A Sail of Two Idiots (49 page)

Reverse course! Groceries we just unloaded, reload (in rain and on a half-deflated dinghy). Deflated dinghy, you ask? Yep, a splintered plank from the wood dock had punched a huge hole in the dinghy's bow (we did have the stern anchor out, but it must have dislodged). I kid you not when I say that we pretended we didn't notice and finished the routine. Screw it. We just sat on the inflated side and did what we needed to do.

Once everything was loaded back on
Jacumba
, we motored down to White House Bay and were excited to see
Merengue
anchored there. More gin and tonics! Another domino match—Jim “wins” the dunce cap! Tours around the island with Michael's company vehicle! Fun! But why did Jim and Wendy always have to leave? Boo!

I guess it was for the best, since Michael had to go to work (!). Our new location was perfect for him, because there was a new (plastic!) dock, a place to park his car, and a short (10 minute) drive to the company's work-site trailer.

I, on the other hand, was pretty isolated. There wasn't anything near this bay. I used the kayak for transportation and climbed the hills for exercise. I mooched off the nearby sales office's Internet service and worked on the boat.

We had mixed feelings about being back on
Jacumba
, but we did appreciate the privacy and quiet. We also enjoyed the bioluminescent marine creatures that surrounded us during the new moon. Every once in a while we took another sail to Nevis with new friends. I don't think we ever had a bad sail over there.

Despite our attempt at balance, some of the thrill was gone. We had a boat to sail and explore with, but we didn't have as much time to do that anymore. With more work than fun (a little too much like the northern Bahamas), crabbiness was setting in. Michael went to the office; I did all the chores (demolding, bottom scrubbing, metal cleaning, defrosting, belt changing, patching/pumping the dinghy). Of course, I couldn't do it all, which meant that on Michael's time off from his job, he got to work on the boat. We also had to drive all the way downtown to do laundry every weekend. We were starting to get burned out.

A navigation instrument cover mysteriously disappeared, but a little snorkeling around the boat found it!

Lines holding up the lazyjacks (a system of lines that guide the mainsail down into the sail cover on the boom) were getting frazzled, so a trip halfway up the mast was necessary to tape them to stop the fraying.

The mainsail cover itself continued to disintegrate in the sun.

The engines needed the usual maintenance (oil changes and alternator belt changes).

Our lifeline covers (plastic sheathing protecting the underlying wire) were becoming brittle and falling apart, so we removed them (and then added the chore of derusting the metal lifelines to our metal derusting list).

The mooring pickup pole had to be replaced after a little accident.

The electrical socket next to the freezer got wet from condensation and fried itself.

No amount of patchwork would fix the dinghy hole. After about a month of constant pumping just to use it, we ended up buying a new inflatable dinghy. To save money we downsized from a 12-foot to a 10-foot dinghy, with fiberglass bottom, oars, and seat included. A local boatbuilder brought it in duty-free for us ($2,500 including brokerage costs). What a relief to see that new dinghy arrive after weeks of pumping up the broken one though.

The dinghy's outboard engine started acting up. We replaced the spark plugs, cleaned the carburetor, changed the fuel, and then put out an SOS to our blog readers. Several diagnosed it correctly; we had a spun propeller hub and had to get a new propeller.

Another rope clutch broke (for over $200 they sure were made cheaply). We put an older one back on.