Hiring a captain that has his own agenda did not work well for us. So, we no longer have a hired captain. On his first day on the boat, he basically insulted most of the boat which we chose to ignore since most captains are accustomed to crewing million dollar yachts. The second day, he and Bill went through many of the systems and then they went battery shopping because the captain wanted new batteries for our DC battery bank prior to leaving. One of the batteries had died a few months ago and Bill had been diligently searching for a replacement battery with no luck. So, we all voted to change the battery brand and get all new batteries (4 total) which seemed like the easiest solution. Done and installed. Then, the captain asked if we had a spare alternator on board. Bill told him we did but the current alternator was fine and the spare was our emergency backup. On the third morning, Bill and I returned to the boat to find that the captain was in the middle of tearing out the old alternator and putting in the new one. As Bill breathed deeply, the captain said, “I just don’t know why you wouldn’t put the new one in.” Too late for us to say no so now we have a new alternator. Every time we pressed the captain for a departure date, he came up with another excuse. The captain also seemed to exist in the year 1990. For every price he quoted, “Oh, you can get that for $10.00 on the island,” we quickly learned to triple the price of the item and include shipping from the States because it would be nowhere near Puerto Rico. Then, the captain said, “We need a rebuild kit for the transmission before we leave. It’s around $250.00”. When Bill told him nothing was wrong with the transmission, the captain shrugged and said we needed to get one. So poor Bill went on the hunt for a rebuild kit for a 40 year old transmission. In the meanwhile, the captain announced the weather in Colombia was “not good” so he would go stay at his friend’s boat across the island until the weather cleared which was fine with us! After two solid days of trying, Bill managed to find all the parts for the rebuild (in the States, of course!) and ordered them to ship to Puerto Rico. We went to customs and immigration to get the departure paperwork completed so Galt could leave on Tuesday, weather permitting. On Friday, Bill called the captain to ask about departing on Tuesday since the weather was looking better. The captain announced he was flying back to Colombia to work on another boat for “awhile” and then he would move Galt. Needless to say, we were not happy! So, Bill and I began searching for alternate plans to move Galt and we think that sailing Galt to Aruba ourselves with a crew mate or two is going to be the best option. That plan will get us out of the hurricane zone and closer to our South American target. As we speak, a tropical wave has formed off Africa and is making its way toward the Caribbean so if it comes our way, we will need to postpone our departure a few days. If it continues on its current path, we are hopeful it will suck all the wind and waves out of our area which would make for a smoother departure. So, back to square one but hopeful! Next blog, we may be on the moon! I have given up trying to figure it all out! Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!
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Puerto Rico is teaching us much patience. We spent much of this week figuring out logistics such as car rentals and where we can stay when we are off the boat while it is being moved. The prices for hotels and rooms in Puerto Rico are very high, especially for the quality of the room. Summer season has just started in Puerto Rico so rental cars are also very expensive right now. I officially gave up on finding a place to stay when the one hotel that I considered a fair price turned out to be a no-tell motel. Luckily, I always read reviews and found out that the rooms were not only pay by the hour for most of the clientele but also had Kamasutra posters next to the doors! Needless to say, I was very thankful for those review writers. After accepting defeat, I headed over to the marina showers. As I entered, there was a woman who said something to me in Spanish. When I told her I did not understand, she went to English and told me the “showers are just a trickle” which made me laugh because the showers at the marina are a trickle on a good day. After I stepped into the shower, the woman said, “By the way, if you need an Airbnb while you are here, I own four of them.” Seriously! I left the trickle, stuck my head out of the shower and told her I definitely needed an Airbnb so she could send me the information. One of her Airbnbs was only 10 minutes from the marina and all 5 star reviews! Plus, the price fell into my “reasonable” bracket so we snatched it up. You just never know what kind of connections you are going to make in the women’s shower! Trans-men just think we do not want men in the women’s bathroom because they are men. Truth is, women just don’t want to share our bathroom because we don’t want to lose out on the best Airbnb deals! Bill also managed to negotiate a car rental rate that was acceptable (he had to use the phone because evidently men in the men’s room are not as useful as women in the ladies’ room).
On Saturday, Bill picked up our hired captain and brought him to Galt where he will stay until it is time to depart. The captain has us doing chores on Galt to get him in the best shape possible for transport but mostly, he is stressing me out. Captains tend to have a certain Type A personality which is good when you are at sea but not so good when they are ordering around two Aries that own the boat. So, we are all getting to know each other’s communication styles and he is finding out that we are both direct with our thoughts…so we’ll see if he makes it to launch day or not! At one point, the captain asked me, “What is your heritage?” and I responded, “Mostly German” to which he dryly responded, “I thought so”. That sums up our communications. Launch day is still up in the air as we wait on weather patterns but hopefully, all will be well by midweek! Wish us luck with our boat chores as well as our communications this week and I hope you all have a wonderful week! We have had a week of major discussions and planning for next steps. We had several options to consider given that attempt one over to Bonaire did not end as we had planned. Our main discussions focused on the following - One: continue with the original plan to take the boat to Bonaire, sail around the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) and then sail onto Columbia. Two: leave Galt in Puerto Rico, fly to Colombia and find somewhere to live for the next year. Three: hire a crew to take Galt straight to Colombia while Bill and I fly into Colombia to meet them. After much back-and-forth discussion, we opted for Option 3. Earlier this season, we had met a couple on a boat when we were in Palmas and they had a captain who lived in Colombia. We contacted the captain and came to terms for him and a crew to move the boat across to Colombia for us. The trip will take them around 6 days in good weather. Given that neither Bill nor I sleep well on long passages and navigating along the Colombian coast is one of the more challenging trips in all the sailing world, we voted that it would be best to hire someone with experience to safely get Galt to Colombia. The main reason the coastal waters of Colombia are so challenging is the unpredictable and strong winds that come off the mountains and the infamous Magdalena River. The Santa Marta mountain range is the highest coastal mountain range in the world so the winds often roar down the mountain at 50+mph. As for the river, after heavy rains, captains have reported dodging cars and cows that were washed down river into the ocean! I’m all for seeing dolphins or whales in the ocean but a floating cow would definitely freak me out! Our captain said the most challenging part of the trip for him is finding crew that can function without alcohol for 6 days. He already told us that once they land in Colombia, we’ll need to get the crew a hotel room because we won’t want them on the boat after they have “been to town”. Once we fly into Colombia, we will meet Galt at the marina and set up our home base for South America. We will be visiting as much of South America as possible by land over the next year. We have made an incredible list and can’t wait to get started!
Meanwhile, we wait. The captain is currently in Mexico and will hopefully fly in this coming week. Then, he will spend several days with us while we train him on Galt and all of Galt’s egocentricities. Luckily, Galt’s systems are simple and the captain works on cars and boats when he is not relocating boats so Larry the Lehman should be in good hands. We’ve just been passing time this week with small boat chores and catching up with each other after our time apart. The highlight of the week (possibly the month!) was finally locating the new Oreo Cakesters! I have been on the hunt for awhile and finally found them. If you have not had a Cakester, your life is not complete! Bill might argue that the birth of his new grandson (who was sweetly named after Bill) was the highlight of the week. Hmmm. Tough choice! So, while you wait for a more exciting blog next week, go get some Cakesters to make your day complete! 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! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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