Jaymie meets Capt Chaos...

So here is the latest in Shaneland. Things were pretty busy when I got back from the states. I was hoping to have the boat back in the water last week but it didn't work out that way. My new friend Jaymie made it down to crew on the boat for a month. She arrived here Sunday night and unfortunately the boat was still up in the yard. She is a most welcome addition to Rum Boogie and this month is going to be a blast as we get along great and constantly laugh. She has already gotten to see why I got the nickname of Captain Chaos because as per usual I had my share of things this week that can only happen to yours truly. Monday afternoon we finally splashed back in to the water. We threw a quick wash on the deck and topped up the water tanks. We had the anchor set soon after and finally Boogie was back in her element. I slept great that night, with some help from some good old pirate rum and the next day I pretty much did nothing but read and relax. I had rented a car to provision the boat after my fridge disaster and also to run a few errands and I didn't have to return the car until late Wed afternoon so I took advantage of having wheels for a few days, got everything done and even took another cruise around the island. It's truly amazing driving through the rainforest here. We stopped in the downtown area to pick up some fresh tuna and I had to stop in and say hi to my girlfriend Teresa who sells spices in the outdoor marketplace. She has told me on several occasions I better not leave Grenada cause she has "plans for me". Right now the campaigns are in full swing for an election that takes place mid July so the energy is wild. People are very passionate about this and we saw several different parades and celebrations as we drove around. We dropped the car off and went back to the boat and I got another great night of sleep as the boat rocked gently all night.

Thursday I planned to hook up with a local mechanic who cleans diesel tanks. I have had a problem with the starboard engine since Guadeloupe. The fuel tanks are filthy inside and need to be cleaned thoroughly. This guy has a machine that is similar to the ones that clean swimming pools that will clean the tanks. I set up to meet him on Friday at a local marina. Now when we first got back in the water I had bled the air from the starboard fuel system hoping to be able to use both motors to get out of the concrete slip where they do the hauling and launching but of course it ran for a few moments then shut down so I was forced to use only the port engine. No big deal, just takes a little longer to manuever. So Thursday I tried a couple more things to try and fix this nagging problem because the wind has been howling and I really don't want to deal with a dragging anchor with only one motor at 3 in the morning (which I hope doesn't happen but keep in mind I am Capt Chaos). I got the motor going and went to test it at higher RPM's and under power. I was so happy to learn that when I engaged the gearshift into forward the boat started to back up. Confused, I went to neutral and tried again. No dice. Still reverse. I engaged it into reverse and can you guess, yep, went forward. So I got my dive mask on and had Jaymie engage both motors while I was in the water watching. Both props were spinning the correct way. I got into the engine room thinking maybe a cable came loose while Sheldon was working on installing the copper strip for the SSB radio and maybe he put it on backwards. Nope, all good. So that left one possibility. The first week I was in the yard I had both props serviced by a yard "mechanic". He put the prop back together with the gearing reversed inside. No way I could do anything about it in the water. Only option? Get hauled out again and have the guy fix it. First I had to dinghy over to the yard and talk to Frankie, the yard supervisor. Frankie is insane. He is a tall Grenadian guy with crazy Einstein like hair and a whiny voice that pretty much spends his days walking around the yard in yellow, green, and red rubber sandals while chain smoking cheap cigarettes and yelling at everyone he sees with his Caribbean accent which makes it impossible to understand what he says the first time. So of course after explaining my dilemma his first assessment was that it was my fault. After some time my diplomacy won over and we were to be hauled out at 2 PM and the guy would fix it and we would splash back in the water. I was a little nervous cause 4 PM is quitting time and the only time I have these dudes in a hurry is when it's time to go home. He assured me that we could fix it and splash back in within an hour. So needless to say, I got to spend another night in the boatyard. Yippee. More mosquitoes and no breeze. I had to look up some specs Thurs night so that first thing in the morning we could get the props put together correctly. When I got up at 8 AM on Friday morning it was pouring rain. I just knew that the boys in the yard were gonna call it a day early and poor Jaymie and me would be stuck through the weekend on the hard. I found Frankie and we got on it and we finally got it worked out on Friday morning and to my total amazement we were back in the water by 11 AM. Total pain in the ass. We got reset out in the bay and lounged around because it rained nonstop yesterday from the time we got back into the water. It was a beautiful storm and the rain just did not stop. Today was nice, back to that perfect Caribbean sunshine and I think I managed to finally track down and fix the fuel problem with the starboard engine, fingers crossed on that one.

So life is still good despite my headaches with the repairs and next up should be the run to Venezuela for fuel. I did a bunch of research today online and in the guides about where to go and not go. I'm already getting anxious to sail somewhere and test out the sails since they were worked on so we are just waiting for a weather window. It's only 90 miles to Los Testigos, which will be the first landfall in Venezuela. Then it's another 45 to Isla Margarita where the fuel is. Sorry I've been lagging on updates, internet was kind of sketchy this week but seems to be ok now. Hope everyone is doing well.