Just Ruminations

Not much sailing news - we have been in St Thomas for 4 days resting up, touristing (my word), making some purchases and working a bit on the boat.

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have taken the time to read and respond to the blogged edition of our lives. We feel really supported and close to all of you. So

THANKS THANKS THANKS!!!!!!

Next thing I wanted to mention (Cheryl is also writing some next) - We have been giving thought to some of the adjustments that a person has to make to live on a boat and I thought I would share some

Do you realize - you have to learn how to quickly walk up and down a ladder - forward and backwards

Do you realize - you have to learn how to wash and rinse a supper's worth of dishes in less water than you use to take pills

Do you realize - that you have to learn to sleep soundly while at the same time be able to distinguish, while sleeping, between "normal" boat sounds and those sounds that come when your anchor is dragging and you are drifting with the waves

And finally, last one for today

Do you reallize - that you have to learn how to use only 2 sheets of toilet paper each time ON BOTH SIDES!!

I don't know what I can say after Griff's thoughts on boat life. I'll fill you in a bit on St. Thomas. It is part of the US Virgin Islands which are a territory of the States. We are in the harbour of Charlotte-Amelie which is the capital. The nice thing about shopping here is that it is duty and tax free so the prices are definitely lower than at home. We did some shopping at an open air market - a big bag to use for laundry rather than the plastic K-Mart bags we had been using and some shirts for Griff. I toyed with the idea of getting my hair braided, but decided I would wait until I could get it done on the beach for less than $80.00. The town definetly caters to the cruise ships (4 were in harbour today including the Queen MaryII). Main street consists only of jewellery stores for gold, silver, diamonds and other precious gems. As well right at the cruise ship dock there is another mall with all the same shops. Needless to say we have not been shopping there - we both bought sandals at Payless. Lots of Canadian sailboats in the harbour. The marina near where we are anchored (Yacht Haven Grande) is filled with mega-yachts, however, we have yet to see one leave or enter!

Some Sailing Tales - At Last

Well, no boat details today. It is Sunday and I just had to look at both of our watches because we had no idea what day it was!! Isn’t that great? We went to an internet café yesterday because we don’t have our boat email set up yet and there is limited connectivity right now on WiFi and while we were doing some business stuff that popped up for Cheryl that had to be done in a hurry, Julie came on line to chat. Sorry Julie, if we had known it was Saturday and you were off, we would have gotten back to you right away. Not sure if that makes sense or not but there it is and on to sailing.

So, we last left you at Little Harbour, Jost Van Dyke Island, BVI. We spent a really nice night with lots of quiet (except for boat sounds but that is another blog) after having a great meal at Abe’s in late evening. On Friday morning we set out for Great Harbour to check out of BVI. It was just around the corner so we decided to motor and wouldn’t you know it, the alternator belt broke. We shut down to take a quick look and were adrift just offshore. No problem. The alternator belt connects to the water pump that cools the upper part of the motor but with all the engine doors open and keeping the revs down, it would be okay. Went to start the motor to get to Great Harbour and replace the belt and “no go”. We handled it well. Put up the staysail to give us way and stay off the shore and just as I went down to check on the starter it occurred to me – did we take it out of gear before stopping.

Long story short, put it in neutral, motor to Great Harbour, put our Alberta License plate up in Foxy’s, clear customs and we were off again.

Because of the time taken we decided to only go to Caneel Bay on St John’s Island, USVI to check into customs at Cruz Bay around the corner. That way we wouldn’t be getting to St. Thomas after dark.

Now for the good stuff. We had a 12-17 knot wind on our port side, almost beam (directly from the side) but a bit aft. Up goes the mainsail, up goes the forestay and we were sailing at between 6 and 8 knots. And we still had a sail we could have used!! There are no words to describe how that feels with the wind up, the sky clear, the water sparkling and the waves 3-5 feet. We were watching other boats on about the same course as us and some of them were off the perpendicular as much as what appeared to be 30 degrees – really. Mystic Journey was probably 8 degrees at the max. What a difference in handling from the previous boats we have been on, particularly the one that we chartered with Julie and Graham in Antigua. The main difference of course is the full keel as opposed to the fin keel that most coastal boats have. Julie and Graham, you will love it!! Of course there is also the configuration of the nose and transom as well as other characteristics but whatever it is, it is lovely!

Short part of we did this, we did that – we got a mooring ball in Caneel Bay, took the dinghy into Cruz Bay, cleared customs and toured the town. Neat little place with lots of tourists and too many catamaran drivers. That is just a personal thing. There are really an inordinate number of catamarans chartered down here and it seems to us up to this point that the people who charter them don’t consider them boats but rather cars on the freeway. In some ways they are worse than some of the power boat operators in that they completely ignore the “rules of the road”. This is carried over to land. There are usually 8-10 people on a cat and they travel in herds (I am speaking of customs right now). But enough of my personal preferences!! There are no sins in paradise!!

Saturday morning dawned with the sea as smooth as we had seen it and the wind only about 5 knots. There had been a short shower and afterwards the rainbow - so off to St Thomas.
We put up the mainsail and began but it wasn’t long before the waves began and the wind picked up and the next thing we were sailing in a 20 knot “breeze” and the swells were between 8 and 10 feet. Great sailing IF the course you want to take is not directly downwind and directly in the trough of the waves. The condition is a bit unusual because usually the swells will be in the same direction – somewhat – as the wind, but if the swells are generated somewhere else, (as happened here) or the wind changes direction suddenly, there you are.
Add to this scenario the fact that the channel we had to go through was quite narrow – about 300 meters – and there was a pile of rocks right in the middle and the only viable passage was to keep those rocks to our starboard side. I am not sure what the nautical term is for “hairy” but it was at times “hairy”.

We decided to drop the mainsail so we wouldn’t have to worry about an accidental gybe. We hadn’t put a prevent up because the seas came up too quickly and besides, that is usually something that is done when you intend to run downwind for a longer period of time with no need of tacking. Long story made short – we left the forestay up and sailed the rest of the way to St Thomas that way. After we went through the narrow passage, the seas calmed to perhaps 6 feet and the wind dropped to about 12-14 knots so it was a walk in the park. Just an aside, there was a boat behind us that had come from another direction under a single reef on their mainsail. They followed us through the passage and to St Thomas and although they kept moving out as if to pass, they were never able to do so. Good old Mystic Journey.

Sorry there are no pictures of the ten foot swells as neither of us had a free hand to use a camera!!!!!

One other thing. At this time I (Griff) usually do the sail and line/halyard work while Cheryl takes the helm because of the “grunt” work involved and that was the case during our mini-adventure. I am here to tell you all that Cheryl handled her part beautifully and I wore a life jacket. When the bow starts to rise so all you can see was sky and then the next second a 10’ swell is breaking over the bow as you cleave through another 10 footer, caution seems to make a bit more sense – even to me, Mr. Carefree (remember kids aren’t careless, they’re carefree!!).
Enough for now. All is well in St Thomas and we are off to do some “stuff”.

Maiden Voyage of Mystic Journey

Well, as promised, a description of the navigation table and I thought I might as well add in the work table since they are next door to each other. But before I do, I have to tell you about much more exciting (for us) stuff. You may not see this blog for a few days so just to let you know, I am preparing it on Thursday, 21 February (We’ve been here a month and a day – wow).

WE SAILED TODAY – out of Nanny Cay and into a bunch of firsts – first time under the main sail, first time just Cheryl and I were sailing, first time we went swimming off the side of our boat, first time we used the ladder to get back on board!! first time we used our sun shower. It was wonderful!!! Small problems that we handled – our 3rd reefing line was caught so we had trouble getting the mainsail to the top until Cheryl noticed what was wrong (I was too busy grunting at the winch), and the depth indicator didn’t show properly (needed for anchoring, picking passages and just generally avoiding running aground) but I was able to fix that. All in all an absolutely great experience.


We sailed from Nanny Cay to Jost Van Dyke Island– Little Harbour, where we picked up a mooring ball. Tonight we are going to celebrate our day of firsts by eating ashore at a place called Abe’s By the Sea. We were there earlier and as you walk up the small dock, they have a cage full of lobsters in the water under the dock. We were going to splurge and have lobster but some other stuff looked good so we opted out of that. I am sure lobster will be on lots of menus down here. We may even get our own trap.








On to the boat details – the nav table is on the starboard side of the boat slightly aft of midships. It is there you find the controls for all things electronic and most things electrical. There is a circuit breaker board that has all the switches for all of the necessities of life – water, lights, heat (we do have a heater in the boat), bilge pumps etc etc. That is mounted on the side and behind that are the terminal boards that provide connections for the wires that “electrify” the various workings. The table faces forward and there is a bench that has storage beneath it. There is also a fuse board that is mounted on the forward upper part of the desk that provides switches for all of our external lights i.e. anchor, navigation, steaming etc. etc and electrical controls for the solar panels and the wind generator.

The nav table also has all of the radio and navigation equipment such as the VHF radio, the SSB radio, chart plotter/radar and the Raymarine navigation multi. This last controls the instruments that tell us our depth, speed, wind speed and direction, distance travelled and other navigation information. There is also a weather fax included in this array but it is mounted on the side of the work desk area and at this time, I have no idea how it works. The old owner never used it but it turns out there were a number of things they didn’t bother with a lot including the spinnaker sail and the chart plotter.


Lastly for today- the work area. I have a bench about 3’ x 2 ½’ with a double door cupboard behind the upper part, a bigger double door compartment underneath it and 5 drawers 10”x6” by about 20” deep. Overall it is a great place to work on smaller things as well as store things but we still require quite a bit of space in other places to keep spare parts. The storage in the work area is for the more immediate stuff I need like nuts, bolts, lubricants, and smaller parts for things like the toilets.

So – I am not sure what is next in our boat details but I do know we are sailing tomorrow to St Thomas again – well not really again because the first time we motored mostly – and I do know that on the way we will be stopping at Foxy’s, which we will write more about later and at Cruz Bay to check into the USVI (we can check out of BVI in the same area where we will be going to Foxy’s).
So - Later

MORE ON LIFE ON BOARD

THE GALLEY

The galley is what the kitchen is called on a boat. Ours is on the starboard side of the boat, amidships at the bottom of the companionway. It is 5ft x 6.5ft and includes a stove, fridge/freezer, double sink and plenty of storage, but not much counter area.

The three burner propane stove is gimbaled. This means with the release of a lever at the bottom of the stove the whole unit will pivot. This enables the stove to remain level if you want to use it while sailing or if the boat is rolling a lot at anchor. It works well. It’s been a challenge getting used to cooking with gas again instead of electricity. In order to operate the stove you must first turn on the propane. This is accomplished by flipping the switch on the little black box you can see in the picture above the counter to the right of the stove. You must also insure this switch is turned off when you are finished cooking. That is to prevent the propane from leaking into the boat.

On to the sink area. We have a pressurized water system which runs on the DC from the batteries so you have to flip a switch in order to have water pressure. To the right of the centre tap there are two small taps which are connected to the two water tanks and are operated by a foot pump. To the left, is a single tap which has saltwater drawn into it by another foot pump. This allows us to have access to water without having to use electricity. The saltwater access enables us to conserve water because we can use it for cleaning and for rinsing dirty dishes before washing. There is also an under-sink, inline water filter.

The fridge is 7.0 cuft. and runs on both 12v DC and 120v AC. Amazingly it only draws 3 amps of energy. Although it is small we can store enough meat in the freezer to last 1 week + if it is just the two of us on board.

So far the biggest challenge for cooking in the galley is the fact that neither of us has much of an appetite and I never feel like cooking because it is always so hot. Just like at home in the summer, I never felt like cooking then either.

Before we went to USVI all we had to cook in were two light-weight pots and a frying pan, so that in itself was challenging. We bought a bigger pot and pan with lids and a pressure cooker which had been recommended as a necessity on board. I must say I have tried out the pressure cooker and it does come in handy. Besides you save on propane because it takes less time to cook food eg a stew in 15 minutes instead of a couple of hours.

THE HEAD

For you 'land lubbers' the head is the bathroom or toilet. We have two on the boat one is an ensuite in the aft (owner's) cabin and the other has access from the salon and is next to the fore (guest) cabin. Both have showers - the aft head has a separate shower room, the fore head the whole room is the shower room. We also have two sunshowers which is what we will probably use more often than the showers in the heads. These are black vynal bags that are filled with water and then lashed to the deck during the day. The sun heats the water and then it can be used to shower, rinse off saltwater after swimming or even do dishes. Again saving precious battery power.

Now the important part - how do you operate the toilet. No you don't just push the handle to flush it. First you have to determine whether you can empty waste directly into the ocean or whether you have to use the holding tanks. In most marinas you are encouraged to use shore facilities or holding tanks which are then emptied while at sea. What can be flushed? As with a septic system on land only those things that can be(food scraps) or have passed through the human body and certain toilet papers can be flushed. No plastics, Kleenex, sanitary products etc. These both clog the system and don't degrade in the ocean. You don't want to have to unclog the pipes if you are responsible for the clog.

The process for flushing is done using the mechanism you see beside the toilet. The silver lever on the side of the white column can be positioned either forward or back. The black handle on top moves up and down. First the lever is placed forward, the handle is moved up and down and the bowl fills with water, the amount depends on how many times the handle is moved up and down. Next you do your business. Then the lever is moved back and the handle is again moved up and down until the bowl is emptied. And that is how the head is used.

Next installment The Nav Area. It may be a couple of days from now because hopefully some time tomorrow we will be sailing. (now I probably jinxed us!!)

Saving the Anchor

When we took possession of the boat, the anchor and chain were very rusty. The anchor chain was marked for length, but we didn't know what the measurement was between markings. This is essential to know so that you know how much chain you are laying out when anchoring. We decided to clean the anchor, repaint it and re-mark the chain. Griff took this job on and did a remarkable job. We laid the chain out on the dock and marked it every 20 feet with yellow sea rescue tape and then used yellow galvinized paint around the taped areas.

Painting the anchor was a multi-step process. With a drill and sanding wheel borrowed from our friend Clive, Griff cleaned off the rust from the anchor. Next it was sprayed with OSPHO a phosphoric acid solution to further remove the rust and prepare the anchor for paint. Now the first layer of paint - a galvanizing paint which I expected to be grey, but was a bright yellow. We thought it would be neat to leave it that colour because then we would easily be able to see if it was set in the ocean bottom. However, we decided to go for the final coat of paint. It just wouldn't be cool to pull into a marina and have some guy say "nice anchor" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) so the anchor is now a conventional marine grey colour.

Immigration Adventure and Boat Details

Well, it is one of those days when it would be nice to light a fire and curl up with a good book - if we were in colder country of course. It is Sunday morning and today looks like it may be a steady rain for a while (as opposed to the usual daily 3 minute downpour and then sun - and maybe another downpour later) so we thought we would update our latest scrape/adventure/learning experience.


First the adventure - when we flew into BVI they asked us at immigration how long we were staying. Of course our heads were still in Canadian mode so we had a schedule - and that schedule would have us leaving BVI on or before February 12th. We were aware as time went on that the deadline was the 12th, BUT we also went to the USVI and had to check out of the BVI to do that. Assumption coming - if we leave and then come back, we start a new visa dateline. NOT SO!!!

Anyway, the evening of the 13th we were talking to a couple of friends we met and somehow this topic came up. We then learned that if you leave and come back before your original deadline comes up, you are still under the original timeline. Uh-oh. Of course both of these guys had horror stories to tell. Tom had gone in to extend his visa prior to it expiring and he said it took him over 6 hours to get through. Sven, trying to be supportive, told us that maybe we would just get a fine - but DON"T get involved with the BVI legal system if we could help it because ........etc etc. They said to take all the paperwork we had with us when we went in, including plane tickets, boarding passes and so on.

Back to the boat we go, both in a somewhat "nervous" state. We knew where all of our stuff was except for our flight paperwork. Of course any other time we have taken a flight, we have religiously kept all of that stuff for Cheryl’s scrapbooking but this time - no, no, no.
To say we spent a restless night would be a vast understatement, but bright and early on Valentine's Day, off we go, loaded down with every piece of paper we thought might remotely be connected to the problem.

Long story about to be cut short, after a 30 minute wait we were ushered into the office of Miss Collins, whose first words were "Happy Valentine's Day". Before we even had a chance to try to explain why we were 2 days past our visa time, she suggested it was probably an oversight. She asked us why we needed an extension and on being informed it was to get some work finished on the boat, she gave us her fax number, told us to have our work person fax what he was doing and an approximate time frame to her and when that came in, she would straighten things out. As luck would have it, when we called George, our electrician, he was across the street working on a boat in the Roadtown Marina and he came right over and signed his name to the appropriate letter. Two and one half hours after we started, we were finished. Of course when we got back to the Marina, we had to let Tom and Sven (both Americans) know they needed to change citizenships!!!!


There are those of you who are may be wondering what boat life is really like. We have decided to take the next few blogs to explain, one topic at a time, what living on board a 49 ft. home is like.

For the first installment we thought we would let you know about storage. One thing about boat builders, particularly of offshore boats, they take advantage of every inch of space. We were talking with our neighbours and they mentioned they had 70+ storage compartments and they had to keep a list of what they had where so they could find anything they might need in a timely fashion. We had already started a similar inventory, but had not finished and had no idea how many separate storage compartments we had so we counted them today.

We have the following storage space – 23 – 10”drawers, 4 – 20”drawers, 3 hanging closets, 28 various sized cupboards with doors, 12 open cupboards with shelves, and 10 various sized compartments either under the seats or in the floor. These do not include the engine room or the compartments under the beds and seats in the salon where the gas tanks, water tanks, water heater and batteries are stored. As well, on deck there are two compartments on the foredeck where ropes and fenders are stored and 3 on the aft deck for more ropes, hose and sails etc. We also have a small compartment on the starboard side where the propane tanks for the stove are stored.








Under the companionway going up stairs there are cupboards, access to the engine room and room to store two garbage containers. All in all we have a lot of space for storage.





Next installment will be the galley.

Still Lovin' It!!

Well, it has been a couple of days of variety since we last blogged so another update is due. We didn't get back to Nanny Cay until about 8:30 on Friday night. It was actually pretty hairy because we hadn't been able to contact the Marina prior to arrival. They had been expecting us back but when we weren't there by closing, they gave our spot to someone else so we took a chance and picked an available slip. Well, approaching Nanny Cay the wind was blowing and it was dark and raining and the waves were about 4-5 feet. Cheryl was at the helm and she did an absolutely super job of getting us into the marina. We ran into some problems, however, when we were parking and it was again pretty a pulse raiser but again, Cheryl did a great job.

Saturday we cleaned up after the trip and I took out some of the gear we had jury-rigged to get us home. We also had to move the boat to a different spot, away from the centre of the marina, which we thought was a good thing because sometimes the noise from all the commerce was a bit distracting. Of course now we are down by the open-air bar so - you win some, you lose some!! We are only about 20 yards from the beach and pool now though!!

The Sunny Caribbean ?

Sunday we worked around the boat and took some beach time. Went for a walk although once you leave Nanny Cay, there is only sidewalk on one side of the road going one way but it was nice to just walk.


Monday (looks like I have fallen into the "we did this, we did that" but I will add different stuff later) the riggers came and took down the forestay. We were hoping to salvage the stay itself and just re-rig the trappings but it wasn't to be so we got new wire. They didn't finish the job because of some unexpected findings once it was down but there is only the tuning of the entire rigging system to do so it won't take too much longer. As soon as that is all done we will put on the sail and Mystic Journey will once again become a bona fide sailing vessel.


Tuesday we worked on the autopilot, the solar panels, the "bright work" and I talked to the electrician who will be doing some work for us. We realize only too well that we have to be self-sufficient as far as keeping the boat in sailing/motoring shape but we decided that we would use experts where available and necessary to get the boat to a place where we are starting from a level playing field. With luck and God willing we will get there this week and be gone by the weekend. We are going to work tonight on a loose itineraryfor the first week of being gone from here. We want to see the sights of BVI and USVI that are worth visiting as once we head for St Martin, we will likely not be back

Speaking of which, the trip to St Martin will be our first overnight sail. It is actually only about 80 nautical miles, which would ordinarily take approx 15 hours but since it is due East and the wind has been fairly strong and coming straight from the East, will be much more likely to take twice the time. Exciting!!

Finally, Cheryl talked about some of the other sailing people we have met so I thought I would talk a little about some of the BVIers. I mentioned the guy who was on the boat last week - Wilson - a "stereotypical" islander, he kind of ambles when he walks, talks really slow and looks like he should have a corncob pipe. He is friendly and agreeable (but I wouldn't hire him to work for me!)

Teresa is the lady who runs the Chandlery. She has an great smile and we have gotten into the habit of a bit of back and forth when we go into the store.

El Richardson is the owner of the company that is doing the rigging. He is also a minister and his business card has a bible quotation on it. He constantly talks as he works - if there is a problem he kind of jokingly asks the Lord to just help him on this one and when the problem is solved it is "Praise the Lord, He did it" At the same time, we were listening to a radio station that was playing Ray Charles, Al Green etc etc and he knew all the words and talked about the girls he knew when the songs were popular.

I have found that in the beginning I had some problems with understanding the dialects and accents but lately it has been getting better and even using it a bit myself- just when I am talking to someone with the accent.

So, since we are in somewhere you have seen pictures of before, the pictures Cheryl is putting in are not really related to anything but our being in the Caribbean.



More next blog

Places We've Been and People We've Met

Since our last entry we have finally been out of the marina. We spent 3 days travelling to and from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. I can't say we spent it sailing because we were only able to use the stay sail and motored most of the time, but we did get there.

We anchored in the harbour at Charlotte Amelie, the capital, and used the dinghy to get back and forth to town. We were able to get alot of the tools and household items we still needed - less expensive than in BVI because of the lack of duty. We met the most delightful lady there as we were finishing our shopping at K-Mart. She asked us if we needed a taxi. I had the impression that she was using her own car and wasn't really a full time taxi driver. As she drove us to the Ace Hardware for tools she gave a running commentary of the buildings we were passing and some of the history of the island.

We made the trip with Bryan Ruegg, the instructor from the school we had hired. He had an interesting history of getting his Captain's papers at the age of 23 and a degree in biology. He has captained gambling boats, worked on tall ships, works around the Cape Horn part of the year with other biologists, and teaches sailing. He was patient and helped Griff work through the problems we had with the engine on the trip. He met up with some of his friends from a tall ship and was going to set up a visit to the ship for us, but unfortunately we ran out of time because we needed to get back to Nanny Cay by Friday.

On the trip we stopped at Cruz Bay, USVI and Soper's Hole, BVI. These stops were just long enough to clear customs.

We thought we would share a little bit about the people we have met here in Nanny Cay. When we first were here we were in a slip next to the Tropic Star who is owned by Dave from New York. He was a wealth of information about which workmen were best for what jobs. He has been sailing for a while and stays in this area priimarily.

Then there were Burn and his wife Pat from Chicago on the Lucky Break. They too stay in the BVI area. Burn said they have been sailing for 10 years and didn't know a thing about sailing when they first bought the boat, but the boat taught them alot. They are selling their boat now because he has been diagnosed with cancer and does not have the strength to sail any more.

While Mystic Journey was still up on the hard we met Tom from Alaska. His boat, the Turning Point, was on the hard next to ours. He had been here for two months waiting for them to finish a job that should have taken 2 weeks. He decided to head out and come back next year to sail "down island".

As you can tell from what I said about problems with the boat that Bryan and Griff had to work on, the trip was not what we had hoped it would be but the reality is that the worst day down here on a boat we own sailing the Caribbean could not be a bad day.

Woe Is Us - or "How to Learn Patience in the Caribbean"

Well, I suppose you are all waiting anxiously to learn about our first sailing adventure. Well, unfortunately, so are we. As we said in the last blog (I think), we were all prepared to leave bright and early on Monday for the open seas. The instructor, Brian, came over and we went over the boat to check things.

I had better back up a bit to set the stage. When we took the boat off the hard, we told you that it hadn't started immediately due to loose connections. While bringing it over, we also noticed that it had been running very rough. Our less than diligent boat manager (the same one whose work, or non-work, resulted in the forestay being unfinished) said he would arrange for someone to come over on Friday and do a complete tuneup.

Well, Friday afternoon a "stereotypical" islander rambled in and spent some time tinkering and left saying he would be back to check later. Which never came. Our boat manager also did not show up that day (for the second time that week). I actually should call him our ex-boat manager because when I finally got Clive (our original agent and now friend) to track him down and I got a face-to-face, I "told him his services were no longer required".

Anyway,back to the tale.

Both Sunday and Monday mornings we ran the engine up and it started but was not performing properly and the last thing we needed was for it to quit while we were leaving the marina, which, if we were aimed at another boat at that time, could have ended up VERY expensive. So when Brian got here we (including Cheryl) got into the wonders of diesel motors - most specifically the fuel system. The former owner had left all of the original books on the motor but what he had not left were the changes/upgrades/modifications that had been done. We now have them documented

I must say the although we were very disappointed not being able to go sailng, the experience certainly fulfilled one of the reasons we decided to get an instructor. WE LEARNED!!!

By days end, the boat seemed to be running stronger and we thought/hoped that once we put her under load, the remainder of the problem would be solved.

Of course, to learn patience really well, you have to have your patience tested really severely so come Tuesday.......but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Also part of Monday's drama was the realization, after a closer inspection of our outboard motor, that it would probably be wiser to replace it than let my unmechanical hands at it. At one time it had apparently been dropped overboard and although dried and set up and re-used, it turned out to be much the worse for wear (and only 8 hp) so through the kind auspices of our friend Clive, the possible purchase of a 15 hp nearly new motor was set up. The only difficulty, which really wasn't given the other circumstances, was that the owner, who is in Germany, had to ok the deal. So the state of things Monday evening was that first thing Tuesday we would confirm the purchase of the motor, check out of the marina, stop for fuel and then.....altogether now - GO SAILING!!!

Tuesday morning - got the motor, did a bit of work to clean water out of the fuel line, took it for a drive, checked out of the marina, Brian got his stuff aboard and........the diesel ran worse than ever, to the point of unusability. The good part - we were able to spend some valuable classroom (on the boat) time learning from someone who has captained a gambling boat, tall ships and various and sundry other vessels and done many of the same things that we intend to do. One other good thing (or so I keep telling myself) is we learned some patience. God's time, not ours. Brian actually remarked on how well we were handling it all. So - progress.

Wednesday intentions - the diesel mechanic may be here early on but whether or not he is, we are going to learn how to use our spinnaker with the spinnaker pole, we are going to reinforce the mast so that we can safely use the staysail without the genoa and if all is right with the world, by the afternoon we will be SAILING.

Our Personal Touches

Over the past couple of days we have taken some time to add some of our own things to the boat to make it seem more like home. We hung our family calendar and put up some family pictures and momentoes from our travels. We have an Indian meditation bell that we found in Victoria, a sea nymph and blue eye from Greece,

a parrot from our granddaughter Amelia and of course Moose.

Moose is our travelling companion who has accompanied us to Thailand, Isla de Marguerita, San Andreas, Antigua, Greece and our various trips around Canada. Now he is prepared to embark on this adventure with us.