Hello blog readers,
If you are reading this you are probably bored to tears or love me. Only you know the answer to that remark. Regardless, I’m glad you are reading. Read on, it might just be fun!
Breathtaking views at the Cobo Rojo Lighthouse:
Don and I visited the Faro Los Morrillos, known to the locals as El Faro. The Lighthouse is located in the South West tip of Puerto Rico. It is about a 25 minute drive from where we are in Puerto Real. Breathtaking is the only way to describe the beauty. A 200 foot red limestone cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea is a picture perfect scene. The National Park is about 587 acres. The Lighthouse was built in 1881 by the Spanish government. It is much more than just the Lighthouse. Blue Flag Beach and Cove of Playa Sucia was loaded with people. Playa in Spanish means Beach. I learned that first, does that surprise you?
It has been raining each day. It doesn’t rain all day, but it stops the work and progress on the boat and the guys go home. Especially today, it is Friday, who wouldn’t go home early on Friday. Don is back down here trying to put the windlass back on, but is having some problems. Somehow the screws won’t go back in and he said there wasn’t enough room. So back to hardware store we go to get a different size. They have finished painting the boat. They put the rough, grainy, non-slippery paint on the top this past Wednesday. Since then, not much progress made. They need 1 ½ days to polish and buff it out, put windows in and hatches back on tightly. Then they are going to help Don and I put the rub rail on with 5200. So, we are probably looking at another 3 days without rain, but that doesn’t look good around here until next Wednesday. We are OK with that, because they don’t have our dinghy ready anyway. We took it back for the second time and it’s not fixed as of today. The mast is pretty much ready. Don has drilled the holes and put the mounts on for the radar and tabernacle. I washed and polished the mast last week and it looks real nice and pretty. Don has mounted new lights on the top and middle of the mast. He has also mounted our antenna for VHF and Wi-Fi at the top of the mast. He had to make a few adjustments to the spreaders, but they are level and back on the mast. He cut the cables and put the safety turnbuckle on all 6 cables. Still has the back stay to do, but won’t take very long to do this. We have gotten a couple of bids on setting the mast, but we are still uncertain as to where this will be done. We will use either Ponce or Salinas for the mast. All other metal work and canvas work will be done in Salinas. We have to go to San Juan on Monday to pick up a pipe that Don had bent for our Bimini. We also have to pick up 6 extra yards of Black Sunbrella, more lines and our lifeline cable. Enough about the boat, but I will keep you informed.
I was reading the other day in a magazine about a guy named Charlie. I thought this to be so true and I know that our boat buddies will love this. It is called “Sailing with Charlie”. High tech systems and user friendly equipment on yachts have improved dramatically over the years. Furling systems for sails, from slab to in-mast and in-boom are an example. Electric winches and windlasses are another as well as a plethora of electronic navigation aids. But what happens when they don’t work?
Charlie once saw an in-mast furling sail on a boat that was tied to the dock with just the ragged edge of the sail protruding from the mast. Someone had cut away the whole sail, from head to tack, presumably in an emergency after it jammed.
Throttle cables are also prone to failure and potential catastrophic accidents. One day Charlie was on a large catamaran and was approaching a mooring ball in the crowed anchorage. The boat was equipped with single lever (throttle and shift) engine controls for each engine. He put the starboard (right) engine in reverse to line up the boat perfectly and stop. The boat immediately shot forward. People on nearby boats started shouting, screaming and waving their arms. Charlie put the port (left) engine in reverse to avoid a nasty collision and the boat immediately swung in a tight circle…backwards. They mayhem on board was intense. Charlie tried reverse again on starboard – same thing, the boat shot forward. Whilst the boat was merrily pirouetting in circles, by a miracle one of the other boats managed to snag the mooring line and hook it over a cleat. Immediately Charlie put both engines in neutral and breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t take long to discover that the transmission cable had snapped while the engine was in forward – the throttle was still working fine.
Several hours later, after a call to the base, the charter company’s mechanic pulled up alongside in the ‘chase boat’. It didn’t take long to change the broken transmission cable but Charlie suggested that the throttle cable be changed too; after all, they were probably the same age. The mechanic, though, had a different solution, “Noo mon, we doesn’t do it like dat. You see, it’s like dis. Say, in about five years you die---but de wife could last anudder ten years. Y’unnerstand’?” With a smile and high five he was gone. It obviously came under the heading of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.
Sometime later Charlie was checking over another large catamaran just prior to leaving the dock on a week-long trip. In the engine room he noticed the oil fill cap had not been replaced after the mechanic’s fluid level check. The potential for massive oil spray in the engine compartment was irrefutable. He mentioned it to the head mechanic-but he was un-phased. “you see, it’s like dis. You go to de doctor and have a complete checkup: heart, blood, urine sample and so on…clean bill of health. Then de nex’ week you drop dead of a stroke. Y’unnerstan’?” Charlie walked away shaking his head trying to figure out the logic. It obviously came under the heading of ‘shit happens’.
Charlie’s tip: Keep throttle and transmission cables well-greased at all times. If the engine control levers at the helmsman’s station become stiff there’s probably corrosion. Change the cables immediately. Finally, always keep your sense of humor!
Somehow these stories relate to me, can you figure that out? I bet you can….the bad news is Don Furness is along; the good news is Don Furness is along. We send our love to all.
Hasta la vista baby,
Don and Janis s/v Plane to Sea
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