, it will be quick and easy to position the panels when are gluing them (the 2k sealant will cure fast in these temperatures so we will have to work fast).
During the rest of the day Sher is working on the SailRite finishing the deck-dinghy cover.
Sher found fresh thyme! That means: Quinoa cookies!! 😋😋
When Sher opens a salon hatch for a tiny bit and closes the insect screen, 2 little cords from the screen come loose and pop out. Hm. They go through a little hole… Let’s try to get ‘m back trough that hole…
4 hours later, after numerous creative but unsuccessful efforts, we decide to dismount the entire frame. After that, it was an easy fix. Note to ourselves: if it happens again, just take the whole thing off and re-thread it. 😖
On a more successful note, Wim installs new lights in the bathroom. They are way too bright though, so he orders a dimmer on Amazon. The dimmer is huge and ugly, but the electronics inside are small… We should be able to give that a better looking place 🤔.
Now, back to solar panels! We start with applying masking tape.
Prepare the caulking gun.
And start applying sealant.
While Sher carefully lowers the panel into the wet sealant, Wim checks the connection leads inside, at the ceiling.
Then, we press all surface into the sealant and meticulously squeeze out the sealant at the edges. To make absolutely sure that the edges all around the panel are filled with sealant and no water can penetrate.
Then, we stroke the sealant with a finger and after that, remove the tape with the excess sealant on it.
Same procedure today and again tomorrow…
Start at sunrise, while it’s cool.
Sher applies the masking tape on the roof while Wim does that on the solar panel.
Oh no! 😱 The SailRite sewing machine is malfunctioning! It doesn’t pick up the thread from the bobbin. Sher has been trying to figure it out yesterday and called Sasha (from the boat “Smile”) for help. She has a SailRite, too. Sacha concluded there is a problem with the timing but she couldn’t figure out how to correct that. Her husband might…
So, this morning he comes and together they try to figure it out. After an hour they find out the needle isn’t positioned deep enough because of a little burr. After resolving that, the machine works perfect! We have a very happy girl on Dione IV 😃!
Wim continues the finishing touches on the solar panels, insulating, and then painting and installing the inside covers. Like this, we have a good insulation and we can easily access the wires in case of trouble.
Well, the ceiling looks a bit more industrial than before but good… we like this look.
Sher is sewing white sun covers for the salon hatches. We have sun shades on the inside but when we close them, no breeze comes in. So we’ve decided to cover the hatch itself with a light fabric to block the heat of the sun.
The new eyeglasses we’ve bought at Affelou in Puerto de Santa Maria are ready. We get on the ferry to pick them up. But first we visit Bodega Colosia in Puerto de Maria. We have tasted a number of good sherries already at several other bodega’s but their Moscatel is a wonderful surprise! We buy 2 different kinds and a small bottle of Pedro Ximenez which is also very special.
Then, we hop on the number 2 looping bus to the shopping mall and get our new glasses. They are really nice and the lenses have excellent quality! We have lunch at the “Spot Picnic” again, and then wait for the bus back.
Back on Dione IV, Sher has a challenge to store the bottles 😅. But as usual, she finds a place for them all 😃
The cover for the outdoor (cockpit) VHF loudspeaker has suffered from UV. Besides that, we weren’t happy by it’s design. It was hard to lift it to adjust the volume knob.
So, Sher has been sewing a new one. With a little door for the volume knob 😄.
In the afternoon, before we remove the masking tape on the solar panels, Sher paints a second, narrow layer along the edges of the solar panels with a small brush. To make absolutely sure that the sealant is covered well.
When Wim was in the top of the mizzen mast lately, he noticed that our trick with the protection tube for the birds stay line wasn’t working. The aluminum tube had shifted and the line was chafing again. So, we’ve decided for another solution. Using 2 blocks to lead the line into the mast in the right direction.
So we took out the line to turn it around: so that we have the damaged part at the bottom of the mast. And since we have the splicing tools we decide it will be nice to have an eye at the end, instead of a bow line knot. So, Wim starts to splice an eye in the double braided line. Didn’t succeed. Although in the YouTube video it looked so easy. Now, Sher is trying. She has more patience. Wim got annoyed by the guy in the video saying: “You can do it in 2 minutes”. Wim had been struggling for over an hour, in the meantime 😩. Then he said: “It’s so simple, even a child can do it. Even my 6-year old boy can do it”. And the insufferable little brat says: “I can do it in less than 2 minutes, daddy!” 😤😤😤
So now Sher tries. She is watching a different video.
After an hour of fumbling, the core has to be pulled into the cover and it should magically form the eye…
But no… It gets stuck. Won’t go any further in.
Bummer. Cut it off again.
Meanwhile, we fear that the rope is getting too short… We’ll buy a new one, here at the little chandler.
In the afternoon, Sher tries another eye splice in the double braided line. She bought 1m to practice. On YouTube, anybody, even the annoying 6-year old brat can do it in 2 minutes! “Yes daddy, I can do it even in less than 2 minutes”. Well, here she goes!
After more than an hour…😩
But the new one is also impossible to splice. grrrrrr.
But she finished another project very successful! Covers for the hatches. That keeps the sun out when the hatches are opened.
Wim has been asked to do an energy project (installing lithium batteries and upgrade the electrical system) on a boat of a friend of one of his clients. By coincidence, they where sailing in our neighborhood so they have decided to come to Cadiz. Wim has ordered the batteries and some Victron stuff in the Netherlands and a pallet including our new window is on it’s way to the little marine store here. Yesterday, they tried to deliver it at 0815h but: nobody there. The store opens at 0900h. So, they will try again today. At 8 o’clock Wim is waiting outside the gate in case they will come before 0900h.
But no truck shows up.
What does show up is an old lady with a big bag of bread crumbs. She’s feeding the seagulls!🤣
But later that day the pallet arrives! With our new window and all the battery stuff! Wim goes to work on his new client’s boat. They are a very nice couple.
While Wim is working at his client’s boat, Sher continues her projects on Dione IV.
She has bought beautiful new duvet covers and pillow cases. Lovely Dione IV colors!
Sewing sun shades for the cockpit.
Wim finishes the energy project, a great upgrade for this boat. Much more safe, much more efficient, more convenient, more durable. Client is very happy!
Now that Wim has finished the project on the neighbor’s boat, we can fit our new window.
Oh no!! It doesn’t fit at all!! The forward angle is completely wrong! 😫😫
What a bummer! We’ve gone through so much trouble to get it and we’ve been waiting so long for it! This is really very sad.
We figure out what went wrong: when we got the order confirmation, it was for the wrong window, the rear one. Wim immediately notified them and they send a order confirmation for the right window. They must have made a mistake. Let’s check if the window fits the rear one…
That fits exactly!
So, it’s clear that they made the mistake and manufactured the previously (wrong) offered window…
Now that Wim’s work is done we can start preparing to leave Cadiz and head to Porto Santo! Sher is doing a lot of provisioning and she’s stuffing up our fridge and stuffing up other places with everything we need on the the 5-day passage and everything we won’t be able to find any more once we’ve left Spain.
In the evening we’re invited by Wim’s client for dinner to celebrate. After that, we bring out a toast to their new energy system with a Dutch liquor that we got from Wim’s cousin Mart & Petra on our farewell-to-Fryslân party in 2024. It’s “Haagse Kruidenbaggâh” Hm. We do not really like it 😅. So, we repeat the toast with a delicious Moscatel Sherry 🍷🍷🍷🍷🙂
Before we sail out, we have to finish the bird stay (the line connecting the two masts). Wim climbs up the main mast and attaches a new polyester line to the steel bird stay. Then, he climbs up the mizzen mast to see about the construction with the 2 blocks that we have in mind. We’ll need a short Dyneema loop to fix the lower block to the mast. Since Sher knows how to splice an eye in Dyneema, within 20 minutes we have a nice loop!
The cruise ship “Aida” is moving out. We saw this one (with the lips and the eye at the bow) when we were in the marina of A Coruña. Wim says: when you start seeing the same cruise ships over and over again, it’s time to leave the area! 😄Sher waves goodbye to them! 👋🏻
At the open market, Sher has bought some new fabric for the small square cockpit cushions we use while underway. One of them has a hole in it now.
Cut it with the heat cutter. That prevents it from fraying and unraveling.
Wim climbs up the mizzen mast again and fixes the bird stay.
July 24.
Today, it’s time to leave Puerto America. We’ve been here long enough! Since June 6. That’s 7 weeks. We’ve really enjoyed it here and had a huge amount of things done. Plus a lot of provisioning and spare parts: all kinds of stuff that is easy to get here and that would be a lot harder to get when we’re not on the European continent any more.
So, one last time we drive on our scooters into the town of Cadiz and buy the last fresh provisions. Thelma & Louise have done a lot of Km’s here!
Then, we pay the marina bill (our most expensive stay up till now 🙈) and at 1400h we leave the dock. But first, we going to get diesel. We want to start the passage to Porto Santo, Madeira and the Canaries with full tanks.
Bye-bye Banana-boat 👋🏻 4 times a week we heard your heavy engines thundering when you came in and headed out.
Bye-bye Puerto America with your really nice staff 👋🏻👋🏻
We go around the corner to anchor behind the big bridge. We’ll have to wait till Monday for the weather window to open for our passage to Porto Santo. Besides that, our bodies have to get accustomed to the movements of the boat again. We’ve been still for such a long time. And, we’ll have to prepare some more things for the passage.
We drop anchor right after the bridge. Last time, when we were dragging in the soft mud, we saw some boats anchored there. Perhaps a better holding. Well, we have a 15 knots breeze now and we’re holding fine. And test the new bridle. We also test the SSB radio as we’ll need that when we don’t have internet on passage.
But… when we try to get a connection with a SailMail station there’s no reply… We try it during the day, after sunset, at sunrise and in the middle of the night. We try to figure out why we get no connection. The equipment seems to be fine: the transmitter works fine (we draw 35A so that means we’re outputting about 450 watts of RF power, making lights and gauges go crazy 😅), the antenna tuner works fine, the antenna is physically all right, the frequencies and data protocols are right, so what could be the problem?? We realize we’re anchored between this huge bridge and huge power lines…
That must be interfering with our signal. We’ll have to to try again once we’re at the open ocean. Meanwhile, we have our Zoleo satellite system and our friend Nigel as a backup to give us weather updates. Thanks, Nigel! 👍🏻👍🏻
What is that? Zooming out on the above picture of the SSB radio we see Badger in a plastic bag??
Sher has been busy assembling our waterproof grab bags… Grab bags, also known as “ditch bags” are for a worst case scenario if we have to abandon Dione IV and step into the life raft. The bags contain all kinds of stuff we have to take with us in an emergency. Like some water and some food, our passports, communication equipment + solar chargers, medication, first aid kit, some money, and so on.
And Badger! He will dive into into the plastic bag not to get wet when he gets thrown into the life raft 😂
But why are the bears not in plastic bags??
Because REAL Captains go down with their ship! 👊🏻👊🏻
Off we go now… Southwest from Cadiz to Porto Santo! More from underway in the next post!
The Captain’s Log – the complete story
June 26.
Today, the temperature is nice but because of the west wind (from the ocean) the humidity is quite high (compared to our time in Sevilla). So, it feels warm.
Yay! The sealant for the solar panels has arrived! After an almost 2 weeks delay…
But, upon opening the opening the box, there’s another big bummer… They forgot to add the special static mixing nozzles!
We bought an special calking gun for these 600ml sausages. But since there are 2 components in these sausages, these have to be mixed with a special mixing nozzle.
The nozzle that was supplied with the gun isn’t suitable. Wim calls the guys in the NL and they apologize and promise to send the nozzles immediately.
Another delay…😫
We’ve ordered 15m of 12mm Dyneema on Amazon. It had to come from Germany and after 2 weeks it was delivered today! This is going to be our new anchor chain hook bridle. 12 tons of breaking strength. Minus 20% because of they eye on both sides. = 10 tons which corresponds the breaking strength of the anchor chain.
June 27.
Twice a week the big Ro-Ro vessel from Tenerife comes in here. It brings agriculture products and it takes all kinds of supplies to Tenerife. It’s an impressive vessel: she has almost 4km of truck lanes and it carries 260 full size trailers! She supplies electrical energy for 110 reefers (refrigerated containers). Her engine room must be flabbergasting!
She brings our delicious Canary bananas! Fresh bananas. Not the ones from Peru that have been in a cargo container for half a year. We can really taste the difference. Sher makes delicious banana bread and we enjoy the bananas at lunch 😋
Our wind speed sensor is working again! We compare the displayed wind speed with our neighbors at Bird Song and is seems to be the same value.
June 27 is our “together birthday” (Wim at June 25 and Sher at June 29) so we invited our friends from “Bird Song” and “Smile” for a falafel party! Home made falafel from an Ottolenghi recipe 😋.
June 28.
Since we still have trouble to stop the wind generator at wind speeds above 20 knots, we decide to fix a 4mm Dyneema line to the tail in order to pull the rotor away from the wind.
Wim climbs up the mast (while Sher securing the halyard on his safety harness) and with some trouble he manages to make a bow line knot with one hand (while standing at the mast top, holding himself to the wind generator mast with the other hand 🫡), fixing the line to the tail.
Let’s see how this works… Of course, the line will twist around the mast when the wind generator turns into different wind directions so we will have to keep an eye on it and untwist it every now and then.
In the afternoon, the wind picks up to over 20 knots and we test it: pulling the turbine away from the wind is very easy from the side deck and the turbine stops immediately. So far, so good.
Sher has been watching some YouTube videos about splicing eyes to the 12mm Dyneema lines. The so called Brummel Lock Splice seems to be the strongest and safest. We cut the 15m line in 4 equal pieces, 2 for the chain hook and 2 spares.
Sher found fresh white asparagus at the hypermarket! Yummie-yummie! 😋😋 With a delicious Chardonnay!
Giant cruise ships move in and out of Cadiz. They come in at the early morning and depart in the early evening. This is the “Herald of the seas”, one of the 3 biggest cruise ships in the world. It carries 7500 guests and 2500 crew. It has electric propulsion and of course a huge hotel load. So, it’s a huge floating power plant: it’s generators do 91,2 Mega Watts. That’s the energy a small city uses (100.000 inhabitants)… It has a kind of water adventure park on its upper deck. Crazy.
June 29.
Happy birthday! 🥳
Little present (and idea) from Wim’s mother: a 50 euro note as a little bunch of flowers. Wim had to drive a few km’s on his scooter to get the little flower 😂
June 30.
Wim has to go to optician where he bought his glasses (in Viveiro, at Alain Affelou). The transition color on the lenses is fading away after one and a half year… And there’s a 3 year warranty. There’s an Affelou store in Puerto de Santa Maria so we make an appointment and go there by the small ferry.
Once we get to Puerto de Santa Maria we try get a taxi to the big shopping mall where the optician is located. We see many taxis but no driver stops for us! Since we have an appointment at 12 o’clock we decide to start walking and try to hail a taxi on our way. No taxi is stopping! So we walk 4km in the blistering heat…🥵🥵
Soaking in sweat we arrive 15 minutes late at Affelou. No problem. Yes, they can replace Wim’s glasses under warranty. But that’s going to take about 3 weeks. And we won’t be here another 3 weeks… Bummer. But they have a store at Tenerife. We’ll be there long enough to do it there so we decide to postpone the replacement.
Meanwhile, Sher is looking around in the store and she finds a beautiful pair of Etnia Barcelona that she likes so much. And they have a great offer: buy one, get another for 1 euro and give away another one to somebody for 1 euro! So, Sher can select another pair she likes and give away another to Wim! Well, the offer changes a bit when it concerns lenses with a prescription (50% discount on the lenses) but it’s still a great offer. So we consider this our birthday presents 😄
At the shopping mall we find out that there’s a very convenient 10 minutes bus ride to the ferry! Back to Cadiz.
July 1.
Oops, a small motor boat sank in the marina 😱
July 2.
Well, after many delays, it looks like the static mixer nozzles are going to be delivered today. So we can glue the new solar panels tomorrow!
The days are really hot. But thanks to all our sun shade covers we keep it relatively cool inside. But still, pretty warm..
In the mornings, it’s around 27ºC so we work outside in the early morning.
We have to mark the positions of the solar panels precisely to make sure that the connection lead fit the holes in the roof. As we already noticed, we have to shift the panels carefully to match the existing holes. While Wim watches the leads from the inside, Sher shifts the panel outside and tries to come to old position as close as possible (we can still see where the old sealant was). Holding the panel in that position, we draw a line around it. Like that, it will be quick and easy to position the panels when are gluing them (the 2k sealant will cure fast in these temperatures so we will have to work fast).
By the end of the morning the box with the mixing nozzles arrives! We can start gluing the panels, finally!
The caulking gun is ready for use now.
But… delay after delay… we have a forecast for very strong winds for the coming days. Winds from the east, that blows a huge amount of dust. Impossible to work with the solar panels…
During the rest of the day Sher is working on the SailRite finishing the deck-dinghy cover.
July 3.
All day we have very strong winds, gusts up to 35 knots. We have to close the hatches to prevent the dust coming in but the temperature is still high (around 35ºC) 🥵🥵
Sher found fresh thyme! That means: Quinoa cookies!! 😋😋
July 4.
Another very windy day. We have to stay inside with the hatches closed for the dust. 🥵
When Sher opens a salon hatch for a tiny bit and closes the insect screen, 2 little wires from the screen pop out. Hm. They go through a little hole… Let’s try to get ‘m back trough that hole…
4 hours later, after numerous efforts, we decide to dismount the entire frame. After that, it appears to relatively easy to lead the wires trough the little hole and fix it 😅😅
For some time, LED strings in the bathroom have been giving up. The shitty Chinese LED strings are changing color and flicker on and off. Wim takes them out of the rail and decides we need need to replace them.
We order new ones on Amazon.
Nice! But they’re much too bright!
So, we need a dimmer. Order it on Amazon, next day it’s here. What an ugly box!😖
Let’s see what’s inside. A tiny circuit board and and a tiny potentiometer. We should be able to give that a better looking place 🤔.
July 5.
The wind is gone. During the day it’s pretty hot (around 35ºC) and that’s no good for the sealant. It should be applied at max 35º but of course the deck and most certainly the black colored solar panels will get much hotter. So we decide to work in the early morning, while it’s cool. We get out of bed at 0630, just before sunrise. Clean the roof with water. Have breakfast and coffee. After that, at around 0730, the roof is dry and the outside temperature is 27ºC.
We start with applying masking tape.
Prepare the caulking gun.
And start applying sealant.
But! Bummer. The sealant goes through the mixing nozzle very slowly. Wim has to use a lot of force and pressure on the caulking gun to keep the sealant running through the nozzle. This goes very slowly… After half an hour he has done only a quarter of the surface. We should 2 hours working time before the 2-component sealant starts curing. But that’s at 20ºC (according to the datasheet) and we have 27ºC now. So, that’s probably a lot less time… Hurry! Push harder! Wim’s hand is getting painful from squeezing the caulking gun’s trigger very hard. Then, the nozzle breaks off under the pressure! Hm. Without the nozzle, the sealant disperses very easily… Okay. We have to decide to work without the nozzle and try to mix the 2 components on the deck as good as possible with the square-notched trowel tool. Let’s hope the chemicals react with each other.
Anyway, without the mixing nozzle, the surface is very quickly filled and troweled.
After that we apply a ridge of the same sealant (in its 1-component version) around the edges.
Since we discovered some water under some of the old panels we want to make absolutely sure that the edges are filled with sealant.
While Sher carefully lowers the panel into the wet sealant, Wim checks the connection leads inside, at the ceiling.
Then, we press all surface into the sealant and meticulously squeeze out the sealant at the edges. To make absolutely sure that the edges all around the panel are filled with sealant and no water can penetrate.
Then, we stroke the sealant with a finger and after that, remove the tape with the excess sealant on it.
At 0930h the first set of 3 is done! Now, the temperature has risen to 30ºC so we do the next set of 3 tomorrow.
Wim connects the wires and everything looks good. We have around 56v OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) and around 50W of power in the morning sun when the MPPT kicks in.
Perfect! Now, let’s wait till the sun rises more and all shadows are gone.
That happens at 1400h here in the marina. 250W of the rated 277,5Wp! That is excellent!
Great job, Mito Solar & Dione IV Crew!
In the afternoon, Sher makes the second Brummel Lock Dyneema line.
New anchor chain hook bridle ready to use!🤩
While Wim finds a nice place for the dimmer 😀
But because the dimmer uses the minus wires of the bathroom lights and the plus wire was connected to the switch, Wim has to dive into Dione IV’s very early electrical system (undocumented) to find the 2 minus wires and lead those to the new dimmer 😅.
Some old photo’s from constructing the interior in 2006 helped to find those! By determining where the yellow wire tubes are.
End of the day: The new solar panels (one third of the decksalon roof) yielded almost as much energy as the panels on the cockpit sun tent.
For a long time (since we have had the panels on the sun tent) they were yielding way more energy than the entire decksalon roof!
We’re back in business!👊🏻
July 6.
Same story today! Early rise, masking tape, gluing.
Work in progress…
At 0930h, when it gets warm, the middle set of 3 is finished!
In the early afternoon we have a tiny bit more yield than the starboard set of 3.
Which totally makes sense! The middle section has one solar cell more than the starboard section (85 against 84) 😁
July 7.
Same procedure today…
Start at sunrise.
Sher applies the masking tape on the roof while Wim does that on the solar panel.
While Wim applies the sealant to the roof, Sher does the masking tape on the next panel.
Nicely spread out with the 4mm square-notched trowel.
Here’s the extra bead of 1-component sealant (Sabatack 780) along the edges.
At 0930h, when the temperature starts rising, the third set of panels is done!
Check the power in the early afternoon. There’s a little bit of shadow from the main mast. So 202W of 250 makes sense.
Finishing the wiring on the companionway hatch.
First, cut the foam and PU compound layer.
Positioning the wires.
Pour a little 2-component liquid foam.
Cut the foam.
After that, smooth it with polyester filler.
July 8.
Oh no! 😱 The SailRite sewing machine is malfunctioning! It doesn’t pick up the thread from the bobbin. Sher has been trying to figure it out yesterday and called Sasha (from the boat “Smile”) for help. She has a SailRite, too. Sacha concluded there is a problem with the timing but she couldn’t figure out how to correct that. Her husband might…
So, this morning he comes and together they try to figure it out. After an hour they find out the needle isn’t positioned deep enough because of a little burr. After resolving that, the machine works perfect! We have a very happy girl on Dione IV 😃!
Meanwhile, Wim has been applying masking tape around all edges of the solar panels and applied another layer of 1-component sealant over a bit wider line so that we have a nice smooth transition.
Paint the inside of the hatch with DC800 Satin (same paint as the ceiling).
And paint the 5 little hatches for the ceiling in DC800 Satin.
July 9.
Fixing the hatches for the wiring of the solar panels.
First, Wim cuts out the foam to have a nice straight edge.
Then organize the wires.
We have bought some sheets of 2cm thick Neoprene foam on Amazon. It has an adhesive layer. Stick 3 layers on the hatch, so 6cm. We have 8cm above the ceiling so 2cm is left over for the wires.
Push the foam in and screw the little hatch.
Like this, we have a good insulation and we can easily access the wires in case of trouble.
Well, the ceiling looks a bit more industrial than before but okay…
Sher is sewing white sun covers for the salon hatches. We have sun shades on the inside but when we close them, no breeze comes in. So we’ve decided to cover the hatch itself.
July 10.
The new eye glasses we’ve bought at Affelou in Puerto de Santa Maria are ready. We get on the ferry to pick them up. But first we visit Bodega Colosia in Puerto de Maria. We have tasted a number of good sherry’s already at several other bodega’s but their Moscatel is a surprise! We buy 2 different kinds and a small bottle of Pedro Ximenez which is also very special.
Then, we hop on the bus to the shopping mall and get our new glasses. They are really nice and the lenses have excellent quality!
Back on Dione IV, Sher has a challenge to store the bottles 😅. But as usual, she finds a place for them 😃
July 11.
Wim starts on “Project Toilet Light” (see separate post for details) 🙂
In the evening, Wim applies masking tape on the solar panels again (how many times is that? Third time 🫡) and on everything on the roof that doesn’t have to be painted. The weather looks good to paint the roof tomorrow.
July 12.
The last couple of nights were dry, no morning dew. That’s important because the paint we use (International Perfection Pro) needs 2 days to cure. When painted in the morning, in the evening the paint is still a bit sticky so the glossy surface gets destroyed when it gets wet.
So, let’s go! Sher does the precision painting while Wim paints spots on the decks that were repaired with primer only.
By 11 o’clock, were done! Nice. The paint has all the warm (30ºC) afternoon to dry.
The cover for the outdoor (cockpit) VHF loudspeaker has suffered from UV. Besides that, we weren’t happy by it’s design. It was hard to lift it to adjust the volume knob.
So, Sher has been sewing a new one. With a little door for the volume knob 😄.
In the afternoon, before we remove the masking tape, Sher paints a second, narrow layer along the edges of the solar panels with a small brush. To make absolutely sure that the sealant is covered well.
July 13.
In the morning, Sher goes to the Bodega Colosia in Puerto de Santa Maria with our neighbors. Wim stays on Dione IV because the pallet with the window could arrive today.
When Wim was in the top of the mizzen mast lately, he noticed that our trick with the protection tube for the birds stay line wasn’t working. The aluminum tube had shifted and the line was chafing again. So, we’ve decided for another solution. Using 2 blocks to lead the line into the mast in the right direction.
So we took out the line to turn it around: so that we have the damaged part at the bottom of the mast. And since we have the splicing tools we decide it will be nice to have an eye at the end, instead of a bow line knot. So, Wim starts to splice an eye in the double braided line. Didn’t succeed. Although in the YouTube video it looked so easy. Now, Sher is trying. She has more patience. Wim got annoyed by the guy in the video saying: “You can do it in 2 minutes”. Wim had been struggling for over an hour, in the meantime 😩. Then he said: “It’s so simple, even a child can do it. Even my 6-year old boy can do it”. And the insufferable little brat says: “I can do it in less than 2 minutes, daddy!” 😤😤😤
So now Sher tries. She is watching a different video.
After an hour of fumbling, the core has to be pulled into the cover and it should magically form the eye…
But no… It gets stuck. Won’t go any further in.
Bummer. Cut it off again.
Meanwhile, we fear that the rope is getting too short… We’ll buy a new one, here at the little chandler.
July 14.
The paint on the roof cured very nice. It has been a dry night. Wim puts all lines back and we’re a sailboat again!
Toilet light continued… We order a small collection of resistors on Amazon and now, let’s experiment with that. With a 220ohm resistor the light is very dim now. Let’s see how that looks in the night…
July 15.
The sink in the galley drains very slow. We fear that the hose is clogged. Problem is, we can’t just put the water hose with pressure on it like we do sometimes in the bathroom. This kitchen sink has an overflow pipe. So when we put water pressure on to the drain, the water sprays out the overflow instead of pressurizing and flushing the drain hose.
We discuss it: we never fill the sink so high that the water drain into the overflow. We don’t make silly mistakes like plugging the exit and leaving the tap open. So we do not really need the overflow. In the little marine shop Wim buys a 1 inch cap and we close it.
We close the overflow holes with a piece of neoprene rubber.
Now we put the water hose on it at full pressure. An amazing amount of dirt comes out! We are really surprised how much dirt was in that hose!
There is some rust under the paint around the hole in the bridge deck for the hook to hoist the engine. Wim removes the rust and tapes the vinyl to protect it for the sandblasting.
At the same time, he treats 2 other rusty spot. Around the SB fresh water filling lid…
…and around the shore power connector. When he removes the socket there’s a huge amount of rust under it! Oops… All these 3 spots were treated before. With the so called rust stabilizer (that didn’t work) 👎🏻
Then, he prepares a small amount of primer (Interprotect), sand blast and right after that, apply a fist layer of primer.
After the first layer of primer has dried we put the plug back. A cause for the rust might be that water penetrates between the stainless steel plug and the deck. It’s better to cover both the plug and the deck with a thick layer of paint.
We put a bucket of water as heavy weight to press the vinyl down. There was a spot of rust under the vinyl so that has been sandblasted and filled with primer.
It’s time for a haircut! ✂️😀
In the afternoon, Sher tries another eye splice in the double braided line. She bought 1m to practice. On YouTube, anybody, even the annoying 6-year old brat can do it in 2 minutes! “Yes daddy, I can do it even in less than 2 minutes”. Well, here she goes!
After more than an hour…😩
Cut if off and start over again. Tomorrow…
…and have a beer 🍻
July 16.
But she finished another project very successful! Covers for the hatches. That keeps the sun out when the hatches are opened.
July 17.
Wim has been asked to do an energy project (installing lithium batteries and upgrade the electrical system) on a boat of a friend of one of his clients. By coincidence, they where sailing in our neighborhood so they have decided to come to Cadiz. Wim has ordered the batteries and some Victron stuff in the Netherlands and a pallet including our new window is on it’s way to the little marine store here. Yesterday, they tried to deliver it at 0815h but: nobody there. The store opens at 0900h. So, they will try again today. At 8 o’clock Wim is waiting outside the gate in case they will come before 0900h.
But no truck shows up.
What does show up is an old lady with a big bag of bread crumbs. She’s feeding the seagulls!🤣
But later that day the pallet arrives! With our new window and all the battery stuff!
July 18.
Wim goes to work on his new client’s boat. They are a very nice couple.
July 19.
While Wim is working at his client’s boat, Sher continues her projects on Dione IV.
She has bought beautiful new duvet covers and pillow cases. Lovely Dione IV colors!
Sewing sun shades for the cockpit.
July 20.
Wim has finished the energy project. A great upgrade for this boat. Much more safe, much more efficient, more convenient, more durable. Client very happy!
July 21.
Now that Wim has finished the project on the neighbor’s boat, we can fit our new window.
Oh no!! It doesn’t fit at all!! The forward angle is completely wrong! 😫😫
What a bummer! We’ve gone through so much trouble to get it and we’ve been waiting so long for it! This is really very sad.
We figure out what went wrong: when we got the order confirmation, it was for the wrong window, the rear one. Wim immediately notified them and they send a order confirmation for the right window. They must have made a mistake. Let’s check if the window fits the rear one…
That fits exactly!
So, it’s clear that they made the mistake and manufactured the previously (wrong) offered window…
Well, we send the pictures and a copy of the email conversation (about the correction) to Hora Ship Windows and wait what they have to say… But for sure it’s going to take a long time to manufacture a new window and we’ll be not in Spain any more. Making everything more difficult 😕
Now that Wim’s work is done we can start preparing to leave Cadiz and head to Porto Santo! Sher is doing a lot of provisioning and she’s stuffing up our fridge and stuffing up other places with everything we need on the the 5-day passage and everything we won’t be able to find any more once we’ve left Spain.
In the evening we’re invited by Wim client for dinner. After that, we bring out a toast to their new energy system with a Dutch liquor that we got from Wim’s cousin Mart & Petra on our farewell-to-Fryslân party in 2024. It’s “Haagse Kruidenbaggâh” Hm. We do not really like it 😅. So, we repeat the toast with a delicious Moscatel Sherry 🍷🍷🍷🍷🙂
July 22.
We paint the spots that were treated and painted with many layers of primer with High Gloss. As usual, Sher does the precision painting.
Before we sail out we have to finish the bird stay. Wim climbs up the main mast and attaches a new polyester line to the steel bird stay. Then, he climbs up the mizzen mast to see about the construction with the 2 blocks that we have in mind. We’ll need a short Dyneema loop to fix the lower block to the mast. Since Sher knows how to splice an eye in Dyneema, within 20 minutes we have a nice loop!
The cruise ship “Aida” is moving out. We saw this one (with the lips and the eye at the bow) when we were in the marina of A Coruña. Wim says: when you start seeing the same cruise ships over and over again, it’s time to leave the area! 😄
Sher waves goodbye to them 👋🏻…
…But nobody waves back 😔
July 23.
At the open market, Sher has bought some new fabric for the small cockpit cushions.
Cut it with the heat cutter. That prevents it from raffling.
Wim climbs up the mizzen mast again and fixes the bird stay.
Like this, the line is led into the sheave block in mast from below. That the right way and it should prevent it from chafing.
Sher made 2 shorter Dyneema loops to fix the block to the hooks of the running back stays.
July 24.
Today, it’s time to leave Puerto America. We’ve been here long enough! Since June 6. That’s 7 weeks. We’ve really enjoyed it here and had a huge amount of things done. Plus a lot of provisioning and spare parts: all kinds of stuff that is easy to get here and that would be a lot harder to get when we’re not on the European continent any more.
So, one last time we drive on our scooters into the town of Cadiz and buy the last fresh provisions. Thelma & Louise have done a lot of Km’s here!
Then, we pay the marina bill (our most expensive stay up till now 🙈) and at 1400h we leave the dock.
First, we going to get diesel. We want to start the passage to Porto Santo, Madeira and the Canaries with full tanks. The diesel price is reasonable here, € 1,79/L. Regretfully, we are a bit late: the lowest price we saw was € 1,56 a few weeks ago. But the price is rocketing up: because the Spanish government is gradually ending their 40 cents subsidy and market price is rising so by October the price is expected to be way over 2 euros. So, we fill up our starboard tank with 387 liters (our port tank is still full).
One last look at our empty berth and off we go.
Bye-bye Cadiz! We really enjoyed your beautiful old town 👋🏻👋🏻
Bye-bye Banana-boat 👋🏻 4 times a week we heard your heavy engines thundering when you came in and headed out.
Bye-bye Puerto America with your really nice staff 👋🏻👋🏻
We go around the corner to anchor behind the big bridge. We’ll have to wait till Monday for the weather window to open for our passage to Porto Santo. Besides that, our bodies have to get accustomed to the movements of the boat. We’ve been still for such a long time. And, we’ll have to prepare some more things for the passage.
While motoring to the bridge we notice our propeller must be full of barnacles: we reach only 4 knots at 1200 revs and the diesel consumption is 4L/h instead of 2.5. So that requires a diving job…
We drop anchor right after the bridge. Last time, when we were dragging in the soft mud, we saw some boats anchored there. Perhaps a better holding. Well, we have a 15 knots breeze now and we’re holding fine. And test the new bridle.
July 25.
We spend some time in refreshing our SSB routines. It has been a while ago that we tested the SSB radio and downloaded GRIB files (wind forecasts). Since we won’t have internet access once we’re offshore we depend on the short wave radio + Pactor modem to get our wind forecasts. We can’t do this in a marina, the high RF output power could damage other boat’s equipment. So, here at the anchorage is a good time to practice and test…
But… when we try to get a connection with a SailMail station there’s no reply… We try it during the day, after sunset, at sunrise and in the middle of the night. All of these moments of the day there’s a chance of obtaining a connection on various frequencies. But only at 2 o’clock in the night we get a brief connection with the Belgian SailMail station (in Oostende, that’s the closest station). But it cuts out before we can transfer data. Hm. This worries us a bit… We have to rely on a SSB connection during our passage to Porto Santo. As a backup we have the Zoleo device but that’s text only. So, we need someone to read and interpret GRIB files and send the conclusions in text via Zoleo. Sher’s girlfriend Michele’s husband, Nigel, is a very experienced sailor and we send him a message with that request. He’s willing to do this, in case needed!
In the meantime we try to figure out why we get no connection. The equipment seems to be fine: the transmitter works fine (we draw 35A so that means we’re outputting about 450 watts of RF power, making lights and gauges go crazy 😅), the antenna tuner works fine, the antenna is physically all right, the frequencies and data protocols are right, so what could be the problem??
We realize we’re anchored between this huge bridge and huge power lines…
That must be interfering with our signal. We’ll have to to try again once we’re at the open ocean. Meanwhile, we have Nigel as a backup. Thanks, Nigel! 👍🏻👍🏻
What is that? Zooming out on the above picture of the SSB radio we see Badger in a plastic bag??
Sher has been busy assembling our waterproof grab bags… Grab bags are for a worst case scenario when we have to abandon Dione IV and step into the life raft. The bags contain all kinds of stuff we have to take with us in an emergency. Like some water and some food, our passports, communication equipment + solar chargers, medication, first aid kit, some money, and so on.
And Badger! He will dive into into the plastic bag not to get wet when he gets thrown into the life raft 😂
But why are the bears not in plastic bags??
Because REAL Captains go down with the ship! 👊🏻👊🏻
Meanwhile, Wim mounts the shore power inlet on the newly painted surface.
As if there was never any rust.
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