Boats R Us

Well, it is November and we have had a couple weeks of learning to live without a boat for transportation.....or, stay at home and enjoy what you have!

About the beginning of August we encountered problems with our smaller boat (the Skiff) and had to take it in for engine repairs. There is a mechanic who works near the airport, Almicar, and everyone goes to him. Due to the fact that there are virtually no parts stores on the island, we had to order parts from the States to be shipped down. We waited 6 1/2 weeks for the parts.

While waiting we used the big boat but then it, too, started giving us problems in September so we ordered a new engine for it. The big boat then sat at our dock awaiting the new engine. Fortunately, by this time the skiff had been repaired and we had transportation.

The 19th of September we took the big boat to Andy's to get some fiberglass work and repainting done to the it. The new engine was delivered awaiting installation when the work was completed.

Unfortunately the end of September and October were months with daily amounts of rain and, thus, the fiber glassing and painting had to be put off. We felt lucky that we had the skiff running and were at least able to get around, that was, until the 4th of November.

We went out to Renate's house on Hendricks Cay that day to help spread a tarp over her roof. She had experienced bad leaks over her bedroom and needed some relief. This, we felt, would be a temporary solution to a long standing problem. The tarp was laid out and secured to the roof and we had a nice visit. We left to go home but when my husband started up the engine something must have broken when we shut it off upon arrival and so, when starting it, it was stuck in full throttle and we had to make several adjustments just to get it to run properly.....so we thought.

We dropped off Kate who had gone with us at her house and when we went to start the engine again, it would not start. After some concentrated work on it by my husband and Bill, Kate's husband, they found that the throttle was stuck in forward and it was impossible to start the boat. We called Renate and she sent her worker to haul our boat home with her larger boat. We dropped it off at the airport to have it fixed and went home to order another part. So, now we were stuck with boat boats in the shop and no transportation.

Andy, the worker assigned for the big boat, finally managed to get the fiberglass work done, repaint the boat and install the new engine. It was delivered Monday the 14th of November. Almost 6 1/2 weeks waiting.

We originally wanted a deep purple color as we were planning on calling the boat "Amazing Grape" but since the store on the Cay did not have the proper base color the mixing was haphazard and what we got was this:

As you can see, it is not exactly purple and, as a matter of fact, this picture does not show the true color which is shocking pink! Because the paint was not dried totally and it rained soon after applied, the paint job will have to be redone as it is pitted and rough looking.

In the meantime, we now have both boats running (still waiting for a part for the Skiff but the mechanic managed to rig it up so we could drive it in the meantime) and back on our dock.

We are hoping that the new color on the big boat will distract from noticing that there is a new engine! Heck, someone said, no one will steal that boat because of the color!

Well, at least it is a Caribbean color!