After duct taping up the engine exhaust hose leak, we headed for Herradura. The anchorage was rolly yesterday, but its where we need to pick up supplies so off we go. Turned out not to be as rolly today which is good because after we picked up the new air conditioner, Dave decided to go ahead and install it. Melissa didn't even get to put away all the groceries before he started tearing into the cabinetry. So the boat is a complete disaster.
The job turned out to be a real sucker. Normally the benches under the couches all come apart. There are screws that hold the top part onto the cabinetry below. So you can take the top off - exposing the whole compartment underneath. Unfortunately the bench top where the air conditioned is located is actually fiber-glassed to the side of the boat. Dave was cursing whoever assembled the boat for this bit of stupidity because it means he has to either cut the cabinetry out or he has to install the new air conditioner through the access holes in the top. The problem with installing through the existing holes is that the one big enough to remove the old unit and drop in the new one isn't directly over the air conditioner on the right side of the compartment. Its over the heater in the left side of the compartment. So Dave had to first uninstall the heater, then dismantle and remove the old air conditioner. The unit we purchased was supposed to be identical to the old one - the idea being that it should be a "drop in replacement". Only turns out that the new one is about a quarter of an inch taller than the old one - which fit precisely into the height of the compartment. So while the old one slid out, the new one wouldn't slide underneath the wood support that runs across the compartment. Hence Dave had to saw through this in order to create enough flex to get the new unit in.
At this point, after about 4 hours of work, the unit was in the cabinet but not hooked up. Given that it was dinner time, Melissa made Dave stop for food. We had just picked up supplies at the marina where we picked up the air conditioner and she had bought lettuce! Lettuce! Oh sweet lettuce! Yeah, you wouldn't think we would get all excited about a green vegetable, but do you know when the last time we had an actual salad was? Anyway, lettuce won't keep for even a day on the boat, so Melissa decided to cook everyone a big dinner - rosemary chicken, green beans, salad, bread, cheese, and even some macaroon cookies for dessert from the local bakery next door to the marina. Unfortunately with the boat still torn apart, we couldn't actually cook the dinner on Apsaras, so we headed over to Wanuskewin to finish cooking and eating. Yum!!