The 2016 Adventure

It's 1/31/16 and we are lying at Coral Harbor, St. John, USVI:

We - Steve and Lorry Clark formerly of D.C. and Rick and Debbie Lehto of Miss Heidi - left Culebra two weeks ago and over-nighted at Culabrita. Next morning we anchored on the island side of East Gregory Channel in 12' of water over turtle grass. We had to get provisions and have the water maker Cat pump repaired. After a boat unit for the pump and some replacement (HP hose and new pressure gauge) fittings, half a boat unit for groceries, and another third of a boat unit for oak flooring and supplies at Homo Depot, we motored into the wind to Christmas Cove off the eastern end of St. Thomas. By this time the water maker was working and half of one ama's (pontoon) deck was oaked-in (minus the hatches of which there were at least one every 36": Jim Alimi of Nomad "It ain't as easy as it was on your boat!"). From there we proceeded to Red Hook to let off Rick and Debbie who needed to return to Miss Heidi. We then proceeded under sail and motor to St. John and anchored for the night. As we were in the USVI National Park we had to pay for our mooring ball, half of $26 as we have a Senior pass we got years ago in Arizona. From there we actually sailed all the way to Waterlemon Bay, tacking of course, for another swim and another $13 mooring ball. This time Linda and Lorry swam all the money in a Park envelope over to the floating depository. Steve and I were able to finish the port deck, sans the hatches, and fix the 12 volt electrical system which went in the fritz. Seems that corosion on the terminal and switch ends of the cables fooled the Xantrex and Outback controllers into thinking the batteries were full! Steve figured this out while I was trying to noodle getting an electrician on board in the BVI. Saved once again by Steve!!! Next motor, unfortunately, was here to Coral Harbor 'cause none of us had ever been here and the Cruising Guides indicated it was worth the time/trouble: NOT! O.K. anchorage, but a real dump ashore. The stoned elderly hippies at the end of the full up, teetering dingy dock suggested we could follow the goat path to the left, turn left at the road, and dump our trash at the smelly, rotting trash collection point in town across from the grocery store. On second thought they said to put it in the back of the blue pickup truck, whose owner no one seemed to know, which, of course, we did. The grocery store did produce/sell VI pale ale which Steve and I partook to the community's wetland park across the street. Under the trees we were regaled by the local Rastas in dreadlocks who, amount other things, admonished us for not greeting everyone with a "Good Afternoon" as soon as we came in. All very friendly-like...

The work shop...

 

 

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The 2016 Adventure Begins...

With Steve and Lorry Clarke of Canada already on board, Rick and Debbie Lehto of Miss Heidi joined us in Fajardo, PR to cruise over to the USVI and BVI on our way S to the French and Windward islands. First stop was the little island of Culebra for a mail call. Forgetfully we didn't remember Mr. King and had to lay over an extra day snorkeling at Malones just outside Dewey. After Postmaster Howard finally was able to sort thru the incoming mail bags, Rick found his Priority Mail package had not made the boat. So, around 3 p.m. we motored over to Culabrita to take a DRNA day-ball for the night: Clear, cool, star-light with waves gently lapping on the nearby beach. Doesn't get much better.

Next morning we motored across in calm, blue, warm waters to West Gregory Channel in St. Thomas which was very crowded. We had to re-anchor three times before we found an somewhat ok spot. We took the Cat pump (water maker high pressure) in to Reefco to have an evaluation as to whether or not it was rebuildable. When they give us an evaluation and time to repair we can decide when to head to the BVI to get the main sail (warranty) repaired. We (the boys) then took the Publicos (local 6-9 passenger busses) to Budget Marine to get some marine goodies. After that we went to K-Mart to price booze. Who what a great difference - up to 50% - especially when the Indians in West Indies Dock wouldn't negotiate like they had in the past. Round trip $4, with the last leg on an air conditioned, municipal bus!

More shopping today. Would you believe Radio Shack is still open here. We needed a two way rocker switch for the ATV winch we have to hoist the dingy: they didn't have it. Nor did Budgef or Water World have a water jug, just diesel and gas. Feels like we are back in a third-world country again.

I decided that we'd try to put in vinyl flooring in the amas to replace the beat-up, green indoor-outdoor carpet I put in three years ago. Homo Depot has a good selection with all of the necessaries, and Jim Alimi of Nomad had just done his deck and interior: "It's easy...just score it with a knife, break, and place...no big deal...simple". He even showed me his finished product and how to score and snap. Well, let me tell you "it ain't as easy as it seems!" Not be a damn site.. With narrow hallways (4 strips wide with hatches interrupting every run), it took a half day just to noodle, measure and undercut the doorways. By the end of the second day we'd partially run half way leaving one side open for making a fill-in pattern. Rick has good experience here as he owned and operated a leather shop in his much earlier life. Now that we have a handle on it, it should go faster.

Well the repaired Cat pump worked well, but the pressure gauge didn't. So I blew out the high pressure hose to the membrane. Water went everywhere in the port back cabin soaking everything in its path. This morning I'm off to Reefco again to get a new hose, new pressure gauge, and new fittings. Hopefully this will end the "Rob/Harry water-maker" saga.

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The Mercury, a saga

The day we left for Florida we picked up our outboard 60 minutes before we left for the airport. Koki had "rehabed" it over the past three weeks. I put it on the dingy and drove away. On our return in December, we discovered it wouldn't start. After another Koki diagnosis we were informed the high pressure pump in the VST (very stupid thing) was broken. This started my lengthy correspondence with boats.net to buy a new pump, filters, and o-ring. Of course several parts were obsolete or on back-order. We did get the pump. Steve Clarke, our Canadian retired engineer-on-convalescence compadre, was fantastically motivating and totally absorbed in the breakdown and rebuild. Without him I never would have perservered to the finish. After two rebuilds, new fuel hoses, and new hose clamps, we put the Mercury back on the dingy and took her out for a spin. She idled wonderfully but wouldn't accelerate above an idle: the throttle control wouldn't advance! Then she quit and we paddled back (down wind, thank God) to Kuhela. After tearing the VST apart again, we discovered "crap" in the Columbian fuel. We threw out the old and brought in the new (that was the actual problem along with the computer not sending 12 volts to the pump). We cleaned/maintained the controls - the throttle linkage was rusted because of the cheap, metal construction - broke the linkage plastic (cheap) holder/lock, repaired/glued same, and re-bolted the unit. We re-wired the pump to the helm station jumping it past the computer. The engine started right up, but didn't "pee", that is pump cooling water thru itself. Man, could anything else go wrong? Steve, bless him, consulted the Mercury Service Manual and decided we could unbolt (just 5 bolts) the lower unit/leg and check the impeller which turned out to have a broken fin. We replaced the impeller, bolted the leg back on and started her up. No "piss"! In walks our second set of guests, Rick and Debbie Lehto of Miss Heidi. "Let's have another look at the impeller/pump." says Rick. So, off comes the leg again. Looks fine, so we glob on the grease, straighten out the impeller fins, and reassemble. Voila! She "pees"!!! We bolt the engine back on the dingy, bolt the controls to the helm, screw in the electrical pump switch in place, deflate the starboard pontoon to get the steering hooked up, re-inflate the pontoon, and launch. Holy Cow, she runs and pees like a racehorse.

She's now run for about 2 hours in open sea conditions (nah, in Ensenada Honda, Culebra) without a hitch.

 

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