The Waiting Game

One of our many dingy rides to shore

We are very happy to report that our engine is running!! We were finally able to get into see a mechanic and he actually knew what he was doing. The leak in our fuel pump probably boiled down to one simple O-ring but as you have probably guessed that did not mean it was a simple fix! Our engine is a Perkins and the company is out of business. For some reason, only known to Perkins, they decided to make their own bolts to use on said engine. These bolts are not the same as any other hence they need a special Perkins tool to remove them. No one has this tool!!! The mechanic was able to order a replacement bolt from a fuel injection specialist - the rubber O-ring is attached to this bolt but the bolt is so finely machined that once it is removed it is garbage. The part itself cost a whopping $25.  What didn't cost $25 was couriers running all over the city trying to obtain parts for our weird engine, the mechanic MAKING a tool to try to remove the bolt, and all the trouble shooting involved. Basically for a $0.10 rubber ring we had a $600 bill and a one month delay - you gotta love boats.

We were hoping the mechanic could also figure out why our engine does not like to start when it has sat for more than 12 hours. Of course in a prime example of Murphy's Law the engine started on the first time every day we were there - something it as never done. It's like when my computer doesn't work and I'm complaining to James that something is wrong with it. Then as he walks towards the computer and puts his hand on it, it miraculously works perfectly.

The other issue we had here was our wind generator was broken and we were hoping to install our new solar panel. We ordered parts for both of these projects from another cruiser who is big into renewable energy and makes all sorts of parts. Our order somehow has disappeared off the face of the earth and the guy we ordered from is on vacation sailing to South America and completely out of reach and only he has the tracking number for our package. After trying to track down the package for two weeks, we finally admitted defeat and got new parts elsewhere so later today is stage one of solar panel #2 instillation. We have already replaced the charge controller for the existing solar panel and you'll never guess what!?! It was broken - shocker. So we had no wind and no solar charging our batteries! Once we have a working wind generator and two working solar panels we might even be able to turn a light on every once in a while. We both feel like our state of energy poverty is a factor in our engine not starting - maybe there isn't quite enough charge to fire the solenoid.

We rented a car this weekend to finish provisioning the boat and to get all the supplies we need for the Bahamas. We were really hoping to make the crossing this past Sunday but then the weather forecast called for a thunderstorm so we didn't leave. Currently there looks to be a good weather window this coming Saturday so fingers crossed. A "good weather window" for our boat looks like this: winds from the south, east or possibly west, calling for no more than 15knots of wind (which could mean 25 when you're out there),  and a ratio of wave period to wave height of 1.5 or more. Why we need to watch for all this is because we have to cross the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is a current that runs from Cuba to Ireland, taking warm water with it. The Gulf runs south to north and we are sailing west to east. The Gulf Steam is very fast moving and will try to push your boat north. Since the Gulf is traveling north, if you have a north wind it basically crashes into the Gulf creating very rough large waves and very uncomfortable and potentially dangerous sailing. Conversely, when the wind is not from the north you can have a completely flat calm blue sea.  So now we wait, and obsessively check the weather. (Tracy, I know how you love when it gets technical so this paragraph was for you ;).

With any luck the next posting will be coming from the Caribbean where I will be eating johnny cakes and drinking a Kalik!!!

Our tiny little boat garden

Miami Skyline at night as seen from our boat

Going to the mechanic, along the Miami River