Nov 27 - Jan 10
When we left our jobs in TX, we had planned on returning to MoonSail in mid-November for the winter. However, as I explained in the last update, right after we quit, we were both asked if we wanted to work on a contract for two months doing a Windows 7 upgrade on about 500 computers at a utility company in Connecticut. This would be a 1099 contract deal where we would be contracted to the consulting company doing the upgrade. Our initial response was "hell no", because we wanted to get to the boat. But, money talks, and it was a lot, so we spent eight weeks in CT living in a nice extended stay hotel. The contract had it's ups and downs, and was behind schedule when we left, but all in all it was a good experience and we got to work with a cool group of guys. We spent most weekends, including Christmas and New Years in NY at my brother's house. We also slipped in a couple visits to my daughter and grandkids on Long Island, NY. The weather was unusually mild for winter in the Northeast. They had a huge snowstorm on Halloween, before we were there, and then other than a couple flurries, nothing. It got quite cold a few times, for a day or two, but overall it was quite mild. We got by with our one jacket each just fine.
Jan 11 - Jan 16
Our dear friends, Jerry & Mary Diaz put on an event in New Orleans every year in mid-January called Pardi Gras. For several years we have been part of the krewe that helps them organize and execute the event. During the past year, as we helped with some of the planning, we had made it clear that we would not be there this year. Much as we would want to be, it would be hard to justify the airfare from the Islands to New Orleans. That plan was before we agreed to do the contract. With the contract deal, if we were going to be in the States through the beginning of January anyway, we HAD to go to Pardi Gras. It just wasn't an option to miss it. So, on Wednesday the 11th, we flew from New York to New Orleans via Philadelphia. Our flight left Newburgh, NY at 06:00 AM. I need to talk to that travel agent. For the next five days we partied with 500 of our Parrothead friends, listening to numerous trop-rock musical acts, and having a great time. The weather was just about perfect. There was no rain at all, and the daytime temps we up in the 60's. Can't ask for better than that. We managed to have a wonderful time, without hurting ourselves by over indulging. There was a minor hurting though, when Barb did a face plant while walking down the sidewalk sober. I was not with her at the time. She and a friend had detoured to our hotel while the friend's husband and I walked from Bourbon St. to Margaritaville. Between the hotel and Margaritaville, Barb tripped on an uneven piece of sidewalk (normal for New Orleans) and went down. Fortunately, she didn't actually hit her face. She primarily landed on one knee which was quite bruised (and is still tender as of this writing a couple weeks later). She had a couple other bruises and sore spots for a couple days, but was mostly just embarrassed.
We didn't fly back to NY until Monday, so we were able to enjoy the wind-down performances Sunday afternoon. These are singer-songwriter type shows where you sit and listen to the songs and the stories behind them. It's my favorite kind of show. When we got to the hotel Sunday evening, we checked our e-mail and found a note from Barb's sister stating that their Dad had a crisis that afternoon. Hopefully this won't change our plans again. Monday morning, we were up at 4:30 to get to the airport in time for our 07:00 AM flight. (Damn that travel agent.) We again flew through Philadelphia, where this time we got delayed almost two hours. The vice president had been in town, and left while we were waiting for our flight. A "VIP" flight like that causes all other traffic to stop, and even all the ramp employees have to go inside. This totally hoses up the schedule for a while, and we were right at the wrong time. We eventually got back to Newburgh, where my brother picked us up.
Jan 17 - Jan 18
Packing time. The master packer (that would be Barb) got busy Tuesday morning. We already took four good sized bags to the boat in November. We had a box of stuff left in New York that was designated for the second trip, but as a result of what we found on the boat when we were there in November, the amount of stuff to go back grew exponentially. We have new pillows, sheet, mattress cover, a new battery charger/inverter that I found on e-bay, and numerous other stuff. Barb packed, and I weighed bags. Being an international fight, American Airlines allows us each one bag free, then it's $30 each for a second bag each. The inverter is in a cardboard box, and weighs 60 pounds. So, it will count as a checked bag, and I'll have to pay $100 for it being overweight. Even using Space Bags to shrink everything, there was no way for us to get everything into three other bags. So, we bit the bullet and packed a fifth bag for checking, which will cost another $150. It sounds expensive, but the alternative of shipping stuff and not taking it as luggage is even more costly and much more hassle. It took the better part of the day to get everything packed. There were the five pieces to check, four pieces to carry-on, and then there was the stuff we packed up to stay in New York. No need for all those long-sleeved shirts and long pants. We are even risking a little discomfort on our travel morning by leaving our jacket in New York and just wearing sweatshirts to the airport.
Wednesday came with just one outstanding issue. We had requested expedited processing of our last invoices from the contract, in the hopes we could get the checks before leaving and get them in the bank. That would keep them from traveling to Antigua and back in the mail. The mail arrived Wednesday morning, and the checks were there. We got them deposited and are now as ready as we will be to go. We had a nice lunch with my brother and his wife before heading to Long Island to see my daughter and family one more time before leaving. We have left our car at my brother's, and rented a car one-way today. We got to my daughter's house about 18:00 and had nice dinner with them. About 20:00 we headed over to the hotel where we will spend the night right next to JFK airport. We are staying at a no-frills Comfort Inn, but all we need is a clean room for some sleep.
Jan 19
The damn travel agent has done it again. Our flight is 08:25, which is better than the last two, but being a large international airport, and an international flight, we really need to have two hours before flight time to be checked in. So, up at 05:30 and to the airport. The hotel was only about five minutes from the airport. It was quite cold (about 20° F) but thankfully no wind, so we managed with just our sweatshirts. The plan is to drive to the curb-side check-in, check the bags, then return the car. I got to the terminal and unloaded everything on the curb. After a few minutes I got the attention of one of the guys with a big cart. He came over and we loaded everything on the cart. He asked if we were both checking in, and I indicated that yes, we were, and that Barb was staying in the terminal while I returned the car. Turns out that's the wrong answer. He said "I can't check you in if I know you are leaving the premises." He then said," You're going to park your car right there in the short-term parking right?" Being slow at that hour, I repeated that no, it was a rental that I had to return. He stopped me mid-sentence and repeated "You're going to park in there right?", while pointing at the parking garage. I finally got it and said "Of course". Barb had both of our passports, and boarding passes, so she went with the guy to check the bags, while I went to "park".
I turned the car in and then had to take the inter-terminal train back to Terminal 8. Terminal 8, as you might imagine, is the 8th stop on the train from the rental car plaza. So, it was at least 20 minutes before I got back to where I agreed to meet Barb just inside where I dropped her. As I approached her, I gave her a hand signal inquiring if all went ok. She smiled and when I got to her she proceeded to tell me the saga. Turns out they were puzzled by the box with the inverter/charger in it. It had never occurred to me that it might be a security issue. Apparently there is some restriction on "battery chargers". But fortunately, Barb used the words "inverter" when they asked her what it was. The initial guy called a supervisor over who at first said it could not go. Barb protested that it was an "inverter" not a "charger" (half true). So, they got a third guy involved. He seemed to know what it was, and said it couldn't do anything unless it was plugged in (true), so it was ok. So, they let it go, but now we are worried about what if we get to Antigua and it doesn't. (After getting to Antigua, I researched TSA's website regarding prohibited items, and I could find nothing at all to indicate that a battery charger or inverter would be a problem.)
We boarded our flight right on time, and were pleasantly surprised to find it not even 25% full. Nobody was in either exit row, so we moved to one before we left the gate. Cool! The flight left on-time, headed south clearing the southern coast on Long Island as we climbed. We then seemed to stop climbing and made a 180° to the north. It certainly looked like we were returning to the airport, although nothing was being said. After going north back past NYC, we made a 90° to the west and resumed climbing. To the best of my recollection, Antigua is southeast of NY. Seemed odd, but at least we aren't landing for some reason. After awhile, the pilot came on and explained that we would be arriving in Antigua about 15 minutes late because of some unusual routing to avoid weather to the east of the East Coast. I guess that explains the turns. The rest of the flight was ok, quite choppy, but OK.
As we approached Antigua, we did another odd turn. The airport in Antigua is on the northeast corner of the island. Since the wind always blows from the east, you approach from the west, crossing over the whole northern end of the island. We were well over the island, when we started making a tight turn. We did a complete 360 and then proceeded to land. There was United plane on the ground when we got there, and Antigua is a typical island airport where the plane has to turn around at the end of the runway and come back to the terminal on the runway, so I guess the United flight hadn't cleared the runway yet and we had to kill a minute. We were in the middle of the plane, and the disembark from the front and rear, so we were once again, the absolute last people off the plane and in line for Immigration. Unlike last time though, with the not-full plane, we had no wait at all to get processed. We were warmly welcomed back by the Immigration man. Now to baggage claim. We snagged a porter as we approached the carousel and told him we had five bags and one was quite heavy. As the bags started coming, we were anxiously watching for the inverter box. One of our bags came out, then another and another and another. We were getting worried as there was a break in the steady stream of bags, then finally came our box. It made it! Now to get through Customs. The porter asked me what it was, and I explained it was a boat part that I had taken back to the States in November for repair. (This was a minor fabrication, although I had a "invoice" showing a warrantee repair in the box.) The porter stacked the other bags over the box hoping it would not be questioned. He also steered us to the "right" Customs agent. When our turn came, the man greeted us and asked what we had in all those bags. I explained that we were returning to our boat after two years and it was our clothing and bedding and other personal stuff. He spotted the box and asked what it was. I said it was a battery charger/inverter that I had taken back to the States for repair. He asked what the boat name was and where it was, which I answered. He then asked for our boat clearance papers. We had them with us, but I thought Barb had them, and she thought I had them. We started rummaging through our carry-on bags, and after a minute of "I thought you had them" back and forth, the Customs man just shook his head and waved us through telling us to have a nice stay. We're in!
We shared a taxi to the marina with a lady going to the resort next door. At the marina, we unloaded everything and I started making a couple trips to the boat while Barb sat with the bags. We happily found the boat floating just as we left her. The bimini was half down, as the straps that tension the front half had slipped loose. We opened it up to air out, pulled it a little closer to the dock and loaded everything in. The first order of business is to get the bed ready to sleep in tonight. The mattress has some mold on it where it got wet while we were gone. Barb already cleaned it some when we were here in November. We bought a new total enclosing cover for it, as well as a new mattress pad and sheets and pillows. We found that there still was some dampness under the mattress, so that needs to dry before we put the new cover on it. We took the old cover off and tossed it, sprayed some diluted chlorine on the mildewed spots and left it to dry. Guess we won't sleep in the bed tonight after all.
Our order of attack on projects will be to make things livable first. So, I got to work on installing the new battery charger/inverter so we might have some electricity. Just before dark I had it done, and we could turn lights on, and the batteries were charging. I hadn't taken time to go to the office when we got here and let them know we were back, nor get the code for the marina wi-fi, so I paid $10US for one day of the public network so Barb could see if there were any message about her Dad.
Barb had gone up to the store and gotten a gallon of water, some beer, and a bag of ice. We can't drink the water from our tanks yet as they still have heavily chlorinated water from storage. We can't use the head yet as I need to check out the pump and replace the Y-valve. So, we will be camping tonight. With the power working, I was able to turn on our Engel freezer and turn it up so it wouldn't freeze. We can use it as a fridge until I get the new insulation in the big fridge. We had dinner at Peter's BBQ at the head of the dock and retired to the cockpit for an early night. We brought our new pillows to the cockpit, and light sheets to keep bugs off us, and went to sleep. Our cockpit is not the best place to sleep, as the seats are narrow, and the cushions are pretty firm. So, we had restless night, but no extreme bug issues, and it was pleasantly cool overnight. There was no rain until right at dawn, so we were up early.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 20
Time to get to work. As I said, we were up early with the rain shower. Having no food aboard, we went up to the Starfish Espresso shop and had coffees and warm chocolate croissants. We swung by the marina office and got the wi-fi code so we can have free internet while here. We then started on the long list of things to do.
I started by going to Budget Marine to see if the new batteries I ordered have arrived. On our previous visit, I had determined that the batteries would need to be replaced, but Budget doesn't normally carry the exact ones I need. They carry the brand, but not the models with the connectors I have. So, if I bought what they stock, I would have to change all my cable ends, which I don't want to do. So, I had them special order the correct ones for me. I exchanged e-mails with them back around the first of the year and mine were slated to leave Miami on a freighter on Jan 4, so they should be here by now. I found that they were on-island but still needed to clear Customs. So, I had to sign the paperwork for the duty-free importation for a boat-in-transit, and then wait and see.
One of the things done before we launched was re-wire the mast. This included the coax cable for the VHF radio antenna, and the guy who pulled the wires for me chose to use a larger cable than the original. This would be OK, except he didn't get the connectors for it. I found that Budget didn't carry the ones I needed, so I cornered George the guy who pulled the cable in the yard and asked him about getting them. He said he would check at a store in St. John's next time he is up there.
We had the dinghy stored upside down on the foredeck of the boat, and it's in the way now. We need to get the forward hatch open to get good airflow below, and that can't happen with the dinghy on deck. So, I got the pump and blew up the tubes. Remarkably after all this time, it wasn't entirely flat, but did need some air. I then flipped it up on it's side by the lifelines. Barb then came and helped, and we basically threw it over the side. It wasn't pretty, but it landed on it's bottom. I then cleaned off the deck and opened the hatch.
Barb got working on the bed. By mid-day, the mattress was dry, and we got the new cover on it. Then the new mattress pad, and the sheets. It's looking like a bed again. Barb continued to work in the aft cabin, going through clothes and making a bag of stuff that we don't need to give to a local charity. She got more cleaning done and the aft cabin is now officially ready to be slept in tonight.
I got working on plumbing. I turned the pressure water pump on and started running water. We hold about 90 gallons, in three tanks, and we had filled them and heavily chlorinated them before leaving in 2009. So, that water has to be dumped. Happily, the water is not skunky smelling, nor green, so the chlorine did it's job. With the water running, I had to switch tanks every 15 minutes or so, and refill them from the hose. I dumped the old water and refilled and dumped each tank again, then refilled for real use. There is no evidence of crap in the tanks, so that it good. On the other end of the plumbing spectrum, I brought a new Y-valve down, as the old one is frozen in position and the handle is broken off. The Y-valve directs sewage either directly overboard, or into the holding tank. Which you use depends on where you are, but we are stuck in the overboard position. This actually is appropriate for here, but I still need to be able to switch it. Remarkably, the project went well. Of course I had to drill a couple new holes since the new valve is a different brand than the old one, and of course they can't be standardized.
Something we brought back is a plastic box with a bunch of little cubbies for electrical connectors, etc. Barb went through the drawer that had about twenty little plastic packages of connectors in it and organized them in the box. That will free up storage space in the drawer as well as make it easier to get a connector when I need it.
Late in the afternoon, we knocked off and went for showers. It took Barb about half an hour to find the security guard to unlock the ladies shower for her. All cleaned up, we went out to dinner and then settled in. We both enjoyed a session on the new massage chair we brought back with us. Our friends on coram Deo had shown us their massage chair in November, and we had to get one. It may be a luxury if we are anchored out and running off the batteries, but while plugged in shore power we're gonna use it.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 21
We had a great night's sleep. It's good to be back on our Tempur-Pedic mattress with our Tempur-Pedic pillows. We also were able to make our own coffee aboard this morning, with power and water, so we enjoyed a morning cup of coffee in the cockpit.
Barb continued unpacking what she could and got down to just one bag still in the main saloon in the way. I replaced the fresh water pressure pump since it wouldn't shut off when the faucet was turned off. I messed with the pressure switch first, and determined that it was not working at all. I had a spare pump and swapped it in with no problem.
Yesterday I had turned the main sail furling drum in the mast to wind up the furling line. I need to make sure that line is wound all the way on the drum before putting the sail up. Once I had turned the furling mechanism, I had freed something up, because after that it had gone back to making the very annoying noise it makes when the main is not installed. So, this morning, before any wind comes up, getting the main back on is a priority. Barb winched while I fed the sail in the grove, and we got it raised pretty easy. I then furled it, and all seemed well. The wind started to pick up just as I finished, so our timing was perfect. But, all projects must have a catch, and this was no exception. The base of the sail has a thick fabric tab on it that connects to a shackle on top of the furling drum. This shackle was several inches down in the mast where I could not reach it, nor could I connect the sail tab. After pondering this for a bit, I could see where there was a nick in the drum where a drill had nicked it when removing the boom goose-neck. This was part of the work done before we returned in November. I e-mailed the rigging company to get their opinion if I could just tap the drum back up in place. After they consulted with the furling manufacturer, they know what is wrong. Unfortunately, it will require significant work to rectify it, and that is best done at their dock in Falmouth Harbor. So, our first trip when we can leave the dock will be around there to have them fix that.
I spent the afternoon working on my fridge project. Our original refrigerator has always worked too hard because the box is poorly insulated. This meant the fridge ran 24/7 and used a lot of electricity. The proper way to fix this would be to tear the whole side of the galley apart and put more and better insulation outside the box. But, that is not in my future. Instead, we brought back a bunch of closed cell foam sheets from Home Depot. It's the pink 1/2 inch thick sheets that is used on the exterior of a home. We had bought a 4x8 foot sheet and cut it up in bite-sized pieces to get it here. So, I started measuring, cutting, and gluing to line the inside of the boxes. It isn't elegant, but hopefully will help. While I was doing this, Barb stayed out of the way outside polishing stainless.
A boat came in and docked across from us today. The name of the boat is Alacazam. I thought it sounded familiar and the folks aboard looked familiar. I cheated and looked back at my spreadsheet of boats we have met and found that we met them in Grenada. We had never seen the boat, as it was badly damaged in hurricane Ivan in 2004. The times we met Dick & Mary was when they had come from England to check on the progress of the repairs, and they had come by the bar we ran because they knew Bob. So we re-introduced ourselves and caught up on the past few years. Turns out they have been laid up here for two years also. But they seem to have had better luck with their storage.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 22
When we got here, we knew we would have a lot of work to do before sailing again. In light of that, we declared that at least once a week, there would be a beach day. Today is supposed to be beach day. But, I'm kinda on a roll with the fridge insulation, so maybe it will be half a beach day. After coffee, Barb got out of the way cleaning more stainless on deck, and I resumed cutting, gluing and caulking the new insulation in the fridge boxes.
Sometime mid-morning, I heard Barb yelling to me from outside. I stuck my head out the companion way to see what she needed. She said the Customs Lady was here and needed to see our check-in papers. Ever confident, I took our papers from when we checked in in 2009 out to the dock. The very stern, official acting lady said "I've been watching this boat for some time." I replied that we had launched in November, been here a week, returned to the States, and just got back a few days ago. I honestly knew that we would have to pay "port fees", a.k.a. a cruising permit, from the time the boat went back in the water. But I also honestly thought we would just take care of it whenever we checked out to leave the country. That's how it worked in 2009 when we got here. She told me, "No, you come see me at the office at 09:30." So, I got my papers, passports, and cash, and was at her office (about 500 feet down the street) at 09:30. Of course I waited about 30 minutes for her to get there. But, when she did, I greeted her with a big smile and another Good Morning. She still had her "stern" look on, and took my papers. She poked at a calculator a bit, and then let me know that if she charged me back to November, as she should, it would be about $80 USD. I was prepared to pay that, since I expected to all along. But, then she said if I were to take care of her, she could check me in as of today, and give me a month's cruising permit, through Feb 21, for $20 USD. So, for about $40 USD, we were all happy. This was the first time since we started cruising, other than in the Dominican Republic where the military controls check-ins, that I had encountered any other-than-official payments. On one hand, it saved me half the money, but on the other, it encourages this behavior.
After the Port Authority visit, I returned to my fridge project and got it to a point where I could go no further. I had all the pieces cut, and some glued, but I found that some of the surfaces that I was gluing to were not flat. So, I put several pieces in, then built a support wedge to hold them flat against the walls, using spare chunks of foam. I was quite proud of myself for coming up with this.
Since there was no more I could do on the project until the glue set, it was time for the beach. We packed a bag and headed over to Castaway's for lunch and the beach. As we got to the restaurant, a guy asked if we needed "beach beds". We told him we were going to eat lunch first, but that yes, we would after that. We got a table and ordered drinks. When the guy who appears to be the manager came to take our food order, I asked him what the deal was on beach chairs. I asked because there seems to be chairs that belong to Castaway's, and then others. So, I wanted to see what the going rate was with the freelancers, vs. the restaurant. He told me they had a group of 80 expected anytime, so he thought all theirs were taken. He never did get back with me about that, but sure enough about five buses of cruise ship people showed up a bit later. We had gotten there just in time for placing our orders. After we ate, I just went back to one of the freelancers and told him we need chairs and an umbrella. It was $20 USD and we plopped our butts down for a few hours. We went in the water for a bit and found that right where we were the beach entrance was very shelly. I cut a nice little chunk of meat out of my foot as we got in, either on a shell or glass. Once we were in, we saw that if you went fifty feet further down the beach, the shells weren't there. So that's where we eventually got out.
The cruise ship people came and went pretty quickly. We stayed until about 16:00, which today is about an hour before dark. We packed up and headed back to the marina, a path which takes us right past the one place here that can claim the title of "sports bar". Being Divisional Title Sunday", the first of the two football games had just started. So, we took a seat and had several beers while watching the first three quarters of the Baltimore/new England game. We didn't make the end, and didn't even think about the Giant's/49'ers game. Remember, we are an hour ahead of Eastern time (Atlantic Time), so there is an excuse.
As we walked towards our dock, we saw a large mast illuminated with blue lights. There has been a large sailboat here with the mast lit up (a mega-sailboat thing) with white lights. We joked that they changed their lights. But as we got closer to our dock, we realized that the blue-mast boat was on the end of our dock, not the one that has been here. New high-end neighbors! Of course they didn't invite us aboard for drinks.
Once aboard, we were going to make another drink, and realized that the Engle cooler wasn't very cool. It had been nice and cold, but now was barely cool. Damn! It's one thing when something just doesn't work, but it's no fair that it teased us for a couple days before quitting.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 23
Today was not extremely productive, but not bad. I finished gluing and caulking the new insulation in the fridge. Now we have to wait for all the glue and caulk to cure so the stink is gone before we start storing food in there. Another little project I did was to install the new clock and barometer we brought on the wall. Two more things that we found in November that had just quit.
In an effort to get our freezer working, I sent e-mails to Engel, to see if they had any service places in Antigua (no response), and to two places listed in the marine services guide as refrigeration repair places. I almost immediately got a response from one that they could look at it. However, they are in English/Falmouth harbor, so we'll have to get it there.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 24
Another day of seemingly little getting accomplished. Barb did a lot of work in the galley, washing all our dishes and utensils, throwing some out because they had rust on them.
I decided we needed tunes, so I re-installed the stereo. We had taken the stereo home with us in 2009, along with the Sirius black box, because we were not getting any Sirius reception anymore. This far south, Sirius reception is part-time, but we had gone to no-time. In the States, I found that it appeared the radio itself was the problem. Of course electronic technology keeps changing, and nothing is compatible, so I couldn't replace the stereo, and keep the very-hard-to-wire remote in the cockpit. So, I decided to forgo Sirius and bring the stereo back. Well, after re-installing it, I had no sound. It appeared to be tuning to an FM signal, but no sound. I put a CD in, and it thought about it a minute and gave an error that the CD wasn't spinning. Have I ever mentioned that I hate electronics that are designed to be throw-away stuff after a few years? So, I looked in the Budget Marine catalog and found that they carry a radio/CD/iPod/MP3 device, with a wired remote. Of course though, the store here doesn't have them. They are in St. Maarten, but it would cost an extra $100 USD to get them in less than a month, so I guess we'll be tuneless for awhile. While we are in the marina, I can stream Radio Margaritaville or Beach Front Radio, but when we finally break loose, I'll just have to sing.
While at Budget Marine, I picked up some line to replace the traveler lines. The ones on the boat are 20 year old originals that are now all moldy and stiff. They are the only original lines left on the boat. As the young man who works for Budget was cutting the line for me, he asked me about what I was going to do with my old batteries. (He was aware I have new ones coming.) I said I had no plans for them, so he asked if he could have them. He is trying to power his home purely with solar power, so maybe he can get a little more life out of them. If not, he can sell them for scrap. It gets them off my hands. I told him I would also give him my old inverter/charger. It doesn't charge, but maybe he can use the inverter part.
Being Tuesday, for dinner we went to Al Porto for 2-for-1 pizza. We got there early enough that we could eat and be gone before their crowd who had reservations.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 25
Today is day-off-the-boat day. Unlike beach day, this is a "working" off-the-boat day. We asked yesterday at Pineapples Car Rentals, how much a little car cost, will you have one available, and what time do you open. The answers were $40, yes, and 8AM. So, this morning at 8:30, I was there to rent a car. But, they weren't open yet. There were two other people there waiting also. My secondary purpose of the walk was to get a SIM card for one of our phones for a local Antigua phone number. So, I headed towards that store, which I knew didn't open until 09:00. On the way, I passed the Hertz office, which was open. (Don't let the Hertz name fool you. It's still an Island franchise with Island schedules and rules.) I stopped in and asked if she had a small car and what was the rate. $40 little car was available, and was now mine for the day.
After the car paperwork was complete, it was after 09:00, so I went to the phone store. For $30 EC, I got a SIM card and an Antigua phone number. I guess we are planted now. A local phone and a car!
There are four things to be accomplished with the car. Take the Engel to Falmouth, drop our EPIRB (emergency locator beacon) to have it's battery replaced, visit the rigging company regarding the mainsail attaching error, and find the proper connectors for the VHF cable. We got three of the four done. We found Woodstock Boats kind of by accident where we dropped off the Engel. They seemed very professional. We'll see. Number two was finding the connectors. We saw Marionics where I hoped we might get them. They had a very helpful girl there who called five places and told us maybe Antigua Slipway had them, or maybe the Mega-Store in St. John's. Number three was the EPIRB, which I thought I knew where they were, but they moved since 2009. Again, we accidentally found them and dropped the EPIRB off. We then found Antigua Slipway Marina and their well stocked chandlery. However, it wasn't well stocked enough to have our connectors.
Since we were in Falmouth, we had to have lunch at The Mad Mongoose, where we enjoyed many drinks and meals with our friends in 2009. The food was just as good.
We left Falmouth and headed to the north end of the island, St John's, to find the Mega Store and hopefully the VHF connectors. We had good directions from the young lady at Marionics, and found the Mega Store. It really is a mini-Wal-Mart kind of place, in that they have a little bit of everything. We found the electronics counter and explained to the man what we needed. He brought out a connector just like one I had from Budget Marine. BUT, he explained how it worked differently from when you use it with the smaller cable. It made perfect sense. Even though I had all but one piece to make it all work already, I paid him $20EC (about $7 US) for his pieces and his help.
Since our real tasks were now done, we had a few hours to play. So, we went on in to St. John's, found a parking space close to the cruise ship docks, and mingled with the tourists. Being mid-afternoon, we weren't hassled by taxi drivers looking to take us on tours thinking we were off one of the two ships in port. We found a nice second story bar looking out over the harbor where the Caribbean Princess, and Serenade of the Seas were parked. We had several overpriced rum punches while explaining to several cruise ship people that we were "on our own boat".
When we got back to the marina, we went to the dockside bar for the first time this week. We were enjoying adult beverages and started chatting with the couple next to us. They sounded like they might be from New York, so we asked. Turned out they were from Garrison, NY, which is not far from where I grew up. Small world.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 26
I have to return the car today before 09:06. The deal with gas in a rent-a-car in the islands is generally you bring it back with however much gas it had when you got it. So, I went to the marina fuel dock to get gas. I put in $30EC worth, and looked at the fuel gauge. It still was below the point where it needed to be, so I put in $20EC more. Then of course the gauge was indicating full. So they got a bonus. I then went around to the parking lot where I got the car, parked, and went to the Hertz office. Even though it was 8:45, and the sign on the door said "Will return at 8:30", there was nobody there. There also was no slot to simply drop the keys in. So I waited. After 20 minutes, I walked back to the boat to get the phone so I could call the main office number which was on the door. I went back to the office before calling just in case somebody showed up, but still nobody there. I called the main office number three times over several minutes before I finally got an answer. The guy there seemed surprised that the person was not at Jolly Harbor and asked me to hang on a minute. I could hear him making another call to find the person. He came back on the line and said she would be there in about 5 minutes. Sure enough at 9:30, the young lady who had rented the car yesterday showed up. She was very apologetic and said "circumstances outside her control" made her late. She said she had called her main office and told them she would be late, so that if I called they could direct me to leave the keys in the marina office. I think all that was made up on the spot to placate me, although I never indicated any irritation with her. I wonder if they would have been so laid back if it was me who was an hour late returning the car?
Since we have the basic livability stuff under control, today I'm going to tackle getting the engine running. When we left in November, we had just gotten it to turn over freely, but it didn't try to start. In the course of getting it turning, I had disconnected the alternators and water pump to make sure one of them wasn't frozen up and causing the problem. So, today the first thing I did was reconnect all that. Then I had Barb hit the starter. Nothing. It appears to be frozen up again. This mystifies me. We are back to square one. At this point, I think I need a little professional help (and a mechanic). So, I walked over to the engine shop at the yard and spoke with Carl, the owner. I explained what was going on and asked if he could send a mechanic over.
A little after noon, Dennis the mechanic showed up. He came aboard to have a look at what he was getting into before even bringing tools. I explained to him what I had done already and that we had been laid up for 2 1/2 years. He indicated we would start with a big breaker bar on the crankshaft nut and see if we could break it loose. He left and came back shortly with his tools. He decided it would be best to remove the injectors first and see if that got it to turn over. Removing the injectors proved the be more of a challenge than he thought, just because they have never been out in 20 years. He took everything apart and then tried gently prying, tapping, twisting, prying some more, all while adding WD40. All four injectors put up a good fight, but after a while they all gave up and came out.
Once the injectors were out, there should be no compression in the motor, and hopefully it may turn. We tried the starter, and still nothing. So, he called back to the yard and asked for "the young guy" to bring a big socket and breaker bar to try and turn it by hand. In about fifteen minutes, "the young guy" showed up with tools in hand. With both of them pulling and tugging we still could not get the motor to turn over. So, the project became more involved. Dennis started disassembling things in preparation to remove the cylinder head. When he pulled off some of the cooling lines, we found them totally clogged with solid stuff. I have never seen anything like it, nor had he. When we laid up, the cooling system had fresh (six month old) coolant in it, as I had replaced the water heater in Grenada before we left. There is no explanation for why this corrosion has taken place.
It took Dennis and the young guy until 17:00 to get the head off, but they did. I was happy that they could get to all the bolts and do it with the engine in the boat. (For non-boaters, engine access in a sailboat is not like lifting the hood of your car. It requires lots of laying on the floor, twisting in unnatural positions, and reaching blindly into spots to get to things.) All this work was nothing I couldn't do myself, as I have rebuilt numerous engines in my life. However, it is worth every penny this is costing for me not to be the contortionist doing the work. As soon as the head was off, we put it in a plastic bag so they could carry it without dripping oil, and off they went. Dennis left all his tools on the boat and said he'd be back in the morning.
We went up the dockside bar for happy hour to drown our sorrows over this turn of events. Dinner ended up being cheese and crackers.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 27
Dennis was back at the boat about 09:00. With the head off, the engine turns over freely. This is good news, although it's still a bit of a mystery exactly what was causing it to be locked up. Dennis spent the morning cleaning up the cylinder walls with emery paper, pulling the heat exchanger and water pump off to check them for this mysterious corrosion, and generally getting things ready to reassemble. When he left, he took all the parts he had removed to clean them up. The job now will wait while I obtain parts from the States. The head gasket is the one thing that cannot be reused, and it's not the kind of thing I had a spare of. I contacted AER Supply in Seabrook, TX. They are the Westerbeke distributor for TX, and since that's our real address, I'm hoping they will work with me to get the parts. I had placed an order for a bunch of spare parts before we left, with the Westerbeke distributor that handles the Northeast, since I would have had the parts shipped to my brother's house. But, they dropped the ball and didn't process the order. When we got back from New Orleans, and were ready to come down here, there wasn't time to resolve that. So, now I'm going to get all those parts as well as the specific ones we need for this job. It will take a week at least, to get here, and get through Customs, etc.
Once Dennis was gone, I started working on connecting wires at the base of the mast. The first step was to put one of the connectors I acquired on the new VHF antenna cable. It worked! Hopefully the other end will go on as easily since I'll be at the top of the mast doing that one. I then cleaned up all the connections on the terminal block where the wires for all the lights connect. Once clean, I had to figure out which was which. So, Barb turned on one of the switches and I started testing wires with my multi-meter. I found the one that had 12 volts, but all the rest had 6 or 7 volts on them. She turned that one off and turned a different switch on and I got the same results. I found the one that had 12 volts, but all the rest had some voltage too. This isn't right, so I disconnected all the wires from the main panel to the connector block and took the connector block out entirely. I wired brushed it and scrubbed it good thinking that there must be enough crap on it that it was conducting between terminals. While I had the wires off, I did the same test, one switch at a time and found no extraneous voltage, so I know the problem isn't in the wiring between the panel and the terminal block. After cleaning, I reinstalled the terminal block and hooked up the wires. I still had the stray voltage. How can a terminal block go bad? Off to Budget Marine for a new one. I swapped in the new one and all is well. Some things just don't have explanations. The rest of this project will have to wait until after dark. I foolishly didn't label the new cables coming from the mast, so I have no idea which is which and will have to figure it our when we can see the lights.
Off to happy hour at the dockside bar again. We were joined by Dick & Mary from Alacazam this evening. After happy hour, we went over to Melini's for an Italian meal. However, they were booked and said it would be about half an hour wait. So instead, we went to Peter's BBQ. We sat next to a very chatty couple from Massachusetts that were staying at Jolly Beach Resort. The lady recommended the beef tenderloin, which was one of tonight's specials, so that's what I had and it was excellent. They had done a helicopter tour of Montserrat today and said it was incredible. Quite pricey apparently, but they said it was worth it. May have to consider that someday. I've always wanted to ride in a helicopter (not a Coast Guard or air ambulance preferably).
When we returned from dinner, we did some wire identification. I stripped the ends of all the wires, turned on one switch, and start touching wires to the live terminal while Barb sat on deck and watched. We quickly identified all the wires, and I hooked them up. The one exception was the anchor light did not seem to work. Arguably the most important one of course. I'll have to investigate that when I go up the mast to attach the VHF antenna.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 28
Today is battery day. I found out from Budget Marine yesterday that my batteries were finally there, but I told them it would have to wait until today since the engine work was taking precedence. I tried to make a plan that would require the least amount of walking to accomplish the task. To put this project in perspective, you should know that there are four batteries to be replaced. Two of them are type 8D's which weigh 156 pounds each, and two are type 4D's which weigh 124 pounds each. So the challenges involved are: 1) Getting the batteries from below the cabin sole up into the cockpit. 2) Getting the batteries from the cockpit to the dock. 3) Getting the new batteries to the boat from Budget Marine which is about 500 feet away. 4) Getting the new batteries into the cockpit. 5) Getting the batteries down into their proper places. 6) Getting rid of the old batteries.
First step was to disconnect everything. I started with the two 4D's which are actually in the engine compartment behind the engine. I disconnected them and manhandled them out onto the galley floor. Then I could lift them in little bits to the base of the companionway steps. We then took a halyard and lowered it through the companionway. I tied a line through the handles of the battery and connected it to the halyard. Barb then cranked the winch as I boosted the battery to make it a little easier for her. Once at the top of the ladder, I lifted the last couple inches to set the battery on the edge of the companionway. I untied the line and then set the battery down onto the cockpit sole. Repeat for battery number two. So far so good. I then disconnected the two 8D's which are under the cabin sole right at the base of the ladder. I lifted them out of their holes and slid them right to the bottom of the ladder and we repeated. Being the heavier ones, Barb had to do more cranking as I wasn't able to boost as much, but we got them out. Step 1 complete.
Now to get them off the boat. We are stern-to the dock. That means we step from the stern across about a three foot gap of water onto the dock to get off the boat. There is no way the batteries are going that way. The slip next to us is where we were when first launched, and it is what they call "alongside", meaning we would have dock the full length of the boat. So, we loosened our dock lines and let the wind blow us into that slip and tied up. The guy from the boat on the other side of the dock helped with the lines as we did this, and then he offered to help me get the batteries off the boat. I hesitated because I didn't want someone getting hurt other than me, but then I reconsidered and accepted his offer. With two of us it was easy to lift them with their handles and set them on the dock. Step 2 complete.
I now walked over to Budget Marine. They have a two-wheel dolly that they had already said I could use. My plan is to try and do one big one and one small one at a time. I can make a trip to the boat with new ones, back to Budget with the old ones, and repeat. Once I got there, the young man who has always been very helpful said he could bring them close to the dock with their forklift. Heck yes! So he started the forklift and we loaded the four batteries on a pallet. I still brought their two-wheeler to get them down the dock, but this would cut 400 feet of the trip off. We drove to the closet point he could get with the forklift and I loaded two of the batteries on the dolly. I rolled them to the boat, swapped them for two old ones, and went back. Then repeat. We also took the old inverter up to him. Steps 3 and 6 complete.
The guy next door again helped me set the batteries into the cockpit from the dock. As we were doing this, the dockmaster hollered to me from his dinghy that he was going to untie my line that went across the two slips for a minute. At first I said ok, but then I realized he was going to put a boat next to us. So, I yelled to him that I was about to pull myself back over into my original slip. He said ok and docked the new boat elsewhere. Glad I caught that as we don't want to stay alongside. The price is double for alongside compared to stern-to. Step 4 complete.
We now reversed the process of using the halyard. it was much easier going down as all Barb had to do was control the speed of the descent. We got all four batteries down and I hooked everything back up. All in all it went better than expected with the help of the neighbor and the guy from Budget.
With that big project done, the afternoon was spent writing the logs. I hadn't written any since we got here, so I had to get caught up before I forget it all. People think I write this journal to share the experience with others. I really write it so I can remember what we did a month from now. I did get pretty stiff later in the afternoon. Nothing some extra Aleve can't take care of.
We went to happy hour at the dockside bar again tonight. It was very crowded as there had been a Yacht Club regatta and all the participants met there to get the results. We were lucky to get there before most of them and we had seats at the bar. I saw a police car in the main driveway by the marina office, and wondered if something was going on. A few minutes later, we saw several policemen, with a guy we call "Mohawk Guy" in handcuffs walking towards the docks. Mohawk Guy is my age or older I think, in very good shape, and his hair is about an inch high blond mohawk. I've seen him around since we've been here. He is on a good sized boat on C dock (we are on D dock). I've seen him hanging with Festus the marina manager also. So, it was attention getting that he was cuffed. The crowd at the bar didn't take much notice because they were all busy talking about their race. But we could see all the staff from Peter's BBQ standing watching the dock where they had the guy sitting on the ground. I saw a cop go down to his boat and back, but couldn't figure what was going on. After a while they were gone. I didn't see where they went or if they took Mohawk Guy.
We were joined at the bar by a couple Festus had introduced us to several nights ago. They were apparently the first boat hauled out in Jolly Harbor for storage, about twenty years ago. We have run into them again since that night, so when they came in tonight, we invited them to sit by us. After a couple of drinks, out of the blue the guy asks me if I heard the big news that was going to shake the US Presidency to the core. I had no idea what he was talking about, so he proceeded to tell me that the Supreme Court had agreed to hear a case challenging President Obama's citizenship. He said this was based on some college revealing that the president had accepted a grant which he applied for as a foreign student. I hate political discussions, but he had me on this and I said I thought that was crap. I said I thought I would have heard something on the news about this whole thing if it was true, which brought an explanation of how the media is so liberally biased and they would never cover it. At that point I said "let's just agree to disagree on this and not continue this discussion". He just wouldn't let it go though. This is not something we encounter often as cruisers. There are people of every political persuasion cruising, but part of the laid-back lifestyle seems to make politics not a subject often discussed. If it is, it's usually a polite discussion that doesn't get too deep. This guy caught me totally off guard. I was about to just walk away when he finally gave it up. We had a little more conversation about something else, then we got our bill and paid. As we were saying goodbye, he threw in another line about "Watch what's going to happen. It'll be big."
We went to try Melini's for dinner again. This time we were able to get seated right away. We both ordered pizzas. I got a seafood one with shrimp, fish, and scallops on it. Barb got a pepperoni. They were both quite good. There are several cats that hang around Melini's and Peter's. There are all predominately black, with a little white on each. They are very wary of people and I have never touched one, but they are always looking for handouts. Tonight, there was an all-black one sitting by our table, which I had not noticed before. Barb offered it a little piece of bread, which got left on the floor. When my pizza came, I offered it a little piece of fish, which to my surprise, it gently took from my fingers. My surprise wasn't that it took it, but that it took it gently. I gave it a few more bites, and next thing you know, it hopped up in my lap. I was able to pet it a bit and scratch behind it's ears before it hopped down again. Probably some wild cat etiquette that you can't let your buddies see you getting any loving.
On our way back to the boat, we were walking near Peter's BBQ, and I saw the waiter who has waited on us many times and who was talking to the police about Mohawk Guy. I stopped and asked him what the deal was. Apparently the whole thing started when he hired a couple guys who do not normally work in this marina to clean the boat. The guys apparently were just slopping salt water on the hull and not really doing anything. When they told him to pay them about $1600 USD, he said no way. That's when the problem started. Apparently they got the police involved, and they got a girl in the marina office to say that he owed several thousand dollars to the marina for dockage. Well, I can tell you that doesn't happen. You pay up front for the marina, or if you are a long-term customer like us, you have a credit card on file, so you never get behind. But, the police apparently didn't know all this, so this scene unfolded. Apparently Festus eventually got involved, and cleared things up. We also learned that Mohawk Guy is really Russian Guy. There is a regatta held here in March involving Russians, who I guess charter boats and have a regatta. He is apparently in charge of this. So not only have the cops stepped in it by listening to the two guys who appear to be cons, but now the Russian regatta may be in jeopardy. (Were there enough "appears" in all that? Everything I said about this is hearsay or conjecture.)
When we got back to the boat, I did a Google search to see what the guy at the bar had been talking about. The first result was from UrbanLegends.com. Apparently this story about the Supreme Court accepting this case first circulated in 2009. I won't tell him he's three years behind in his false news.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 29
Today was pretty much a rest day. We thought about doing a beach day, but there were showers on and off all day, so we stayed aboard. I filled our water tanks, and Barb did a little cleaning. We have slowly gotten more and more stuff organized, so that now the main saloon almost looks normal. Not quite, but it's getting there.
We went to happy hour at the dockside bar again, and to my delight, political guy wasn't there. It was not crowded at all tonight, partly because the regatta folks were not there, and partly because most charters or villa people come and go on the weekends. We saw Russian Mohawk Guy, on his boat, so he obviously got freed. He also was talking to two local guys on the dock. Not sure if they are the ones who caused the problem or not. Things in the Islands take mysterious turns.
We talked about what to do for dinner tonight, and decided to eat in. We don't have much onboard yet, and today we found the propane for the stove is either not working or it's empty. (It was full when we left.) So, she made, and presented in Food Network Iron Chef style, a medley of micro-waved hot dog pieces with a fine yellow dipping mustard, a foil-packed salmon salad with grated onion and no-name mayonnaise, Ritz crackers, and a selection of sliced pepper jack cheese and Colby cheese. It was our first make-whatcha-got dinner, and it was great.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.
Jan 30
A rainy day in Paradise? What's up with that? As friend we met in the Bahamas said, "no rain, no rainbows". The rain kept coming and going all day, keeping us opening hatches, and closing hatches all day. We did actually get a little work accomplished. I washed the dinghy. After sitting so long, it has a chalky oxidation on the tubes, so I took a bucket of soapy water and a brush and went over the whole thing. We were planning on buying a new dinghy this year, but the repairs we had done in 2009 are still holding, so I think it has another season in it. Especially with all the money we are spending elsewhere, this expense can wait.
Another "livability" thing to accomplish is to get the stove/oven working. We tried to light the stove yesterday and got nothing. So today, I went to the locker where the propane tanks are to investigate. There is an electric solenoid that controls the gas flow, and when I had Barb flip the switch, I didn't hear the solenoid click like it should. A little closer look revealed one of the wires had become disconnected. Another case of corrosion at it's best. Here is a wire, in a dry locker, with absolutely no movement, that just falls off. I put new connectors on the wires, but still no click of the solenoid. I replaced this solenoid in Carriacou in 2009, so I'm surprised it would have gone bad already. In frustration, I gave it a couple of solid whacks with my large crescent wrench (the right tool for the job right?). I told Barb to flip the switch again, and it worked! She tried to light the stove, and it lit! I'm the hero, and Barb got back to being an excellent galley slave.
While messing with the gas, it seemed an appropriate time to attach the BBQ to the aft rail and hook it up too. It put up a little fight getting attached straight, which turned out to be an user error. It also was quite rusty inside, so we took it all apart and cleaned it. Right next to the BBQ is where the outboard for the dinghy hangs on the aft rail when not on the dinghy. It has a lifting harness made of seatbelt material which has been in the sun now for seven years. So, we brought a new one to replace it with before it decides to drop the outboard in the sea one day. I took the old one off and laid it on deck to use as an example for putting the new one on. I got the first two of the three straps on, but then just couldn't figure out how the third one intersected with the first two. So, I called Ms. Puzzle solver, and together we got it put together.
With the rain dodging, this was pretty much all we accomplished today. A little after 16:00, we headed over to the grocery store. Since the stove works now, a home-cooked meal is in order. We got enough food for a meal or two, and a lot of spices and things that we don't have since we took all food off the boat when we stored it. On the way back from the store, we stopped at the dockside bar for a few happy hour drinks. We chatted with a guy from Boston and a guy from Green Bay who are here on vacation. We didn't stay very long, as there is dinner to cook.
Barb made a pesto spaghetti dish based on a recipe that our friend Pege Wright sent us off with in 2005. Barb didn't think it was as good as the original, but the Captain was happy and full.
GPS N 17-04.000 W 061-53.000 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10113.