I was annoyed by the fact that the shower pump did not suck as properly any longer. I screwed down the pump from the engine room wall and I looked at it with suspicion. I could see one valve, which did not close completely, but this could possibly not be the complete story. It worked better after me cleaning it, for sure, but still not as good as it should. Another item had come onto my “to-do-list”!

Further to these two pump issues, the relay controlling the regulator for the High Output Alternator needed a little smack every time it was supposed to get on duty. Oh, how well did I understand this poor fellow, having to wake up out of sweet dreams as soon as the engine gave a signal to get into position to let the current pass on to the regulator. If I were the relay, I would also have thought that a somewhat flatter organization would be more modern these days. Why not telling the regulator directly! Why tell the relay first, to then tell the regulator, which, in turns, tells the alternator to start producing power for the batteries? Too many bosses are never good in an organization. But with a gentle smack on its head, the relay did follow order eventually, became well-behaved and instructed the regulator to start controlling the alternator. However, in spite of all my understanding, this was not how I see orders being followed in my hierarchy onboard, so I had to look for a new fellow relay, not needing to be told more than once each time. So, - another issue on our repair list.

If I had been at home now, in a comfortable house for instance, I would have phoned the supplier or a chandler nearby and a couple of phone calls later, the new pieces would be in the mail to arrive in our post box a day later or two. The telephone onboard is not the issues these days with GSM and Satphones, but the post box is something we left behind, with all its bills and commercial brochures that usually clog up one’s mail box. At this very moment, I was actually missing our dear old post box to receive some new valves for the shower drain pump and a new relay for the alternator…. Please think of me next time you grumble about the lack of pleasant mail in your post box! At least you have one!

Luckily we had come to Northern Ireland by now and had met Rob, who was to become a helpful hand. We saw Rob and his wife Karen the first time in Glenarm, when they had helped us to take our mooring lines next to their berth. Rob was the kind of person you couldn’t miss to like immediately, and I was happy to hear that true values, such as small fishing villages, anchorages and deserted mooring bays, also were shared by power-boat owners. He mentioned that he and his wife Karen used to race sailing catamarans and from that time learnt to appreciate speed, hence their current powerboat Aphros. And besides, he added with a twinkle in his eyes, he and Karen were actually members of honor in a recent Hallberg-Rassy rally!

Back at Regina, with neither a relay nor valves but instead with shorter hair and some fresh fish in our bags, Rob was standing by his boat filling up water, waving to us. As always, he was greeting us with a big smile, asking what we had been doing in Bangor so far. I confessed I was running after spare parts rather than Guinness right now, and mentioned the situation about the new distribution line of Whale.

With a beautiful new relay, I was a happy man again! The hierarchy onboard was restored, with my subjects following orders without any need for pats on the back. If now also the people at Whale would be just as helpful, this would definitely be a reason to go out for a Guinness!