December 22 ... Hell, let's just fly to the Bahamas!

Saturday, December 19.

Life is funny.  Just when you think you are resigned to one course of action, the tide changes and brings in new forces that set you on a new direction.

It started with an email from James, acknowledging that he and Alma would be alone for Christmas and the reality of missing family for the holiday was just setting in.  Then Ed and Karin suggested that we look into flights from Miami. Then I found a morning flight from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau that would enable us to make the afternoon connection from Nassau to Black Point.

However, Flamingo Air was closed for the weekend, and I was skittish about booking a flight on Jet Blue w/o knowing we could make the connection in the afternoon on Flamingo Air.  Then Dan has a moment of genius (which he does a lot!) where he finds the name of a couple we know who live in Black Point half the year and northern California the other half, looks them up on the internet, calls them, and it's actually them!  Jean gives us the name and number of the Flamingo Air agent in Black Point, who actually answers the phone, and says that she will take care of the reservation.

Seriously?

Next up was contacting Ida Patton who is renting James and Alma a studio cottage at Black Point.  Phone service is down so I send several emails and then figure that we've got plane tickets so we are going no matter what!

Sunday, December 20.

Ida returns my call.  She doesn't have a cottage available next to James and Alma, but there is a rental available in town.  Done. We'll take it.

Less than an hour later, she calls back to say that she just had a cancellation and the studio unit right next door to James and Alma is available after all.  I actually cried on the phone.

We are going to the Bahamas Dec 22 - Dec 28 and will staying right next door to the kids.  Life is indeed good!

Monday, December 21.

We call the mechanic and cancel our spot on the Dec 23 list.  They are so happy to hear that they guarantee us a mechanic on Jan 4th.  But by now, who in the hell cares!

We call Flamingo Air so we can pay for the reservation to make sure two seats on an 8-person plane don't go to someone else. They tell us that Esther, the Black Point agent, paid for the tickets herself, in cash, to ensure our reservations.  Who does that???? Only in Black Point!

We call Ed and Karin to share some good news for a change, and they volunteer to drive us to the Fort Lauderdale airport on Tuesday .... or, let's make it Monday afternoon so we can have some fun together first!

We call the Diesel Injector Service and they say the pump will be ready at 8:00 am on Tuesday when they open.  Our flight is at 10:30am, so no problem getting the pump before the short drive to the airport.

Done. Done. Done. and Done!

What a difference a weekend can make!  We had given up all hope of a Bahamas Christmas, and in a matter of two days everything comes together just perfectly (well, yeah....still some remorse about not being on the boat there, and staying for the next 5 months .... we are human after all!). 

Tuesday, December 22 - Monday, December 23

I'll let pictures tell the rest of the story.  Sure, we missed the boat, but the wind in the Exumas was gale-force all week, and none of the boats in the anchorage moved anywhere.  Meanwhile, we had a golf cart and got to see parts of the island we'd never visit on foot.  We collected sea beans and sea glass, went swimming and snorkeling, had our favorite rum drinks and conch fritters at Scorpios, our favorite bar. I taught Alma how to weave baskets from palm leaves and she took to it like a crazy woman. We brought a backpack full of meat that we had on the boat so we were able to cook our meals at the cottage.  The view of the front porch was the anchorage and the view from the back porch was the ocean.  Open windows meant sleeping to the sounds of the crashing waves at night.

The cottages

 

 

 

 

 

Wearing sunglasses to eat breakfast!

 

Anchorage in front

 

Atlantic in back

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flying to the Bahamas had a view of the islands that we never could have from the boat.

Dotham cut ... the entrance we use from the banks to the Exuma Sound.

 

 

December 10 -- The crossing (well, almost...)

Thursday, December 10

Up at 5:00am to prep for a 6:00 am departure, only to be fogged in.  By 6:30, the fog was starting to lift, but an incoming cruise ship in the inlet delayed our departure till 7am.  But anchor up and underway with a blue sky and calm seas.

Yeah, there were a few scary things on the horizon, but they were north of us and predicted to stay that way.

 

Light and variable winds meant we were motoring along at 6.25knots, managing to keep s/v Runaway in our sights. We would periodically pull out our head sails, and then our mizzen sails, only to pull them in again as "light and variable wind" means basically NO wind, and motoring east across the Gulf Stream running north meant a tough time trying to keep the sails happy. Our speed dropped to 5 knots and then to 4 knots as the 4 knot current in the Gulf Stream took control.  But this is typical for crossing the Gulf Stream.

 

Around noon, we checked in with s/v Runaway and learned we were making good time. Another 45 miles and we would be out of the GS and onto the Great Bahamas Banks where we would turn south and pick up wind and speed.  About that time, Dan did his usual engine checks.  And all good things came to a stop.

 

"Honey, we are taking on water and the bilge pump isn't working." Never heard those words before, and they indeed strike fear into the soul.  We have a low water and a backup high water bilge pump which should take care of any water in the bilge.  Plus, we have a deep bilge which means there was probably a foot water down there (outside of the 1000+ feet of water surrounding us!).

 

Freak out a little bit and then get to work.  Dan was able to wire a back up bilge pump which successfully started pumping water (sweetest sound ever!).  The water tasted salty so we freaked out some more as we searched every through-hull on the boat where sea water could come in.  Nothing. Thru-hulls all good, slight amount of water at the rudder post, but insignificant. Lower bilge pump kicked in and we were under control.

 

Relax a bit.  Then Dan goes below again and notices red fluid under the engine.  Just like the transmission fluid we discovered before when the newly rebuilt transmission had a hole in the gasket.

 

Freak out again.  Now we have to turn off the engine b/c we fear the transmission has run dry.  Radio calls back and forth to s/v Runaway confirm that the best thing we should do is call TowBoat US and get towed back to Lake Worth.  On one hand, it's a good feeling to hear TowBoatUS answer on the radio while 30 miles out at sea (and the fact that we have unlimited tow insurance), but on the other hand, it was devastating to realize that we wouldn't be crossing to Nassau after all and that once the tow boat arrived, it would be a 5-hr tow back to FL.

 

Sad, bad day on s/v Maja.  You try to focus on the positive -- the weather was good, we weren't taking on water, help was on the way.  But the sound of the bubble popping of the dream we were so close to realizing ..... well, suffice it to say, it was overpowering.

 

Crossing the 4knot current of the Gulf Stream under your own power is a rocky ride .... under tow, it was hell.  Rough and rocky. Things falling. Christmas ornaments breaking. Try not to cry.

 

 

Around 7pm, we were back at the Lake Worth inlet, just in time to pass an outgoing cruise ship in the inlet.  Shit ... What a fun day!

 

By 8pm, we were at dock in the Riviera Beach Marina. Ordering Dominos Pizza for dinner because the wonderful Tiki Bar at the marina has closed due to massive construction.  Can we catch a break already????

 

Friday, December 11

 

Finding an available mechanic at the start of cruising season, in the heart of mega-yachts, was no easy feat.  Dan called every mechanic in the book and finally found someone who would come over today.  That was nothing but good news as he found no source on incoming water from the rudder post (which we feared b/c that would require a haul out to repair), and he believed that the water was actually fresh water from all the rain we'd been having (tasting salty just from salt in the bilge).  Dan must have missed it during the morning engine check because it was still dark, and the float on the bilge pump was stuck and so the pump did not kick in.

 

And the transmission fluid was coming from the vent on the transmission, not the unit itself.  This was the first time we'd been out in rough water since the installation so the issue of too much fluid in the transmission hadn't been noticed.

 

Whew! We can handle this. Clean up the mess. Refill the transmission to the proper level. And wait for the next window to cross to the Bahamas on the 15th.  Spirits lift again!

 

Saturday, December 12.

 

Bam! Spirits hit the floor again as Dan runs the engine after to clean up only to discover that the red fluid he saw in the engine was not transmission fluid but diesel fuel.  Same color. Different source.  Dan could see a small amount of fuel leaking from the fuel injector pump.  Hmmmmm, how big a deal could this be?

 

No mechanic available on the weekend so we take to the internet for help.  Conventional wisdom is that if one gasket in a pump has failed, the rest will fail eventually ... just how much time do you have? And how lucky do you feel?

 

We don't feel lucky at all.

 

Monday, December 13.

 

Gregg, our mechanic, comes on board and tries to convince us that a small diesel leak is no big deal. Just go, he keeps saying.  "Just go??? We gasp!"  We got a 200 mile journey ahead of us and making repairs in the Bahamas is a crap shoot. We're skeptical, but go ahead an order a replacement gasket with overnight delivery.

 

Tuesday, December 14

 

More research. More advice to not rely on a single gasket replacement.  Considering that we haven't used the boat since June 2013, it seems logical that a 28-yr old pump would have dried out gaskets.

Everyone says to have the pump rebuilt. Which makes sense, but also means we will miss the Dec 15 window to cross to the Bahamas.  I email Chris Parker, the Caribbean weather forecaster we subscribe to, and explain a mother's dilemma of needing to get the Bahamas for Christmas with my kids but wanting an objective opinion to counteract my emotional one.  His advice was simple:  cross in the 15th or wait until the end of the month (fuck the weather in the Bahamas this year!).

 

We call our boating friends, Ed and Karin Cogswell, who now live in Delray Beach, FL, just 20 miles from us.  They hop in their car and drive over to offer their typically sage advice.  About the same time, the mechanic shows up and starts to do a really sloppy job taking apart the pump.  Dan cannot take sloppy work on the engine, and Ed and Karin both agree that Gregg needs to be fired.  So now we have a fuel injector pump in a partial state of disassembly, we tell James and Alma we won't be coming to the Bahamas, and Dan's blood pressure is starting to rise.  Stress is a terrible, terrible thing.

 

Wednesday, December 16

 

Rent a car.  A much easier way to contact mechanics who never return phone calls.  Since there will be no Bahamas crossing for s/v Maja, we are settled on getting the fuel injector pump rebuilt.  But how to get the damn thing out?  This is way, way out of Dan's comfort range, but with lots of advice from lots of sources, he tackles the project, one methodical step at a time.

 

 

Thursday, December 17.

 

Rinse and repeat the day before. Call and talk to people.  Work on disassembling the pump.  Call and talk to people. Work some more.  Dan starts at 7am and stops some 12 hours later.  Nothing to do but keep moving ahead at this point.  We are on a waiting list to have a reputable mechanic come to the boat on Dec 23 ... then they close for the holidays and the next list starts on Jan 4. 

 

Dan has found a highly recommended place in Fort Lauderdale that can rebuild the pump in one day, and what a joyful bit of news that is.  Riviera Beach Marina is expensive and under major construction so not a very fun place to be.  We'd like to get the pump out, rebuilt, and reinstalled on the 23rd.  Then we could move out to the anchorage or back to Fort Pierce which is much nicer and half the price. We'll see.

 

Dan keeps working. And very little swearing. And I'm not sure that is a good thing, or not.

 

Friday, December 18.

 

The moment of truth arrives. The pump is disassembled and only needs a few taps with a hammer to slide out.

 

Yeah. right. That doesn't happen.

 

Dan hops in the car and drives over to Harbor Freight, where they tell him the tool he needs is a bolt-type wheel puller.

 

Yeah. right. That doesn't work either.

 

Not to be deterred at this point, Dan then goes to O'Reilly Auto Parts where they tell him the tool he needs is a Timing Gear Puller.  $15 to buy and he can get his money back if he turns it.

 

 

Yep, worked like a charm!  Happy Dance!

We could return it, but nah ... who knows when someone else will be looking for a tool like this!

 

By 1pm, we are in the car headed to Fort Lauderdale, leaving the pump in the capable hands of Everglades Diesel Injector Services.

 

By 3pm, we are settling in for lunch at the Hard Rock Café ... time for a big burger and a bigger beer!  The café is located in the middle of a large casino ... and then it hits us ... maybe this is why we've had all this bad luck, just to bring us here where we'll win BIG!

 

Yeah. Right. That didn't happen either!

 

But we ended the night with a great dinner at Ed and Karin's new condo, with a view of the ICW on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  They miss boating ... but I dunno ... this looks awfully sweet to me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

11 Days In Fort Pierce

November 27.

We left Vero Beach for a short, 14 mile run down the ICW to Fort Pierce. The plan was to stop at the city marina for few days, visit with friends on m/v Southern Pilot, and then move to the anchorage at Lake Worth to wait for the next window to cross to the Bahamas on December 2nd.

And another plan bites the dust.

Coming into the dock, while tossing lines to the dock hand helping us, our bow took an unexpected swing to port and hit the electrical box on the dock.  Not a hard hit. But obviously hard enough to snap our bobstay (the cable that runs from our bow sprit -- the lovely piece of teak that extends out the front of our boat and secures our headstay -- to the hull).

It should look like this ... long cable running from the tip of the bow sprit to the attachment at the waterline. It supports the head sail and secures the dolphin striker to the hull (the 18in rod that points down to the water).

Unfortunately, after docking, the bow looked like this.  With the cable and dolphin striker in the water (fortunately still attached at the water line). 

 

The plate (missing now) midway up the hull was badly corroded on the inside, something that would certainly give way at an inopportune time, or as our son has told us during our previous break-downs "better here than in the middle of the Gulf Stream!" Hard to argue with that logic! Fort Pierce is a great place for a breakdown. Lots of services close by and great friends even closer.

 

Of course, it's Friday, so nothing to do but drink wine and enjoy the company of Ed and Connie Dooley (m/v Southern Pilot). That part was easy.  Accepting that we'd miss the Dec. 2nd window to cross to the Bahamas, not so much.

 

Monday, November 30

 

Dan and Ed, two of the most optimistic captains I've met, really believed that it would be an easy fix to weld another connector plate on the hull and reattach all the hardware.  Ed had a car in Ft Pierce and drove Dan to every boat yard with welding services, hopeful to find someone who could bring a portable welding unit to our dock for a "3-hour fix".  Instead, we got a mechanical engineer to come view the boat, and he pointed out several stress fractures on the stainless steel stem head fitting that connects everything to the bow sprit (sorry for all the nautical jargon my non-boating friends!).  There goes plans for an easy fix.

 

 

To remove the stem head fitting, all the hardware on the bow sprit had to come off. Remove the head sail, remove the two anchors and plates that connect to the teak board, remove the life lines and stainless railings on the bow ... lots more things I cannot remember, but suffice it to say, it was an all day job that Dan and Ed undertook without stop, on a hot, humid day.

 

 

 

 

 

And there is the culprit. The stem head fitting that had to be removed and taken to Wallaby Fabricators where they replaced the damaged plates.  Good news: Dan and Ed got the fitting to the fabricators before closing time and they promised to get the repairs made by Thursday.

 

Friday, December 4

 

As promised, the new stem head fitting was repaired, shiny and bright by the end of the day on Thursday.  Bright and early Friday, Ed was back on duty, helping Dan to reattach the fitting on the bow sprit. In the rain. All day. But of course.

 

The adhesive had to set up for a few days, so nothing to do but cover everything in a tarp, and hang out with Ed and Connie and other friends who had arrived at the marina.  Life could be a lot worse.

 

 

The new stem head fitting.

 

Sunday, December 6.

 

Another full day of two guys reinstalling hardware back on the bow sprit.  Anchors, life lines, bow rails, head sail.

 

The final fun step came with installing the newly fabricated base plate that holds the dolphin striker.

 

And, finally, reattaching the bob stay that secured everything together.

 TA DAH!!!

 

Monday, December 7

 

The last thing that needed to be done was have a rigger come to the boat and check the lines that hold up the head sail and connect the sails to the mast.  Since these were removed during "The Project", we wanted to make sure everything was adjusted and tensioned correctly.

 

With all that done, all we had to do was pay for it all!  $600 for marina stay, $650 for welding, $266 for rigger. It seems that $1000 is a minimum nice round number for every breakdown we've had this year.  Thank goodness we got a 20% coupon for dinner at the Tiki Bar to celebrate our last night in Fort Pierce!

 

Being next to this big guy blocked the wind and waves for us at dock

 

Tuesday, December 8

 

Day 12 since our "brief stop" in Fort Pierce, but we don't care b/c we are underway once more. It's pouring rain, the wind is blowing 20knots, but we don't care b/c we are moving again!  Due to the weather, we stayed on the ICW for the run down to Lake Worth.  One night at anchor and several bridges to deal with ... but we don't care b/c we are moving again!

 

Our new windows make reading channel markers in the rain soooo much easier!

At anchor at Hobe Sound.

 

Wednesday, December 9

Final stretch into West Palm Beach and the Lake Worth anchorage.  Thursday looks like an excellent day to cross to the Bahamas and the Lake Worth Inlet will be a good spot to jump back into the Atlantic. Our friends, Matt and Marty Miller on s/v Runaway are already in Lake Worth, planning to make the same crossing, so we're feeling good to have company to cross the Gulf Stream and get into Nassau Harbor, which they have done many times. 

 

James and Alma arrive in the Bahamas on December 20, and we are finally feeling optimistic that we'll be there to meet their plane in Black Point, Exumas.  We left Brunswick on November 11 feeling that we had PLENTY of time to arrive in the Bahamas before them.  But then came 8 days in Daytona Beach dealing with the transmission, followed by 11 days in Fort Pierce which seriously eroded our confidence. 

 

But we made it!  It's noon. We're anchored in Lake Worth. Ready to head out the inlet at 6am tomorrow.  Life is Good.  Can I relax now????