My days have been so full lately that I’ve gotten behind in my logs, and recent events have been somewhat unusual from my typical routine. This log will be a potpourri of moments I found more notable from the last few days.
Local guy rows or sails his small skiff "No complain" around the harbor most evenings to sell handmade items.
Today I met with new friends Ellen, Anne, and Mariann from the Sunshine School board to sort and price items for the upcoming Jumble Sale fundraiser. A jumble sale is sort of like a garage sale and we have clothes, wraps, household items like coffee makers and knickknacks, and a book sale. It was hot and dusty work pulling items from the school’s basement and sorting through them in the schoolyard, and after about three hours when the sun moved right overhead it was just getting too warm so we stopped for the day. We have one more weekend before the sale on March 2, and the donations are still coming in so we are hopeful for a good sale.
Hose under the sink which developed a leak this week (notice the hole on the right side at bottom of loop). The hoses come into this cabinet from the water source and lead up to the faucet which is just above the top of this photo.
Earlier this week I arrived on the boat in early afternoon following my usual shift at the school. When I unlocked the boat and removed the companionway door, I heard the water pump running. This is not a good sign since the water shouldn’t be running if no one is aboard. We have an electrical panel in our navigation area that contains all the master switches for the boat (sort of like a breaker box for a house). Typically before I leave the boat during the daytime I turn off all switches except for the bilge (the bilge removes excess water from the boat, so we leave that on just in case). The water pressure switch is also on this panel and controls whether water can run in the head and galley and front cabin sink. Today was a great example of why it’s a good idea to keep the water pressure off when no one’s aboard, because when I climbed down the steps after hearing the pump running, I saw a stream of water seeping out from the cabinet under the sink in the galley. I walked over to the sink to see exactly what was going on and as soon as I opened the cabinets and bent down a stream of water squirted out like a fountain and hit me right in the
face. I quickly walked aft toward the navigation area and turned off the water pressure switch and tried to figure out what to do next.Solar shower which is a makeshift kitchen sink until a permanent repair is possible. The shower is tied to the mast above deck where it can be heated by the sun, and then I slip it through the hatch when I need it. Not a bad temporary work around for only $15.
It was wet in the cabinet area but since the water runs down from there directly into the bilge I have no idea how long it had been running or how much fresh water I had lost. Our boat has two freshwater tanks and holds about 100 gallons. I looked under the sink again but soon realized I’d need to turn the water pressure on again to see exactly where the water was coming from, so I did that and when the water started shooting out again I stuck my hand in there and kept feeling around until I found the source of the leak, then turned off the water pressure again for a closer look. One of the hoses that runs through the boat and connects to the faucet under the sink had developed a hole through both the inner rubber hose and outer wire casing. This meant that until that hole was repaired or otherwise addressed I’d have no freshwater on the boat because anytime the water pressure was on it would force water out through the hole and around the galley. After a dinghy trip back into town to visit a couple of chandleries (they sell boat supplies) and the local hardware store, and after getting advice from other sailors I ran into and talking with Tim, I decided to try and repair the sink on my own. My original idea was to use a hack saw to remove the damaged hose and either replace with a new one if I could access the faucet area, or use wood plugs and clamps to clamp it off. This plan didn’t work however because I couldn’t seem to saw hard
enough to cut through the wire casing of the hose, so it was time for plan B: I used a small pair of vice grips to simply clamp off the hose just above the hole coming from the water source. This left me without water in the galley but did allow me to use it in the head (bathroom). And then I picked up an inexpensive solar hot water showers like many people use when camping – they have a heavy plastic “bladder” which you fill with water and then hang in the sun to heat it. I hung that up on the deck just above the galley and slipped the hose down through the small hatch and voila, water for the galley sink. Of course this required going up top and carrying it below to refill it once or twice a day, and then carrying it back up top when filled, but it accomplished what I needed and was a very inexpensive solution until I returned to base for a more permanent repair to the water system.The boats nearby continue to arrive and depart every few days, and yesterday I returned to SJ after dark to find a boat anchored just ahead of me slightly off to port about 11:00, and they were a bit closer than I would have liked but as long as their anchor holds well not in danger of swinging in to me. The interesting thing was when I was checking my anchor and swept the light up to their boat to see how much room we had between us at the closest swing, I noticed the name of the boat was Sacajawea IV with hailing port of Jackson,
Wyoming. Tim and I came across another boat named Sacajawea in Montserrat a few years ago when we made a 4-week circuit up from Grenada back to BVI, so apparently the name is not as uncommon as we thought.One of the "neighbors" to starboard between Sacajawea and the beach. Tom and Pat on the Lone Star hailing from Breckenridge, Colorado are cruising the southern Caribbean for the next few months. Tom mentioned they go from here to Tobago Cays, then Grenada, then back for the Easter Regatta in Bequia, and the perhaps to Antigua from there. Sounds like a great itinerary to me!
I occasionally am able to get wireless Internet access right from the boat lately – I’m not sure if it’s coming from shore or one of these mega-yachts that are anchored here some nights, and as the boat swings the signal comes and goes, but it’s nice to have even sporadic access right on board. I just received an email from Tim who’s back in Maine getting ready to leave for business trip out to San Diego. It’s cold in Maine and he mentioned he’d just taken our three dogs for one 
of their daily romps on our local beach. I could just picture the four of them out there – Samantha doing her Mrs. Dash routine as she sprints back and forth, with her occasional pounce on Kennedy to try and entice him to come back at her. Samantha and Sandy used to enjoy wrestling like that, but when we first adopted Kennedy he wasn’t sure what to think when she pounced on him like that. For a while we’d wait to see if he wanted to play, and if it became evident he was trying to avoid her then we’d remind her to knock it off if he didn’t want to play. But over time it seems Kenman has started to enjoy the sparring a bit, and he comes right back at her. It’s been really fun to watch the three of them 
form a bond and become a truly cohesive pack, along with Tim and I as pack leaders. Samantha has earned lead dog rights and does a great job of setting a good example for Kennedy and Jasmine (and given her early days with us when she was completely undisciplined she has truly come a long way). It helps a lot with Kennedy’s deafness, because if he wanders too far away on the beach, I can send Samantha to “go get Kennedy” and she’ll run up to him and get his attention, and then head back in my direction until he can see the exaggerated arm motions we use for him to say come back. It’s really cool to have a little helper in Samantha. Jazzie 
seems quite content to stay out of Sam and Kenman’s way and just does her own thing, but they both seem to respect her space and she is completely undaunted by their presence – lead dog or not. Jazzie is apparently part Husky and part beagle – she has these big eyes that Tim refers to as “Betty Davis eyes”, and these cute little white ears that stick out and reminds us of that habit that Sally Field wore in the old TV show about the Flying Nun. The combination is pretty adorable, and when we’re on the beach Jazzie loves to greet everyone – people and dogs alike, and when she speaks she bounces up and down on her front feet as if she can’t contain herself. It made me smile to read Tim’s email but it sure makes me miss all of them.Dog photos in order are Samantha (top), Kennedy and Jasmine.
Today I was up top and watched a guy on a neighboring boat use a bosun’s chair to climb up the mast of his monohull to make some type of repair. It was about a 50-footer so I’m guessing the 
top of the mast was about 60-70 feet up in the air, and given the 20-knot winds and occasional rolling swell we had today, his arch of rock back and forth up there was probably several feet which made him seem either really brave or perhaps a bit foolhardy. He seemed to be very competent though, and I watched as he slid smoothly up like a spider climbing along a pipe, took care of business in about 20 minutes, and then slid back down just as smoothly. Piece of cake eh? Maybe for him! Cheers! cy
top of the mast was about 60-70 feet up in the air, and given the 20-knot winds and occasional rolling swell we had today, his arch of rock back and forth up there was probably several feet which made him seem either really brave or perhaps a bit foolhardy. He seemed to be very competent though, and I watched as he slid smoothly up like a spider climbing along a pipe, took care of business in about 20 minutes, and then slid back down just as smoothly. Piece of cake eh? Maybe for him! Cheers! cySee the guy in the bosun chair at the top of the mast? That's about 60-70 feet in the air.
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