I have been stuck in this Fort Pierce Florida marina for over 3 months. There is always a reason I can’t leave and it is always because the mechanics here are either very slow, or don’t do the work right or, to be fair, in the first month, waiting on parts ordered. I’ve run into some really solid great folks here as well an down the road I’ll talk about Scott, who has done wonderful things to my boat. he’s a great human being and the sultan of pay it forward who has given me a lesson in pay it forward that I’ll carry for a long time. among these guys, there are also drug dealers, thieves, prostitutes living for free on derelict boats up on stands that will never see the water again. It is a mix, and I’m happy to have fallen into the “right crowd”.
I am frustrated that i’m about 140 nautical miles from my dock in Grand Bahama Island and only have 3 things to clear before i go.
1. A sea trial. The last time they said it was all set to go, June 7, I got 3 miles and the same three bolts broke and schmecked up my transmission. I got hauled back and they fixed it in a way. They then told me it was all fixed and I photographed everything and asked some questions. It turns out, for example that they had not tightened the same transmission bolts. If those bolts break in the Atlantic, I’m pretty well screwed again, The next time I recall a problem, the owner brought a mechanic over and fine tuned the whole thing. And forgot to put oil in the transmission. But now, we are at the point where a sea trial is the last thing. Except:
2. Another mechanic was on the boat doing a check on the vibrations i wanted checked. One of the things he said was “do you see where the prop shaft is going through the hull, how the bearing (shaft seal) is bending because it is cocked because the prop shaft is too long. ” Jason said that the vibration is too long and putting pressure on the v drive. He inspected the vdrive area and said that he was going to go right over to Tim and tell Tim what he found. He advised us not to do the sea trial that day. That is ad verbatim and I have little idea what it means, but I want to know before I sign off on it.
3. Weather window There has been great weather to go from here to Bahamas for the last 3-4 weeks. great weather means to me 10 knot winds or less, and 1-2 foot waves. Now that I believe I’m getting close to -leaving, i still need nice weather and today, 8/12/2024 they are tracking hurricane Ernesto which is supposed to go up the East side of the Bahamas and so it is safe for me, probably. But the gulf stream will still stir up and make it a difficult crossing.
So I wait.
I’ve been working on the boat somewhat, but I do admit that I’m cloistered in and haven’t been feeling very energized. I’m studying boat parts and when I get to Bahamas I plan to do some studying, writing and photography. I got the urge to play with chatGPT today and that’s the topic of the next post on this web site. Sorry I haven’t been posting, I”m doing my best to get sailing again..
