WTF?

Where’s The Fun?

Its been two weeks since we sailed from Trinidad. About 24 hours after leaving Trinidad, we anchored in Bequia, the northernmost island of the Grenadines. The overnight sail north was very pleasant with favorable winds and weather. It was good to get out on the sea again and Kalunamoo performed very well without any “shake down breakdowns”. Bequia is a great little island, has a wonderful swimming beach, and has a truly Caribbean island vibe.

The weather, however, was changing. The forecast of squally weather interrupted by either calms or gusty winds which made the decision of when to continue on, a bit of a game. We were headed to Antigua to meet the arriving Salty Dawg Rally group who were sailing down from the East Coast. Our cruising friends, Lynn and Mark on Roxy, also left Trinidad and were also sailing to Antigua (Lynn is the “social director of the Antigua Dawgs) but they made a stop at Martinique. The Dawgs, which we are members of, always provide fun times with scheduled events and ad-hoc activities. We also get to meet many cruisers that we know, have a great Thanksgiving at the Antigua Yacht Club and enjoy sailing around Antigua.

Of course, having a schedule is not the best way to cruise. Leaving enough time to cover the 400 miles between Trinidad to Antigua with options to stop off at any of the six islands on the way helps. The Dawgs have to sail 1300 miles with no stopping, except for Bermuda if the wind is right. Given the anticipated weather we decided a one stop voyage would be fine. The second leg, Bequia to Antigua is over 40 hours. In any case, the weather was as expected, but the boat performed wonderfully. Except when we wanted to start the refrigeration (reefer).

Since the reefer compressor was replaced two years ago, fifty percent of the time the compressor balks at kicking over. This only occurs when it runs on the generator. This is needed as it is a big 120 volt compressor. On shore power there is never a problem. But most of our time aboard cruising is not spent in marinas. It usually takes 3-4 times to kick the compressor on but once on there is no issue. This time it just would not kick on after multiple tries and several hours between attempts.

We came into English Harbor at 6AM, anchored in Freemans Bay. At 8 AM we called the Slipway Boatyard and made arrangements to go alongside and work on the reefer. Are we having fun yet?

The reefer kicked over with shore power, and the reefer mechanic checked it out and found everything fine. The generator was also tested and, of course, it also worked to start the compressor. The problem is a mystery that we are still working on.

After two days we went back out to anchor alongside Roxy and the reefer ran just as it always had. Maybe it didn’t like the 40 hour passage. What also didn’t like the passage was the bow thruster.  We use that only when docking but It didn’t work when docking at the Slipway Boatyard.

On the way up, we had to pump a lot of water out of the bilge and forward sump. Rainwater does accumulate but the amount was disconcerting. The problem was I could not find where it was coming from. Fortunately, wherever it was coming from was slow and only when we were sailing. That’s a good thing. Fun yet?

To check out the bow thruster everything in the V-berth must be removed. When we did that, I discovered the bow thruster motor submerged in 3 feet of water! The compartment was completely flooded. The electric motor was toast. The slow leak was from the new Bobstay fitting that apparently was not water tight. Underway, it is underwater. At anchor it is above water and you would never know it was not watertight.

Mark on Roxy and I took the whole motor out, disassembled it, but for various reasons, decided a new one was the best option. We will bring down a new motor and relay at Christmas time. Fun yet?

Freeman’s Bay is a beautiful anchorage in English Harbor but notoriously swirly. This means that when the wind dies (usually at night) the anchored boats drift around haphazardly and risk colliding. After two nights of that we had enough. We moved over to Falmouth Harbor where there is no risk of that.

Anchoring in Falmouth is a piece of cake. We dropped the hook, let the boat settle, and then backed down on the engine to set the anchor. All was well until the engine gave a shudder. Didn’t think too much of it until that night when we discovered the end of dinghy falls (the line to lift the dinghy on the davits) leading down and apparently wrapped around the propeller. No fun yet!

It took about an hour, underwater, holding my breath, cutting the very tight ball of rope off the propeller and shaft. It was so tight that the rope actually melted and fused together. No fun there.

Finally, I got it free and barring any other calamities we are ready for some fun. Played Mexican Train Dominoes yesterday, and had the first official happy hour with the Dawgs. Most of the Salty Dawgs will arrive today and tomorrow and events will commence! So, the answer to Where’s The Fun? Right now it is here in Antigua!