Welcome new readers, especially friends of Captain Don and Night Rider Charters! I want you all to pay specific attention to the title line, especially those brand-new-minted engaged folks. Plans are always subject to change; how you deal with it determines the ultimate outcome. Who knew an asterisk had so much power?
We had a bad case of gremlins today. Not quite a terminal case but a discouraging case for sure. They're squirrelly little buggers, those gremlins, and the boys chased them in the engine room for hours. I kept myself busy in the galley, head low and out of the way. Every time the engines turned over, I hoped to hear one of Bruce's famous "YEEE-HAAAAW!"s but at 1:45pm, I got the subtle, almost whispered, "we got it." The hose that supplies the engine with cool sea water wasn't fastened tightly enough so things weren't working properly. Imagine trying to drink through a straw with a pinhole in it and how efficient it isn't. Ultimately, that's a bad recipe for cooling the engine. Couple that with a fuel valve left closed by maybe us or maybe the service technician which drained the pump of fuel (bad, bad, bad!) and a bad transfer pump and you have a very frustrating day.
So near 3:30 today, we decided to take a little test run, just to see if we drowned the little suckers. Our plan for today was to leave near 10, 11 at the latest. I told Brian that when I wake up in the morning, I want to hear engines purring feel the boat rocking with forward momentum. My demands mean less than nothing but he agreed nonetheless. :)
Today was a lesson in perspective and our reactions to our situation. Had all this stuff not happened here, it would have happened "out there" which would have been very ungood. So remember to pay attention to your gremlins and thank them because they're trying to tell you something. Then work hard to put them to bed. *Applies here and on land (ahem, newly engaged couples!).
Bruce as we edge away from the dock - FINALLY!
Views of the condos as we head out to open sea
From the flydeck
The flybridge, Captain Don at the helm and Brain
We're making a wake!
The aft lazarette (this is where the rear bilge pump is)
This is a kite over the buildings
This is an attachment to the kite. It looks like a groom.
And this is a cow shaped attachment on a different kite.
Port engine room
Starboard engine room
One of the staterooms looking right
Same stateroom looking left
Earlier in the day Brian went swimming to unblock the intake. The thought at that point was that we'd sucked up some plastic and maybe that was the reason why we couldn't draw water to cool the engine. That thought proved to be wrong, as we later found out, but he was able to clear some barnacles from the air conditioning outlet which is supposed to have ~3/4" diameter. He guess is was blocked to the diameter of a pencil.
BTW, the gremlins got into my blog and I couldn't load all the picture in sequence. This one is the beginning of the day's pictures and then loops down and back up to the top.
Big Brother Brain and Captain Don working on the port side engine
Yeah, another neighbor of the Diva. This is the showoff neighbor that you love to hate with the enormous home, the immaculate landscaping and perfect children. The gentleman is rinsing off the jetboat that is in the hold of this boat. Like a garage for the nimble little sports car. On the boat. Sheesh.
This boat is made by Predator and her name is Karlou. Bruce couldn't stop drooling. The people on the boat looked like young beautiful Europeans. This really made us look like we owned the mobile home inside a gated community.
One of the three heads on board. I really wish I'd taken a before shot of it before I cleaned it. The gremlins invaded this room around 12:15 AM Tuesday morning. We caught the little bugger before the toilet actually overflowed but not before he TOTALLY STUNK up the place. This was particularly bad for Bruce who was asleep at the time, in the cabin over the holding tank. He woke up, um, unhappy.
You are here. (See the little green boat in the center?) (Now we're at about 3:00ish Monday again)
Bruce working the lines in the aft as we prepare to depart!
No, Bruce is not in the fetal position. He's working the line from the cleat beneath.
Brian's forward working the stern lines. We're really pulling away!! It's about 3:30
Brian and Don on the flybridge. We're *just* pulling out of the driveway. :)
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