|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogAfter the crew left, we went back to the boat and just "chilled". Can you do that in 85 degrees? Actually, YES; it is because we were finally here, in the Caribbean and on our own. WE HAD MADE IT. There were certainly problems along the way and there would certainly be more, but we had made the plan and carried it out. Whatever happened now, we could always say we got that far. The following day, Friday, January 26, we didn't leave the boat. I did however, have my first experience with an outboard engine carburetor. I hoisted the engine off the dinghy and placed it on the mounting pad at the stern. Off came the cowling and I managed to find the carb on the front of the engine, just where the mechanic at the shop said it was. I got out the white rag, carb cleaner, tools, owners manual (almost useless) and had at it. I carefully removed the fuel hose, plastic covering and the 2 bolts that held the unit onto the engine. Gently, being very careful not to drop it into the water, I lifted it off the engine and placed it on the rag. Naturally, fuel started spilling out but fortunately, I had put some plastic under the rag to prevent any major spills. I slowly took apart all the little pieces and noted where they all went and where the little springs were and how they were oriented before disassembly. Amazing how many tiny parts there are to this "simple" engine. It took me about an hour to completely take it apart, since I wanted very badly to be able to put it back together! After cleaning the little pieces with the cleaner, and only somewhat puzzling over the reassembly, the carburetor went back together (with no left over parts - Great!). I carefully put the unit back on the engine and put the engine back on the boat. The moment of truth, it started on the first pull and was working great. OK, time for a beer!! The next day, we decided to go to a boater's flea market (boat jumble) and see if anything looked interesting. Not too much although I did get some cotter pins I needed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the engine problem wasn't completely solved; it started stalling once past half throttle again. I figured something about the fuel system was wrong and would work on it again tomorrow. Meanwhile, a nasty swell had started in the anchorage, creating some bad rolling for the boats. That night it was so bad that to sleep, I rigged a bridle to keep the boat facing into the swell rather than the wind. It helped, but only marginally - we slept very poorly that night. In the morning, we could see the swell was so bad that boats were almost breaking free! At that point, we decided to go to the Dutch side to see if that was better. I assumed it would be since Marigot is exposed to the north and west and this was a northeast swell coming in. We went in to town, cleared out of St. Martin bound for St. Maarten. We motored about an hour and went into Simpson Bay, anchored and cleared in. I decided to wait until the next day before going into the lagoon. While clearing in, I looked at the lift bridge that opens so boats can go in and out of the lagoon. It doesn't seem big enough for some of the mega-yachts that we can see, but I guess it must be. That night is somewhat rolly, but not as bad as Marigot. The next day we go in at the 9am bridge (it only opens at 9 and 11am and 5:30pm) and go to get diesel and water at the Simpson Bay Marina. The channel markers are somewhat confusing for a newcomer (some of the red markers are just mooring balls) and we go aground in the soft mud. No problem, we just back off and call the marina to tell us where the channel is. A boat comes out and shows us the way. After filling the tanks, we go out (carefully) and find a place to anchor in the crowded lagoon. Simpson Bay Lagoon is fairly easy to navigate but there are some shallows and the French side channel was destroyed by Hurricane Luis (and Lenny and etc.). They never bothered to dredge it again and there's still a boat that sunk sitting in the channel with its masts sticking up from the water at a slightly crazy angle. There are also still some wrecks sitting on shore. There's also a prominent landmark called Mt Fortuna on the chart but its locally known as the "Witch's Tit." We find a place to anchor at the end of the fleet. Unfortunately, its directly at the end of the airport's only runway. For a while, it felt like we were back home next to La Guardia! But this was actually louder since we were closer to the planes as they took off. Landings were OK since they came in over the water but takeoffs are into the wind and, of course, that's always east. Luckily, the planes usually started around 9am and stopped around 10pm. After looking at the cruising guide, it seemed that this was probably a no anchor zone, but nobody ever asked us to move. After we got settled, the wind really started to howl and we were very glad to have gotten into the lagoon when we did. There were recorded gusts up to 48 knots. But we were anchored well, in good mud, in just 11 feet of water with 80 feet of chain. I would have used more, but I didn't want to play bumper boats during the night if the direction shifted. That night we went to the Simpson Bay Yacht Club (SMYC) for the first of many Happy Hours we were to enjoy there. The SMYC is the organizer of the Heineken Regatta that was due to start at the beginning of March. The clubhouse isn't much, not much more than a large open air building. But it did have a bar, bathroom and small grill area with some seating under the roof. A typical tropical hangout. We're still having problems with the outboard. Since I had already taken the carburetor apart (twice), I decided to see if a mechanic could figure it out. Since the "authorized" Mariner dealer is on the French side, (and the dinghy would not make it there on its own) we asked at some of the nearby marinas about a mechanic. First we couldn't find the one they recommended and the next guy was so busy he couldn't look at it for a week. So we walked to the Simpson Bay Marina and asked there. They first said to try the guy on the French side but I explained the situation and then they made a call to a local boat. They explained the problem and situation and the person at the other end said they would meet us in 10 minutes. Great, now we just had to walk back to the dinghy. (We could have taken the dinghy to Simpson Bay Marina, but I really wasn't sure it would make it and these places are only about ¼ mile apart.) |