It was such a perfect plan. I would fly to the States for visiting and graduation, crew would fly to Puerto Rico on a given day and then Bill and crew would have a nice sail over to Bonaire. Boats do not like plans. In fact, boats enjoy messing up plans. The crew arrived as scheduled and everyone was ready to go. Galt sailed along beautifully overnight at which time Larry the Lehman engine showed low oil pressure. Bill checked on Larry, added more oil and they continued on their way. At 18 hours into the trip, Bill started adding oil about every two hours. As the reserve oil supply began to run low, Bill began siphoning the discharged oil out of the bilge and putting it back into Larry. When Galt approached the halfway mark to Bonaire, Bill contacted the Dutch coast guard and was informed that if the boat stopped running, the Dutch coast guard would not send anyone out for rescue (even though they sent out a reconnaissance plane to circle the boat for an hour). So, for safety, Bill and the crew turned back toward Puerto Rico. You can imagine the frustration of being halfway there only to turn back. When they turned back, they ran into a large line of squalls which caused the need to redirect and reroute around the storms. Galt tossed much like The Minnow on Gilligan’s Island. The US coast guard monitored Galt the entire way back and checked in every two hours to make sure everyone was safe. I think it is easy to see why the US military forces ROCK! Galt and Larry delivered Bill and crew back safely to Puerto Rico at 3:00am, 65 hours after initial departure. The most frustrating part of the entire event was when the mechanic came to inspect Larry and discovered that the valve cover gasket was a little out of place which caused the leak. Something so simple but impossible to figure out when underway with oil everywhere. Bill looked like he had been through a war with scabs and burns on his arms and back but they were all safe so Galt and Larry came through for us again.
Meanwhile, I was back in the States having a wonderful time (yes, feeling very guilty about that fact!). I met with family for a few days in Atlanta, flew to Charlotte for the first time since 2019 and visited friends, flew to New Orleans for Kaarin’s graduation from Tulane and then out to Vegas to visit Everett. I even managed to work in Garth Brooks Plus One concert at Ceasar’s the last evening which was a fantastic way to end the trip! On Saturday, I flew back into Puerto Rico. Now, we must figure out a new Plan A to get Galt over to Colombia. We are juggling several ideas and waiting on responses from others so we can finalize plans. In the meantime, we will just enjoy the sunshine in Puerto Rico and await our next steps on our journey. Stay tuned for more details!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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