This is a picture of the rugged Dominican Republic coast line. But I digress. But let me tell a tale. Historically I have been on a fairly even keel not suseptable to mood swings. I have noticed that since cruising the emotional spectrum is wider ranging and much more intense. The good times are intense and wonderful, but on the other end the bad times can be bad.

Case in point. My fanaticism for Roberto the Frenchmen has been knocked down a few pegs. I trusted my instincts and just didn't feel right about something in terms of the transmission. When powered up some oil slattered in the engine room where the shaft connects to the transmission (the cuppler). I originally thought that it was residule oil left over. I called Casey from Anejo and we took Christa for a spin around the harbor. We got back and de-coupled the shaft from the engine. A clear leak was obvious, but in a different spot from the original leak, meaning the replaced seal was good. Again here is the emotional spectrum. I fought not to jump to conclusions, but I felt physcially ill. However, Casey and I got out the service manual and took everything apart. Again emotions ran high when we discovered that Roberto put in a locking nut backwards! This locking nut has a small gasket that compresses against a plate to seal the deal. But with it on backward, it did not compress and the transmission did not engage as before. Although it did engage. I was both relieved and proud of our perserverance but angry that Roberto would make such an error. He also used the wrong transmission fluid which caused me to have to flush the transmission several times.

Shame on me for not paying more attention to what he was doing. I could have had the manual out and watched his every move. Shame on him also. He is not a rookie engineer, he simply didn't pay attention and also he works on large diesels and tug boats. I can forgive the transmission fluid issue as most run on 30 weight, but the locking nut is another story. The morale of this story is that I have a self confidence problem when it comes to engine sometimes and I should not. I have some training in the area and each time I do something with the engine it turns out to be easier than anticipated and commons sense like. A good thing associated with this debacle is that I now am a pro at adjusting the packing gland and I have a greater understanding of the transmission to say the least. I am also confident that the systems are in working order and I think I am ready to press onward as long as the weather forecast is acceptable. More on that later.

Over the past two days I have had Domingo aboard washing, compounding and waxing Christa. He really does and amazing job and I really haven't seen Christa's hull look as good as it does today. Domingo has 7 children and he makes $20 dollars a day for 10 hours of work. I shall tip him well. His smile is about as big as the sun itself.

One last thing before I bail. I uploaded another short video clip in YouTube. Just a moment or two of what downtown Luperon looks like. Prepare yourself. Also, if you get a chance surf on over to Sandpiper Adventures linked to the right, they just left this morning from Thailand bound for the Maldives. They only have 1550 more miles to go. Good luck Tom and Amy!

Capt Chris