Farewell to Bimini

 

We stayed a new marina this time call Blue Water.  It was a nice marina with docks in good condition.  The had pretty good Wifi access as well, although I had to sweet talk the lady in the office for the code, as she usually keys it into the individual laptops herself as an added measure of security.  I told her that my boat has a fixed system and with a tilt to her head she nodded and wrote it down for me. It was much better than the highjack signal from the next marina over.

It was sad to learn that Sara’s End of the World Bar was closed for good.  There was speculation that the rent was high which is funny as it is also known as the Sand Bar since the floor is literally sand. There were many businesses closed down since the last time we were there as the tourist dollar has been quite elusive for the last couple of years.

On another note, the musical entertainment from Bimini Stevie S, is in some legal problems and is currently incarcerated so there was no more “Shake it Up, Shake it Up” live at Big Johns.

I spent the entire weekend trying to figure our my dinghy problems.  I had this motor serviced early last year and only put on about 2 hours of operation since then so I was really bummed when it did not start.  I pulled the cord so many times, that I wore through my skin on two fingers of my right hand and one finger of my left. I cleaned the carburetor about 6 times, dumped my fuel and refilled the gas tank, changed out the spark plugs and finally got it to start and idle.  I took it on a test drive and by the time I came back it would not idle and eventually it would not start.  So I loaded back onto the swim platform and decided to deal with it in Nassau where there is a Yamaha dealer.

We finally got over to Sandra’s place to visit her as well as our friend Nikia.  Nikia has been a little busy as she now has a new daughter and a new husband.  We met him the last time we were in Bimini and he seemed very nice. Once we drank every beer Sandra had in the restaurant, including the extras that were brought in for us, we decided to kidnap (willingly of coarse) Nikia as we promised our friends from “The Office” we would go to their boat for cocktails and food at 5:00PM.  It was after 6:00PM when we left, but there was a huge downpour as well as a small plane crash on our end of the island.  I heard the plane in the clouds just before we heard about the crash.  Unfortunately there were some casualties in the crash, but we don’t have many details on it.

I went to “The Office” first with 2 bottles of wine as an apology.  As I was talking with John and his guests Neil and Carol, it turned out that Neil was a Navy test pilot and our neighbors Any and Jennifer actually bought a house from them back in 1974.  It is amazing to actually see the six degrees of separation hit real close to home.  If you want to follow their blog it is http://2010Bahamas.blogspot.com.

As we were preparing to leave the marina we got a knock on our boat with our slip neighbor informing us that the power pedestal we were plugged into was on fire.  Our plug was burning as well.  We extinguished the fire (right after I put some clothes on) and I decided to reel the cord in and deal with it in Nassau.  I knew I had spare plugs on board, so we just ran the generator for now.

 

So that was our send off so we left Bimini with less things working that when we arrived.

Back in Bimini Again

Today was not so great.  I started out by sleeping in until 9:00AM.  It was great.  BJ burnt me ….ahemm made be breakfast to start the day.  The plan was to cleand the dinghy (dink) make sure it runs, and change the chock placement on the swim platform.  We almost lost it coming across.

So let’s see how did this day go…I cleaned the dink.  It looks really good now.  I was excited and ready to go.  I took the engine into Yamaha last winter, so it should be good to go.  I went to offload it from the swim platform, and guess what? It goes up, but not down.  After some troubleshooting, I found a broken wire for the down button.  I fixed it, and wa la it worked.  So I lowered the dink into the drink and tried to start it.

It started eventually and I thought I was home free.  Then it died. I tried and tried but could not get it started.  It had been a while since I ran it, so I removed the carburetor and gave it a good wash.  The tubes for the accelerator pump were clogged and there was a fair amount of debris in the bowl.  For once I had the right tools for the job (experience from the last cruise where the damn thing did not run). I have had it.

I found water in my gas tank so I replaced the gas with the good Bimini gas.  It must be good since it was $4.75/gal. Still no start. so I decided that it must be water in the system and I would just have to flush it out.  I wore through my skin on 3 different fingers on every hand and it is still not flushed out, so I thought I will replace the spark plugs as the last owner left them for me.  They were the wrong kind – one digit off on the part number.  Our slip neighbor Hank suggested I go to the general store which is about the size of our master stateroom (BJ’s comparison but not far off).  Ella actually not only had the spark plug in question, but seemed quite knowledgeable about the use of them. II bought four and changed out the two in the dink.  Still no luck, so there was nothing to do but give up for the night.

I figured a good boat cooked meal would change my attitude, however, when I broke out the new grill that I just bought, the adapter for the propane was not included.  Their advertisement, was no assembly required so I did not think to rummage through the trash to find this piece. I ended up cooking our steaks in a pan, and created a potatoes au gratin lobster Oscar sauce with fresh local lobster. Everything was done on the boat and I really need the grill to work for the rest of the trip.

We are invited to cocktail hour tomorrow in “The Office” which is the boat we were tied up in front of in Savannah.  They are in front of us now.  More to come.  Sorry about no pictures, I am working in it.

Happy New Year

Well after a loooong night that we spent over at Dave's house, we started our final packing of the boat.  The neighbors all came to help us transfer food, clothing, and other stores from the house to the boat.  It would be nicer if we could do all of this heavy lifting during high tide as our ramp goes almost straight down at low tide, and it gets quite slippery with the cold rain.  We picked up our Indian food sauces as well and got some recipes from our favorite Indian restaraunt; Nirlep. two more days as we should be off.  The weather promises to be cold and dreary so it is all the more reason to shove off soon.  I think the count is down to 45 days until our planned nuptuals. Just a quick note to keep you up on the progress.  More exciting times to come; soon.

The Preparations Begin

OK, here we are in September of 2009 and I am starting to get ready for another southern journey. While I did not start early enough, I did however, start at the end of August, so hopefully we can be ready. The problem is: I have a lot of plans for this cruise. So here is what is going on:

Maintenance:

• I had a mechanic do a routine checkup on my main motors and here is what we found so far:
  
• The turbines need rebuilding – In Progress
  
• The Impellers need to be replaced – Done
  
• The Valves need adjusting – Done
  
• The Starboard Motor needs a new exhaust Gasket – Done
  
• Starboard Motor after-cooler to be cleaned – Done
  
• Both Oil Pan Gaskets need replacing – Done
  
• Major Field Day in the Bilge – In Progress
  
• All Engine Hoses need replacing – Done
  
• Generator Starter needs replaced – In Progress
  
• Generator has heavy smoke under load – In Progress
  

  
  

Modifications/Improvements:

• Bilge Area
  
  • Install Mirrors on outboard sides of the engines – Material bought, In progress
    
  • Update Bilge lighting – Not started
    
  • Relocate Oil Changer (which requires relocation of Generator Sea Strainer – In progress
    
  • Design and install Water Maker – Research only. There will be more posts on this one.
    
  • Design and install Scuba Tank compressor
    
  • Fix water intrusion from the transom locker
    
  • Organize poles in transom locker
    
  • Hook up STBD tank to generator
    
  • Organize storage
    
• Salon and Interior
  
  • Replace Carpet – Not started
    
  • Replace wood flooring – not started
    
  • Mount TV/DVD in Master Stateroom
    
  • Install TV in Guest Stateroom
    
  • Design and install phone system
    
  • Possibly design/install cabinetry in "L" room
    
• Cockpit Area
  
  • Relocate Water bib
    
  • Permanently install Water filter/softener
    
  • Install Tackle box
    
  • Create permanent line storage
    
  • Create Scuba Tank Holders (4)
    
  • Install subwoofer and amp
    
  • Design and have cockpit canopy installed
    
  • Teak flooring (as money allows)
    
• Bridge/Helm
  
  • Redo fiberglass for helm
    
  • Design new CPU based navigation system
    
  • Install TV
    
  • Install SAT Data/VOX
    
  • Replace all speakers
    
  • Possible replacement of forward isinglass
    
  • Teak flooring (As money allows)
    

I am sure there are a lot more items but I thought I would start with a list now. As I complete each job, I will post articles and pictures to describe each trial and tribulation. I am starting the blog early to ensure that I have all the tools necessary to post. That way there should be no delay once we start. More to come later.

briman