May 2009-Martinique -- 2nd visit

Martinique: May 17-May 28, 2009

Click on the above thumbnail for a map during this time period

While we were in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, our water maker suddenly stopped working. Basically the same symptoms as 18 months earlier in Trinidad, so I was pretty certain that I knew what the problem was. I even had the rebuild kit, but didn't feel competent to do the repair myself -- the kit contained half-a-gazillion o-rings and various other plastic pieces. What to do? Twenty-five miles north, in Le Marin, Martinique, cruising literature suggested that Caribe Greement was a dealer for Sea Recovery, the brand of our water maker. Le Marin booklets showed Caribe Greement as the chandlery very near the customs office. So we went back to Le Marin. After checking us back into customs, I popped into the chandlery and inquired about repair. The clerk made a quick phone call and then said a technician would be there in five minutes. A nice young man appeared, and he spoke passable English. I showed him a picture of our unit, told him I was reasonably certain that I knew what the problem was, and assured him that I already had the rebuild kit for the presumptive failed component: the "Energy Transfer Device" (ETD.)

"Good", he said. "Then if you will just remove the entire water maker from your boat and bring it in, I will take it apart and rebuild the ETD".

"Um", I said. "I will have to pay you to remove the unit -- I don't know how to remove it."

"OK. Then I will come and get it tomorrow at 9 in the morning."

At 10:30 the next morning I called the chandlery to report that no one had come to get the unit. The lady put me on hold, probably made a phone call, and then came back to say that someone would be there soon. Someone was. But the not the pleasant young fellow who spoke passable English. A much younger fellow, Martin, who spoke virtually no English. He kept asking me to speak slower, but no speed was slow enough. I showed him the unit, and he made a disquieting noise, and indicated that the removal would be very difficult and take a very long time. Then he began examining closely some of the attachments for other equipment mounted near the water maker. It became clear that he thought he would have to take out all of those units first in order to get to the water maker. I assured him that the water maker had been removed in Trinidad without removing anything else. He called back to the office, and apparently complained that the unit was too imbedded to be removable. He hung up and tentatively pulled on some of the wiring that lead to the unit. Didn't seem to have any idea how to get to the attachment points so that the wiring could be disconnected. Finally, he announced that he was sorry, but that he could not remove the unit. I again assured him that the removal had been accomplished in Trinidad, but that had no effect. I urged him to discuss the problem with Fred, the first person I had dealt with, and he indicated that he would, but that he would be telling Fred that the unit would be very difficult if not impossible to remove.

So, there we were. We had turned around to come back in the wrong direction to Martinique, and the official dealer could not even get the d*mn thing out of the boat!

I stewed for a while, and discussed with Barb the possibility of doing without until we could get back down to Trinidad, a distant destination that had not been a planned stop until near the end of the summer. Barb took the dinghy into town to do some shopping, and I dug out the manuals. Took off a face plate and could see where all of the electrical connections were. Identified all of the hoses that would need to be disconnected. Took copious notes about what was connected where, and began the process of removing the unit. Some sweaty hours later -- for the quarters are indeed tight and some things had to be removed by feel rather than by sight -- I had the unit free. I wrestled the unit out of its tight spot and onto a battery box, but it was too heavy for me to get out of the engine room without help. So I called Caribe Greement yet again, and was transferred to Fred. I explained my new situation, and asked for help in carrying the thing, and also asked for permission to watch while he worked on the ETD. He said I could indeed watch, and sent Martin the young tyro out to help me get the unit up out of the engine room and onto the swim platform, from which location we could squeeze it into the young man's dinghy. By this time it was late afternoon, so I was to report at 9 the next morning for my "lesson". When I arrived Fred already had the ETD off the unit, and had the ETD disassembled. He showed me where a missing seal had caused a leak, and where seals had burst, and where another seal was missing. My opinion of Echo Marine in Trinidad hit a new low.

He explained that the pieces of the ETD would need a thorough cleaning in an acid bath, and suggested that I rejoin him at 2 pm. When I rejoined him I watched as he carefully reassembled the ETD. It was nearly 5 pm when we finished. The next day was Thursday, a holiday. Friday was a holiday too. Saturday the chandlery would be open, and I said I would come and pay then. He willingly helped me carry the unit to my nearby dinghy, so that I could take it back to Tusen Takk II for reinstallation. This, without any deposit or security required. On the way back to my boat, I stopped for Steve (Receta), who helped me schlep the unit back into position. I finished the reconnecting on Thursday, and was pleased to have the unit perform better than it had for years. Less system pressure required. Less oscillation of pressure. Higher production rate. (Back to 16 gph on a unit rated for 17.) Fantastic!

So: having water maker problems? Fred at Caribe Greement knows his stuff. (Martin, on the other hand, does not.)

But the next time I have ETD problems, so long as I have the rebuild kit, ample amounts of silicone spray, and the appropriate acid bath, I just might be able to fix the blessed thing myself.