Thanks Dan,,,,,I think,, :{
As bad as that looks, consider this; I'm 4400 miles from home. Antigua is the worst hell hole in the Caribbean when it comes to getting stuff for repair (OK, except Cuba and Hatti) and I'm alone. But I do have a month to fix the boat before my wife arrives for her vacation. Almost made it too. I had to completely re-machine the Yamaha using little more than a file. The carbs were frozen solid and no spare parts were available. It sat underwater for over a year. Got it working. Yamaha! There's a blue box seen poking out of the sludge in a photo I'll try to post. (Picture posts are still failing for me) It was the battery charger. Underwater for just as long as the Yamaha. Got one bank working. The computer stuff seen next to, and on the chart table all died. The list is nearly endless. Even the Balmar alternator froze a year later when I was motoring in the doldrums entering Trinidad. Picture this; no wind, 0400hrs., single handing, entering a new country, only way in is via a narrow passage between high cliffs, (translation; NEED ENGINE) and a current is pushing me to port at 3kts. All of a sudden the engine lets out a scream that would wake the dead. The cabin fills with black smoke (the fan belt was being driven over the now non-moving alternator pulley) and then the alarms go off. I didn't need an alarm. I died! There was no way to recover from this one. Especially because my emergency 'link belt' was now too short because it had been used up prior to this mess and no spare parts were available and I couldn't run the engine without the alternator on-line. Yep, my body is fish-food. I ended it all. At least that's what I wanted to do. But two hours later after even using ropes as a spare short-belt (forgetaboutit) and trying to free-up the spare Yanmar alternator that was rusted solid from the Antigua flood (forgetaboutit),,I took apart the Balmar and greased the stuck bearing. It took an hour of spraying various lubes into the bearing but the shaft started to move. I put it back together and started the engine. It was working. I kept the speed below 1800rpm's. Good thing. The cliffs were just in-front of me. Dropped the hook and checked in at 10:00. Took the alternator home on a jet for repair. Couldn't find parts in Trinidad either. Still have that alternator. It's in the engine pictures. Did I mention that this adventure and several others were all because of Antigua and "No damage Mon"?
Never even saw a sign of the reef. The islanders said I should have shipwrecked. I don't know. The charts I have now don't show much of a reef so it all worked out. Anyway, I contracted with Crabbs for a trench. It was extra cost. I paid for 6 months in advance. Hurricane Louise blew in. I was told later that the island was stripped of all green vegetation. Not a blade of grass was left. Whew. The yard was without a phone for two weeks. (not near as bad as NO after Katrina) When we reached them the secretary said "Oh, no damage Mon". She didn't bother to look and neither did anyone else. All they had to do was look and say 'your boat needs help and we're too busy'. I'd been on the next plane. It was full of water but the damage would have been slight if they just would have told me. Instead we partied into the night and skipped our annual trip to the boat (starting in 94) because we were building our home. We had no idea. Since then we have learned a vital rule of cruising; NEVER store your boat in the tropics. Even if we would have had an open transom to prevent several subsequent floods, the smell alone would cause some people to abandon their boats. By the way, Crabbs launched me without further payment. They have English Law and were worried about a negligence suit. Also one of their employees stole our entertainment system from the 'secure' yard. I have a memento of the stolen speakers. It's seen in the 'before' picture. And,,,, I tracked that 'employee' down. 'Interrogated' him.