Happy New Year from Sint Maarten! And…..we are back on the water! I would like to say it was an easy task getting back on the water but alas, it was not. The beginning of the week involved waiting on the drip to stop and then the rest of the week was waiting for fiberglass and paint to dry. Finally, on Friday, we were ready to splash. The yard guys picked Galt up in the slings without issue and set him down in the water. The best news was NO leaks! The bad news….the starter batteries would not turn over the engine. So, we hooked up a battery charger and everyone went to lunch. After lunch, still no luck with the batteries. We knew we were under a time crunch because the barge for the fireworks had to be put in the water at 4pm Friday or no fireworks for Sint Maarten on New Year’s. And there sat Galt, hogging the travel lift. They could not just drop us in the water because without an engine, we would have crashed into the rocks. After another hour of charging batteries with no luck, one of the guys brought over another battery and jumped our battery. I am sure you are picturing jumper cables which would be the normal thing to picture in your head. But as with all things island, jumper cables would be far too logical. While Bill watched with much curiosity, one of the guys picked up the extra battery, turned it upside down and touched it directly onto our battery which sparked our battery to life causing the engine to start. Things you just never knew were a thing! So, after 6 hours of trying, Galt was alive and back in the water. We chugged our way over to the end of the marina dock and tucked away snugly for the weekend.
We spent the weekend getting all the dirt and sand from the yard off Galt and working on replacing bad batteries. One bright side to having all the extra repairs was that we earned a $500.00 gift certificate from Island Water World which is one of the marine stores here on the island. We knew we would buy a new battery with some of the certificate then the employee told us we had to spend all $500.00 at the same time. It was like Christmas all over again! New paint supplies, some knives, new fishing lures and of course, a new battery. We ended 2022 with an amazing firework show in the bay with our perfect seats from our deck. Thanks to the island guys’ ingenuity, the fireworks barge was able to be launched on time and the New Year celebration was saved! If you are ever wondering where a good place to spend New Year’s Eve might be, we highly recommend Sint Maarten. The boardwalk was alive with music and dancing and families having a wonderful time on the beach. A super way to start a new year! If all goes well in the morning, we will be moving Galt over to Simpson Bay lagoon, St. Maarten. We will enjoy our week eating at our favorite restaurants and throwing away all resolutions at my favorite bakery! Time to get back in the groove of boat life! Have a wonderful first week of 2023 and throw away those resolutions guilt-free!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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