Thursday February 10, 2011

The roosters started crowing early this morning. My feathered friends were up at 4:30AM. So was I. It was difficult to sleep with the cock-a-doo-dle-doo of the roster on shore.

Once it was light, I studied the books Jim gave me on electricity and boats. Interesting reading most of it applied to much bigger boats. I learned from the reading that the electrons flow from the negative side of the battery to the positive side in a DC system All I really wanted to know was how long the battery would power the cabin lights on this little boat. I am not sure how to calculate the amp hours because there are so many variables. I wish Shane were here to make the calculations. Tonight I will conduct and experiment. I will turn on the galley light see how long it stays on, that is if I can stay up that late.

At 9AM I jumped in the dingy. I checked the gas level. It was on empty. I hoped and prayed there was enough fuel in the tank to get me to the gas dock. I also noticed that “Joe’s” line that connected to the gas tank was leaking fuel into the water. Not good for several reasons. The plastic ties used to hold the gas hose on to the fitting that goes into the motor were somehow leaking (probably because of age). I pulled up to the gas dock and the guy playing the saw at last nights limbo party helped me fuel the tank. In addition to playing the saw, Jason is the marina manager. A man who wears many hats here in the Bahamas.

With enough gas in the tank to get “Joe” to the Outboard Shop, I headed in that direction. The motor started slowly and then worked beautifully as the dingy jumped up on plane. When I arrived at the repair shop I was told that the part had arrived. They told me to come back later in the day and the motor should be repaired.

I walked to Mango’s and ordered coconut French toast for breakfast. Hooked up the laptop and used their wireless Internet connection.

I Skyped with Sandy and we talked for almost a half and hour. God I love that wonderful woman.

With my “work” at Mango’s finished, I left my computer in the marina office and hiked to the Bank of the Caribbean. I was short of cash and after talking with Sandy realized that there was money in our account.

To enter the ATM at the bank, you must swipe your ATM card. It took me about five tries to get the door to open. International ATM transactions here in the Bahamas are private.

I then purchased Sandy another post card and hiked to the Post Office to mail it off to here in the USA.

I wandered into Maxwell’s to purchase some fresh fruit and then shared a taxi ride back to Mango’s with an older grump from Grosse Pointe. This guy might have been wealthy, but the lines in his face showed that he was not a happy guy for most of his life.

Once at Mango’s I hailed the Outboard Shop on the marine VHF radio and requested a ride back to the shop. Ten minutes later the book keeper showed up in here Toyota Camary.

They told me that “Old Joe’s” cracked coil had been replaiced and the motor was working fine. I paid the bill and walked up the dock to where the dingy was tied up.

The winds were piping up and there were small white caps in the harbor. “Old Joe” started on the first pull of the starter cord. As I headed back to Water Mark, the winds were right on my bow. They were blowing at about 20 knots and the waves were splashing over the bow of the dingy and getting my clothes soaked with salt water.

I wanted to give “Old Joe” the full throttle and test the repair. It was so windy all I could do was to duck the monster splashes coming over the bow.

“Old Joe” was repaired and I had to go slower than ever before because of the wind and waves. Maybe that grumpy old guy from Grosse Pointe had a point.

As soon as I reached WaterMark, I change into dry clothes, a bathing suit and old t-shirt. With dry clothes, I watched as WaterMark sailed at anchor. I was really proud of the newly modified ground tackle. The winds were clocked this afternoon by one of the boaters anchored here it he harbor at 32 knots. Stiff wind and the anchor held! I sat in the cockpit and read the Clive Cussler book while dozing off from time to time. At about sunset, I headed back to Mango’s to get some ice.

The winds are dieing down. The anchor has held. Just after returning from Mango’s, I talked with Jim and Ellie. Ellie was worried that the anchors might drag and kept a keep eye peeled all day long. Thanks Ellie.

I updated the blog and headed for the aft berth. I watched stars again as I drifted off to sleep.