A Week Aboard S/V Sabado: 1/19/2025 – 1/26/2025 

Happy Sunday! There is no video this week; check back next week! 

Last Sunday was our first full cloudy day in a while. We decided to run the generator after breakfast, and about 30 minutes in, we heard a grinding noise, followed by the generator overheating and shutting down. We spent the rest of the day trying to fix it: the impeller looked brand new, and the strainer did have a small fish in it, but cleaning it out did not solve the problem. Eventually, Ray took off the exhaust elbow, and sure enough, the interior was coated with a thick layer of buildup. 

He chipped away at it with a screwdriver for a while before remembering we had a spare. Our generator’s engine was modified to be a marine model, so the spare exhaust elbow the manufacturer sent us was a different shape than what we had. It’s usable, but we couldn’t close the cover with it on. We fumbled around with it briefly before deciding we’d be better off trying to clean up the old one. We taped up one end and poured a bit of Barnacle Buster inside. It immediately began bubbling, and the elbow was cleared shortly thereafter. 

We reattached it the next day and ran the generator for a few hours without issue. Woohoo! Admittedly, we have become increasingly irritated with our generator and are looking into removing it soon. I spent the rest of the day using every last drop of stainless polish we had on Sabado’s exterior. I haven’t found any available here, so we’ll see how long I’ll be able to keep her rust-free! 

We woke up the next morning to some extra company in the anchorage…

We’d seen the Silver Shadow here and there in the Society Islands: Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora. However, we were surprised to see it venture this far off the beaten path. This luxury cruise ship is much smaller than the ones we’d see in the Caribbean, with only 382 passengers (compared to 3,000+ on a Carnival cruise, for example). I looked up their itinerary online, and they have a couple of stops in the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Cook Islands! We watched as the lifeboats carried their guests to and from shore all day. 

That afternoon, we got to thinking: Between Starlink and eSIMs, we rarely reach for our physical guide books anymore. We sorted through our library and decided to lug several bags of books ashore to donate to the local yacht services shop, lightening our load and freeing up some valuable storage space! Hopefully, they’ll be of use to a fellow cruiser. 

We walked to the chandlery to purchase a new furling line since our old one was too worn to re-splice. Thankfully, they had the size and length we needed in stock! We’ve been unable to locate a new splicing tool or splicing tool alternative (we’ve heard your suggestions to use a metal hanger, but all of ours are plastic, and there’s nowhere to buy any here!). So, we dropped the new line off at the local fix-if guy’s boat, who was able to use his tools to splice it later that afternoon. Sabado is now rigged and ready to fly headsails again! 

By Wednesday, we decided it was finally time to clean up the cockpit. That’s right; we’d left all the tools, parts, and rags we’d used for the generator repair out for days. Sometimes, the most challenging part of a boat project is getting things out and putting them back- you have to move 20 things out of the way to access the one thing you need. It was a sweaty job, but we rewarded ourselves with a glass of wine on the bow once everything was neat and tidy. This view never gets old! 

We spent the rest of the week killing time. Cyclone season is our “off-season,” so we’re trying to embrace the slower pace that comes with limited cruising grounds. We’re on the lookout for a weather window to leave Nuku Hiva, but those seem far and few between. We can’t complain; this is an easy place to hang out. We got a bit of rain yesterday, but it’s been pleasant otherwise. The grocery store is small and expensive, but the local produce market has been such a treat. We’ve been stuffing ourselves with fresh fruit! However, it’s hard to ignore the itch to go sailing… 

I hope you have a great week. ❤️