Moving Down the Chain

The trip to St. Martin was the usual bash into the sea and wind as the prevailing winds seem always on the nose from the east. After waiting so long in the Virgins for descent passage weather, the trip across the Anagada Passage was still the usual 18 hour affair. Uneventful but long, just the same.

Once we made land in St. Marteen (the Dutch side), we rested for a while then went to customs to check in then to the inner harbor to explore the sights from the hurricane damage. There were boats upside down, sunken and de-masted aplenty. Since we had ordered a new shade for the back of the cockpit area from the sailmaker in St. Marteen, we went to find him and pick up our new addition to the boat. Once we picked it up, we headed across the street to the Island Water World chandlery to ick up a few items we needed to fit the new shade to the boat. We also took our laundry in to find a laundamat but there were none with available driers. They were expecting a huge delivery from the cruise port and expected their driers would be busy for the rest of the day so we just did the wash part and headed back to the boat with soggy clothes to hang. Once we got them hung we decided it was time to head in for a sundowner at some local happy hour establishment.

We found a couple of guys just leaving their boat, heading to shore, and asked them where a good happy hour was and they said “follow us” as they were thirsty as well. The bar was, oddly enough, called the Soggy Dollar. There is a famous beach bar in Jost Van Dyke, BVIs with the same name so we wondered if it was owned by the same people. We were told that it wasn’t, it was just a marketing ploy without legal ramifications. It was a lively night at the happy hour and we made quick friends with the two guys who directed us to the bar. One was an engineer fro luxury motor yachts who was having a bit of a vacation due t the hurricane and the other was his apprentice. We discussed some of the boat issues we were having and asked if he might be interested in making some under the table money troubleshooting some of our mechanical issues. He agreed and we made arrangements to have him aboard the next morning. He came to our boat promptly the next morning and we went after the continuing generator saga. He diagnosed the problem immediately and we set about making the fixes. After a couple of hours of work, he had to attend to another commitment and set a return time for 4 that afternoon. When he returned we discovered that we couldn’t completely fix the issues as we needed time to trace a power source to the starter switch and he had to leave at 5 to meet his wife. Since we were scheduled to leave earliy the next morning, his work with us was done, unfortunately. He did, however, find the probem and now we simply need to do the service when we get the time. All in all, he spent about 4 hours total working on our boat and refused to accept any money for his time. He said I could buy him some beers at the next happy hour for his pay. After he left, we cleaned up and headed into the happy hour spot and enjoyed meeting new people from different yachts and some charter people. Since we had made previous arrangements to meet up with some Steamboat Springs friends, if possible, somewhere around Guadeloupe, we were moving down island at a pretty steady pace. So, next morning, bright and early, we yanked the anchor and sailed on down past St. Barts to St. Kitts. We anchored in the same location we did the last time we came through when we were entertained by a fantastic lightening storm off our anchorage. It is a lovely bay outside of a new superyacht marina called Chritoffe Marina. Last visit, it was empty; this time it held about 10 huge motor yachts and sailboats of enormous size. We headed out early the next morning for Montserrat, chalking up another 10 hours of sailing and motorsailing.

The Greens visited us As we approached the volcanic island of Montserrat, we started the engines to assist with anchoring and found the port engine not cranking over. Rick exchanged the battery with one from the dinghy, then one from the other engine only to find that none of them would turn the engine over. Since we had one working engine it was not an unworkable situation, it just added a degree of difficulty. We arrived in Guadeloupe next and moved on down that island’s perimeter quickly the next day as time to meet our friends was approaching. We had made contact with them and they decided to ferry over to les Saintes, off the southern end of Guadeloupe, where we would meet them that next day. Still limping along on one engine, we met our friend sand dinghied them to our boat late the next day. We couldn’t find anyone to fix the diesel so we continued along to Martinique where we knew we could find qualified service people. Along the way we called a Volvo mechanic who came highly recommended and made arrangements to stop at his shop in the town of Case Pilote, Marinique. As we reached the marina, we were told to come straight in to and dock where a mechanic would come out to do some diagnostic work. Docking with one engine in a catamaran is like trying to drive a bulldozer with one track locked. To say the least, it was difficult but we got it done and the mechanic was superb. He came on board and found that the engine was seized, as we suspected. This was our worst fear. If seawater had intruded the cylinders, the salt could do severe damage to the walls and potentially ruin the engine. He was able to purge the sea water and after changing the oil, he attempted to restart the engine. Miraculously, lo and behold, it coughed, and sputtered and then started running smoothly again. He let it idle for an hour to see if anything was wrecked, then revved it up a bit and pronounced it good to go. We had dodged a HUGE bullet. During his diagnosis he noted that the new mufflers which were installed in Puerto Rico had been put too high in the engine compartment, making water ingress possible. This is likely what had happened. We got into some rough seas earlier, the boat rocked hard from front to back and sea water had come back up the exhaust hose and into the engine causing it to become locked. He suggested we make an appointment with his Marin, Martinique shop to have his guys there do further diagnosis and corrections of this problem. He also had suggested replacing the aftermarket mufflers with new Volvo factory muffler (@ $500 each!). We were prepared to do that as we had avoided an engine rebuild and certainly didn’t want another situation like this developing again. Once we arrived in Marin, we Rick went shore to pick up the mechanic and bring him to the boat for further testing and diagnosis. He quickly determined that the mufflers we had would work fine if they were placed lower in the engine compartment and a longer hose was fixed to them to prevent water coming back up and into the engine. Within three hours he had done the work and we had avoided another giant parts purchase, Bullet #2 dodged with this fix. Now, our remaining mechanical issue is with the house bank of batteries which store all the power we need to run the boat. We noticed, somewhere along the down-island journey, that our battery bank was not fully recharging after daily use. This was uncommon and we knew we had to find the reason and correct it or we would have a boat without power soon. We had a guy install new alternators in St. Thomas, USVI, which we expected would correct the problem but it only provided a partial correction. We also had the batteries tested and they were found to be “close to replacement.” Since new batteries are very expensive, we decided to see if we could find a way to make the recharge work more efficiently. They have been improving but not to the level we would like them to remain. Monday, we will have another tech come to the boat and do a new test and see if we can salvage them or not. Our boat guests, Steve and Laurane Green, have been extremely patient with our mechanical issues and made us feel we could take care of these issues without feeling guilty. They have become delightful friends and are great folks all around. Their time aboard, however, came to an end Saturday morning when they headed, by ferry, on to St. Lucia where they will fly home after a couple days on that island doing the tourist thing. They were great to have aboard and to get better acquainted with. We think we gave them some good sailing time with plenty of on water adventure. Hopefully, what they were looking for. It was sad dropping them off at the ferry dock but we know they will enjoy St. Lucia.

This morning as we finished breakfast and were readying to go ashore to do laundry, we noticed a gathering ashore with many colorful wooden boats being outfitted with traditional square sail rigs. Each boat had a crew of about 10 people and the course markers were being placed across from us in an open bay. We decided to wait and watch and before long the race was on. 13 traditional wooden boats with crew aboard began the dash across the bay and out the entry channel then back in and around the course marker bouys. Each boat was outfitted with long wooden poles which stuck out from the sides of the boats allowing crew to "hike out" as the boat would heel over in the gusty wind. It was fun to watch the coordinated efforts of each team and they made several "laps" up and out the channel and back around the bouys until the finish line. Very colorful.

So now, as we have one major mechanical issue resolved, we have one more to take care of. Hopefully on Monday we will know the extent of our next purchase. “Boat Bucks” just seem to be flying out of our hands. The redeeming factor is that our boat is running better than ever now and is still a pleasure to sail.

This was found on the boat, it is a rotten piece of French summer sausage... bleh!

you can rent these things, for parties--complete with a grip and party platform. We didn't get one, you wouldn't they be fun? Our next guest, Suz’ “bestie”, Jeannie Berger, will arrive in St. Lucia on February 4 and we plan to pick her up there if the weather allows. Otherwise the ferry ride to Martinique is waiting and available. We will surely have a fun time with her aboard, as she and Suz giggle like little school girls when together.