Falmouth is planned as our departure point from Antigua to Guadeloupe – we can clear customs and immigration here, and it gives a nice sailing angle to Guadeloupe. Before jumping south, a few things to take care of – laundry, haircut, and the watermaker. The first two were easy – call Maude’s laundry and arrange a pickup at the dinghy dock! For about $13 US, a full sack of laundry is washed, dried, folded, and returned the next morning. Most of our clothing can be washed in a bucket and dried on the lifelines, but it’s sure nice to have laundered sheets and towels. I had been recommended to a couple of places for a haircut, and checked out the Tree House Spa, about a block from the dinghy dock, and across the street from the megayacht marina. What a place! A Creole cottage tucked into the tropical foliage, with the hairstyling portion conducted in a giant bird cage. Aussie stylist Doug had an opening, so I took the opportunity – got a terrific cut at a very reasonable price, and Doug’s story as well. The spa offered a number of other services, so I’ll be back!

The watermaker testing was a little more tricky. We tested our new Rainman watermaker at our home before departure, but since we couldn’t test it in Chesapeake Bay water, we didn’t try it on the boat.  We had already topped up with freshwater at Jolly Harbour, but wanted to ensure the Rainman worked “in situ” before heading down island. First attempt was Saturday morning at Green Island, while awaiting our kitesurfing lesson. The Rainman requires 110V AC power, so we fired up the generator, energized the outlets, and turned on the switch – only to find that it tripped the outlet or circuit breaker each time. We tried this on 2 different outlets/circuits with the same result. Reread the instructions, checked all the fittings… to no avail.   Emails to the Rainman rep and the Outbound rep for ideas, as we didn’t know if the problem was with the Rainman, the boat, or the generator!   Fast responses from each, so on Monday we packed the Rainman into the dinghy and took it ashore to test on a 110V outlet at the marina office – where it worked like a charm. OK, it’s not a Rainman issue. An electrician at the marina suggested we had the wrong type GCFI outlet, and needed a heavier duty one. He recommended the shop in St Johns, so Andy made plans to take the bus to St Johns. Back at the boat, Andy removed the outlet to match the size, and discovered that we DID already have the heavy duty type. One more thing to try…. the outlets on the port side, which run on a different circuit. Voila! With an extension cord to the galley outlet, the Rainman worked as advertised. We filled the tanks, washed down the boat, and advised Outbound – we still need to resolve the electrical issue, since the Rainman only fits in its starboard side compartment. Getting it reinstalled is another story… but it’s done. Luckily, we have big water tanks and are very conservative with freshwater.