So, yesterday was one of our more interesting ones on the
water. Several days earlier we had
picked up friends in Charlotte Amalie and yesterday, we left the US waters and
re-entered the British Virgin Islands.
We’ve known Peter and Donna Sword for 45 years (seminary classmates) and
sailed with them several times. After
successfully wading through the immigration and customs maze and then
re-provisioning (going to the grocery store) at the West End of Tortola, we
motor-sailed east and ended up in Great Harbor, Peter Island.
It had been a long day, about to become even longer.
Tired, I had suggested we might just pick up a mooring ball
for the night and pay the $30 fee.
Marney suggested we check out a favorite place to anchor. This is Marney, Miss Frugality, and also
I-Love-To-Swing-On-The-Anchor Marney.
So, we dropped the hook. Our
favorite spot had been taken and we moved further in toward the beach and
shoreline. Satisfied the anchor would
hold, and noticing that we were a little close to the shore, we went about
cleaning up, rinsing the boat, and for me, checking the bilges.
So, down I go into our two bilges – one for each hull. Now on most monohull boats, the bilge is
usually filled with a bit of water. It’s
where everything goes eventually: oily
water, the lost bolt or nut, occasionally a small tool. It disappears down there and while there is a
bilge pump to push the water out, the pump is below the water line and the
water in the hose between pump and thru hull above the water line will
return. Thus keeping a bilge damp,
dirty, ugly and sometimes smelly.
In a catamaran, the bilges are different. First, they are shallow. Second, they are supposed to stay dry. You have the pump for an emergency, but normal
operations allow you to lift a floor board and look to see if there’s any
moisture. If there is, you need to do
something. Yesterday, the starboard
bilge was in great shape. The port side,
had a snippet of water under the section beneath the head. Moving the floor board away and bending over
and upside down, flashlight in hand, I found the problem: the hose underneath the shower drain, was
leaking just a bit. It needed a new
hose clamp. Two weeks earlier I had
fixed the starboard side and wasn’t surprised that this might be the problem.
So, grabbing tools and a new clamp, and removing one more
section of floor, down I went. Two hours
and four attempts later, Peter and I had a new clamp in place, with some
water-tight sealant (3M’s 5200) wrapped around the end of the hose. (We’ll test our success a little later
today). What made this challenging was
that the human body has not been constructed to contort itself in ways that
work for bilge visits. I felt like an
elephant, all four legs in a single line, and every time I’d lean over to see
and reach and try to tighten the
clamp, my center of
gravity would shift and my leaning just kept going…and going. Ultimately I had one hand to work with and
the other hand to keep me from falling face first into the bilge! And, later, the ladies in the crew commented
that we had been rather well-behaved through it all. Known to utter more than my share of expletives
through the years, apparently I had not let out one exepletive-deleted squeak.
By 6:00 pm, I was too tired to swim, and simply rinsed off on
the back of the boat. And, I was too
tired to notice any shifting in the anchor chain. (NOTE:
When the anchor is down and the chain stretches out, laying on the
ground, it tends to stay in place, as long as the winds or waves don’t
shift. When there are shifts, then the
chains can curly-cue a bit and the boat is no longer in a straight line with
its chain. Happens all the time.) We had a nice dinner cooked on the outdoor
grill, talked, even played a game of Farkle.
Having announced that the first rule of Farkle is that “I win”, I lost
miserably. Things were quiet. And we were starting to call it a night when
the crew heard a scratching sound. A
quick look with flashlight told us that we had drifted too close to the shore
and had gently bumped the bottom on some coral!
I don’t recall another incident of late where the adrenaline
kicked in so quickly. In seconds, we
had the engines started and had moved to safety for the moment. Marney and Peter had headed to the bow and
we discussed shortening the anchor or going someplace else in the harbor. Realizing that a shortened anchor did not
guarantee no more bumps, we raised the anchor – in the dark – and headed
out. Now boats, as a courtesy, are
supposed to turn on the anchor light (at the top of the mast) so others know
where NOT to go if they have to move in the dark. Most boaters do, but not all. But there was just enough moonlight to help
last evening. Very slowly – we worked
our way from one side of the harbor to the other. We know this anchorage well enough to know
that at this time of night (9:00 pm) our best chance would be to grab a mooring
ball. So, away we went...looking for a
mooring ball in the dark, avoiding the other anchored or moored boats.
I was just about to give up, and started considering backup
options (not sure there was a good one) when one of our new “neighbors”, seeing
our lights moving around, took his flashlight and pointed it at a mooring ball
just in front of his boat. We saw it,
found it, grabbed it, yelled “thank you” as we went by, and took a deep breath. After exhaling we turned off the lights and
called it quite a night.
Will the adventures and excitement ever cease! Not as long as there’s great crew and nice
neighbors who point their flashlights on vacant mooring balls. I’ll dive the boat to check what I expect are
some scratches, nothing more.
Today’s a new day. We’re
afloat, tethered to a nice mooring ball for the moment. Plan to do some sailing, a little cleaning,
check a hose clamp and a keel, see what’s next!
Fair Winds
and
Calm Seas
Dave
PS the hose clamp is holding!
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