Not the Best Day
19 June 2015 | Eastern Coco Banderas
Mark
We had a lazy breakfast and I did some minor maintenance while we waited for Serapio. By 10:00, it was clear he wasn't coming, so we weighed anchor and headed for our next destination - the Coco Bandera Cays - less than 2 nm away. On the morning net, Uller had said he was the only one in the Eastern Coco's so "Come on over." So we did. As I was coming up to speed after raising the anchor, I noticed some vibration from the Starboard engine. Wonder what that is? I have never had a problem with my Kiwi Feathering props, but I have heard stories of them sometimes sticking in the 'wrong' position (e.g. the blade is in reverse position while powering forward). That would certainly cause vibration - especially if only one blade was affected. We usually run under only one engine anyway, so I just shut it down and used the Port. I locked the Stbd. engine in reverse so the shaft would not rotate and hopefully the flow would realign the blades. When I fired it up for maneuvering and anchoring, there was still some vibration, but maybe it was better. After swimming the anchor, I checked the props to be sure all blades were moving freely. They were - except for the one that was MISSING. Yes, the stbd. prop had lost one of its blades. The blades are high-tech plastic and are held on a shaft coming out of the hub by a press pin. The last time they had been off was when we painted the hull - a year and a half ago. Why/How would a pin come loose 1 1/2 years after it had been put on? It must have come off while raising the anchor because I swear they were all there when we were diving. I'm sure I would have noticed. I have 3 spare blades, so tomorrow (today) I'll get out the manual and then install it. It should not be too hard using the hookah. Speaking of hookah, we asked Uller about places to snorkel/dive. He had only been there a day and was going to ask us the same! He did say the reef directly behind us was pretty good - but deep for snorkeling. perfect! Then another boat (who had been listening in on the VHF - a common practice) suggested the wreck on the outer reef was a spectacular dive "if it isn't too rough." It was. The problem with this winter weather in June is that we have the wind and waves of winter weather as well as the dryness. Oh well, the reef behind us looked good. It went about half way around the island and then it looked like a big break where we could come inside and back to the boat. The swim to the starting point was longer than I had anticipated and it was into the current, but that meant coming back would be easy. The reef was not terribly deep - 30' max, but very pretty and well illuminated by the sun. A lot more fish here. Right at the beginning, we saw a huge grouper that quickly darted away. That's how he got to be that big. We also saw a scrawled filefish (I looked it up) over a foot long. There was a lot of surge coming in through the cut, but once we got inside - it was WORSE. And there was really no way to swim along the inside of the reef as it was all too shallow. We killed the hookah, took off our weights and regulators, and waded ashore on the beach. Then Bryan and I carried the hookah across the point to the other side where we launched it and swam it back to the boat. That sounds much easier and more organized than it was. The surf was tossing everyone around. As we were picking up the hookah, a wave smashed the dive flag/ air intake tube into Bryan and broke it. I immediately pulled out the stub and plugged the hole, so no sea water got in the compressor, but we have to repair the flag pole as that is the air intake. And swimming back tot he boat was against the current as well. How does that work? We were all exhausted and it was way after lunch. The good part of the dive is that we got five very nice sized conch (and threw back several that were too small). Bryan got them out of the shells like a pro and even gutted them so all Deb had to do was peel them. (not as easy as it might sound). We already had crab legs for dinner, so the conch just went in the freezer. Lunch was a smorgasbord - Bryan & Jana had hot dogs, Deb had a BLT with no L and I had a lobster roll. Sure sounds like I won that round, but everyone got what they wanted. After lunch, Bryan & Jana took the kayaks and went looking for a dive site that looked good and was not too rough. They didn't find one. The reef behind us going the other way is probably the best bet, but we all agreed to wait for morning to do it. Crab legs and coleslaw made a great dinner and the wind piped up so it was very pleasant sleeping. Not such a bad day after all.