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DAY
21 - 23
Cruise
Day 21, Friday June 27th
We
were up early, coffee in hand and headed over to the fuel pumps at
7:00 am to drop $444.00 for 148 gallons. Of course the girl at the
pump didn't know what the weather forecast was and why we asked
was beyond me - they never know. At least at the Marinas in the
U.S.A. not only do they know the forecast, they post it for all to
see at any time. So, off we go and leave Grand Bahama Island at
7:30 am in the calmest waters yet - yeah! We are cruising
along just shaking our heads - how could our luck be this good? It
just isn't our style to have such good fortune - calm (and I mean
flat) water for miles and miles and we say to each other "we
have never had such great water on one of our trips". At one
point the flat water started to move slightly in a calm rolling
motion and I thought it looked very much like the water beds of
old (I'm rolling as I'm typing here). So, what's the old saying?
Never-say-never…. Don't count your chickens before they hatch….
Don't let the green grass fool you? That's right, in our
inimitable fashion, as we are cruising along at 20 knots with some
very small buildings in sight in the distance on the shores of
Florida and feeling pretty damn good about life, the engines DIE.
Oh good. Thank God the Captain remains calm in situations like
this because the First-mate is anything but calm - quiet hysteria
would be more like it. As Barry checks gauges, switches, gears,
etc. I am quietly thinking of what my good friend Patty told me
about the big black hole of the Bermuda Triangle out here just
waiting to open up and swallow us - thanks, I needed that. It also
brought to mind another disastrous trip we took a few years ago
from Key West that involved 5' - 7' black waves and limping back
on one engine, but that's another story.
Well, it seems that both
engines will run but only one will go into gear. We call our good
buddy and friendly neighborhood Boat mechanic Brad (Brad's Marine
Service) on the satellite phone (who cares if it's $1.60 a minute
at a time like this) and he walks Barry though the engine well to
check the drive shafts, gears, etc. Of course it would be at this
point that the wind decides to kick up and the waves begin to
roll, yes of course it would. The conclusion to all this checking,
prodding and pulling is that Brad says we probably have a broken
drive shaft or we lost a prop - did we hit anything he asked? I
don't know, what could you hit in 500' of water and nothing in
sight? Of course it would drive Barry crazy not knowing if he had
lost a prop or not so of course he would want to get in the water
and check, yes of course he would and of course it would be at a
time like this that the swim ladder decides to stick and won't go
down, but did that stop him - nope! Off he goes in the water,
holding onto a line to check - yes the prop is still there which
is a good thing, but now how does he get back on the boat? He
manages to climb back up, probably with the help of a huge wave
and off we go again to limp back on one engine at 6-8 knots an
hour which should take us a mere 3 hours or so to get to Sailfish
Marina to get a mechanic to look at the boat. Why did I keep
singing the theme song to Gilligan's Island?
There were a few good
sights along the way - the Coast Guard being one, who did a wide
circle of us probably because we were going very slow, zigzagging
all over the place and still flying the Bahamian flag. The other
was the sight of very tiny buildings on the Florida shore in the
distance - so near and yet so far. Of course there was the odd
boat here and there, but they were running on two engines and
maybe that wasn't such a good sight - damn them all! Did I mention
the skies growing darker, light rain falling, the wind getting
stronger and the current swirling all around us? Needless to say,
the events of the last three hours were not all that conducive to
taking pictures. Did I mention the cruise ship that was passing
ever so slowly blocking our way to the Inlet? Finally we get
through Lake Worth Inlet which will take us into Sailfish Marina….
did I mention this was the busiest inlet with the most boat
traffic, the lowest tide and the worst current that we've ever
been in? We get to Sailfish Marina at 2:00 pm and they say
they have a slip ready for us - that's not going to happen - Barry
has been fighting with the wheel for three hours to keep it going
in the direction it is supposed to go but fighting for not, as
this boat was not cooperating. We had lost rudder control and the
only way he could get it into the outer dock at Sailfish was by
using forward, reverse and power it in close enough for me to
throw a line to "a skinny young lad" who looked like he
would fall in trying to haul the boat over to tie it up…. and we
are coming in HARD. With me on the bow, Barry decides he needs to
stop the stern from smashing into the concrete dock - very noble
of him - however, with soap on his feet from the bilge and the wet
deck from the rain (did I mention the rain) he made a tactical
error by falling and allowing his ribs to meet with the rail along
the sink enclosure and he went down HARD. There were a few good
things that happened at the Marina - there was a mechanic already
there - great guy named Phil Bathon, so he could look at the boat
right away and there were divers (The Scuba Scrubbers) as well, so
they too could look underneath the water level. Between the three
of them, they announce we did in fact break a drive shaft inside
the transmission - Brad was right. The mechanic says we have to
get the boat hauled and he would work on it on Monday or Tuesday
as he was on his way to Cape Coral (thanks for that information,
that's where we were going). So now we have to get the boat all
around to the other side of the channel, through the shallowest
water and swirling current, around the busiest boat traffic and
into a sling at the Riviera Beach Yachting Center - oh good. With
no steering this was going to be not only tricky but near
impossible. I won't mention that when we finally got over there
(minor miracle) we docked at the wrong Marina and had to move over
to another Marina to get it into the sling (major miracle). HE did
it…in pain…in frustration… but HE did it!
We get hauled out
of the water in the sling and now we have to get off the bow of
the boat and onto land while they put the boat on blocks - that of
course means getting Salty to walk up the side of the boat (about
6" wide) onto the bow. Did I mention Salty and how great he
was during all of this - what a boater he is! This however, was
not something he wanted to do and when Barry tried to get him
along the side to start his walk up to the bow - all four legs
went out like a flying squirrel. We finally get on the bow and who
is standing there to help us off? A great BIG guy who Salty didn't
want anything to do with - there was no way he was going to let
this guy take him - guess we don't have to worry about Salty going
off with just anybody. The guy barely got a hold on him and he
squirmed and jumped to the ground spinning and whirling to get out
of his reach. With that over, we're all off the boat and when we
finally found a hotel room - she said "sorry but we only have
a room that is NOT overlooking the Ocean - oh geez, too bad - I
said "that will be just fine, I've seen quite enough of the
Ocean thank you very much". In making the hotel reservation,
I neglected to tell her we had a dog and I was, at this point,
quite ready to sneak Salty into the room - any room. Of course we
think it's about a 10-story building and the only way to get in is
to pass through the lobby - so much for sneaking him in. I put on
my best whiny voice and sad face (didn't have to work too hard on
them either), went in with Salty and said, "I forgot to tell
you something", to which she said, "that's ok, we're pet
friendly". Honest to god I could have kissed her! So this is
Salty's first hotel room experience and it's not bad actually -
very large with a balcony. Barry wolfs down some cocktails
(medicinal purposes only) and we head off to "Max &
Eddie's" the Italian restaurant we loved so much last year.
It was awesome but we were so beat (literally) from the day that
we hardly ate dinner and just wanted to get back to the room and
pass out. It wasn't until then that Barry realized how badly he
was hurt and we decided we would relax the next day (Saturday),
rent a car on Sunday and head back home then. Can I rename this
section CRUISE DAY "FROM HELL"? So, the next day
we lay (very) low, I wear a path from the room to the pool bar and
we conclude
Land-locked Day 22 and Road Warrior Day 23, June
28-29 with not so much of a bang, but more like a fizzle. We
had to go to the boat and unload most of the stuff - or at least
what I could carry - my back was marginally better, but much
better than Barry's. We do arrive home safely in the rented SUV to
await the day we will drive back over to "the other
side" to pick up the repaired boat and finalize our
"Great Bahamas Adventure"… to be continued next week…
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