P is working on boat projects as usual - we have a brand new water heater, new hoses for the propane gas tanks, and a whole host of new fittings that we needed. Plus an MP3 player - while I was sick I loaded all the CD's we had onto it so now we have hours and hours of uninterrupted music to listen to instead of having to get up every few minutes to change a cd. Yay. We hope to leave St. Thomas on Thursday and will head for Virgin Gorda, then Anagada - so we will no longer have access to our cellphones, but hopefully we will have email from time to time.
CONGRATULATIONS TO JOYCE who is now a certified PADI Dive Instructor!!!
The next two paragraphs are purely about our water filter system - so for those of you interested, read on. For those of you who couldn't care less about water filter systems, ignore the next two paragraphs (the ones in italics)!!!!
The v-clamp broke on our Seagull IV water filter system - we had to get it welded (were without water for 2 days) and we asked the manufacturer, General Ecology, to send us a new one. They did (we had to pay for it) but as it was under 10 year warranty, we didn't think we should have to pay. We had a heck of a time trying to convince them that they should reimburse us and in the end, after much begging and pleading, they said we must send them back the broken v-clamp so they can inspect it, and then they will reimburse us the cost of a new one (plus the shipping). So we are out of pocket for what it cost to weld the v-clamp, but more than that, I don't like that we more or less had to beg them to honor their warranty. They said they'd never known one to break before, sounding very suspicious (as if we'd used it for other purposes, or misused it, or something). Honestly!
We had recently purchased replacement cartridges for the Seagull RS-1SG system from a FANTASTIC and helpful person, Neil, www.supremeh2o.com who sells them for $99 (for two, including shipping), which is cheaper than anywhere else we could find. These are PurestONE replacement cartridges and will fit any Seagull IV System perfectly, and we could not tell the difference in taste between them and the Seagull. Apart from the fantastic customer service, we liked that thePurestOne Cartridges will pull out MUCH more lead, mercury and arsenic from your water than the Seagull, if that happens to be your problem. The PurestOne has their own water purification systems, too. Again, they're about HALF the price of Seagull IV, but they have a Lifetime Guarantee on the housing and clamp. The Seagull IV is only guaranteed for 10 years, and as I mentioned, I had one heck of a time begging them to make good on their warranty, whereas PurestONE would replace it for free, including shipping, no questions asked. All I know is that if we have any more problems with Seagull's systems, we are going to dump them and go with PurestONE instead.
On to nicer things. We followed this turtle around for ages in Leinster Bay - it was fabulous!
And here's one of me on the bow sprit, looking out for dolphins. Haven't seen any yet :-(
