Sapphire Sailing Adventures

Vessel Name: Sapphire
Vessel Make/Model: Bristol 41
Hailing Port: Rochester, NY
Crew: Moby & Caroline Burton
17 April 2019 | Laying out 200' of chain on deck
16 April 2019 | Prickly Bay, Grenada
16 April 2019 | Prickly Bay, Grenada
13 April 2019 | Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
12 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, teaching William about reading music
11 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, Bequia
10 April 2019 | Pink Sunset off Bequia
10 April 2019 | Papa's Restaurant overlooking Admiralty Bay, Bequia
09 April 2019 | Winfield applying coat #6 of Epiphane Varnish to Sapphire's coaming
08 April 2019 | Tennis Court behind the Gingerbread House, Bequia
04 April 2019 | Floating Beach Bar
04 April 2019 | Bequia
03 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, Bequia
03 April 2019 | Center Hatch on Sapphire
02 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, Bequia, The Grenadines
02 April 2019 | Sailing past St Lucia across from the Pitons
28 March 2019 | Anse de Salines, Martinique
28 March 2019
28 March 2019 | Sapphire's Cockpit
24 March 2019
Recent Blog Posts
17 April 2019 | Laying out 200' of chain on deck

Haul Out Day

"I always feel like The Ghost from Christmas Past when we do this exercise of hauling the heavy chain out on our side deck to rinse it and let it dry." On our primary alone, we have 200' of chain and 120' of rope. Then our secondary anchor has 200' of rope and 30' of chain.

16 April 2019 | Prickly Bay, Grenada

Getting Ready to be Hauled Out

We enjoyed a lovely leisurely couple of days sailing down to Grenada from Bequia, arriving on Palm Sunday.

16 April 2019 | Prickly Bay, Grenada

Grenada's Cruiser's Net

The cruiser’s net in Grenada is always very lively. On Safety and Security this morning we heard that a sailboat coming up from Trinidad had a boatful of eight ‘Venezuelan looking’ men trying to overtake them. The sailboat was able to get away,. but the hull is riddled with bullet holes. They [...]

13 April 2019 | Tyrell Bay, Carriacou

New Way to Clear into Customs

How do you clear in to Customs, when you arrive at a port and don’t feel like blowing up your dinghy?

12 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, teaching William about reading music

Teaching William some Notes

I realized that if I set up my piano early in the morning, then I can play before there is too much sun in the cockpit.

11 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, Bequia

Paddling around Bequia

As my buddy Joan Dwyer would say, “the goal in paddle boarding is to avoid looking like a little old lady pushing a Wegman’s cart.” Actually, I’ll be doing that soon enough as we are heading home in a week.

Trouble in Paradise

27 March 2017 | Old and New Fabricated Pulley for Engine Water Pump
Caroline
The one thing you can absolutely count on, when living on a boat, is that things break and/or don’t run right all the time. And when one thing breaks, it typically sets forth “a series of multiple, simultaneous failures,” as Moby would say. Sort of like living at home, only tenfold.
At 6:30 AM, the morning after Moby had jerry-rigged a temporary solution for the lack of water pump issue… he went to turn on the engine, and Nothing. It wouldn’t even turn over.
“ Hmm.. I wonder if it’s the starter battery that is shot. Caroline, try the emergency starter.”
“It’s not even sounding the usual alarm. That’s not right.”
We felt pretty hopeful after the morning dinghy ride over to Le Marin, where, in my best French, I asked for une batterie démarreur pour notre moteur. Taille 31, s’il vous plait.
Hauled it back to Sapphire, raising it onto the boat with our engine hoist. Moby had measured it carefully and it fit perfectly. Great expectations… And……nothing!
Moby has a knack for methodically dissecting problems ‘til he comes up with an answer. “Maybe it needs a new starter switch! I happen to have a spare,” he said. So he climbs into the sail locker to access the starter switch…and sometime later..
“Yes!! That worked!” Brilliant.
But then this morning, once again, the engine just didn’t want to turn over or start. Hmmph.
By the end of the day, though, after we’d headed back to Le Marin, not once, but twice to pick up the pulley we had left with the mechanic…It was well past sundown when the new water pump with its specially manufactured pulley was all back in place and hooked up.
“Will the engine start now? No. But, if I hold in the switch for the glow plugs for 10 seconds…..
Yes! Music to my ears! We’re back in business.
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