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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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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