The boat gets back together during holiday time at Atlantis.

Last Tuesday the transmission did indeed resume its original position and I bolted the drive train back together, added transmission fluid, and got a quick test in dockside. It looks like we have forward and reverse again! I did notice a small saltwater leak from the main engine strainer, which had to be removed for access to the transmission. I shut the seacock, called it a day, and we celebrated with some Chinese from the Double Dragon.

Wednesday I re-sealed the strainer, and we continued the boat chores and shopping. We also found out the spreaders shipped Wed, so knowing it would be a few days before they landed in Nassau, we took Thursday to walk over to Paradise Island and tour the portions of Atlantis we could see without a pass - the marina and market, the casino, and a very nice lobby with Christmas tree and a huge aquarium. We got out of there just about the time a huge crowd was walking in, we assume the cruise ship had just docked. As it was lunchtime, we headed for the Green Parrot to meet Nick, one of the organizers of BASRA, the Bahamas rescue association. He hosts a lunch every Thursday, and we were the only cruisers there this particular week, so we had a nice chat.

Friday, anticipating the spreaders arrival, we finished up on our boat chores and Linda did some more baking (she's been turning out yummy biscotti and english muffins/bread rounds). Alas, it appears that although the package arrived at the Xpress-It facility in FL on Thursday morning, the islands version of next business day is that it arrives on Friday - on the 6 PM flight. Their shipping invoice included several hundred dollars of duty, so, cruising permit in hand (purchase of a $300 cruising permit allows boat parts to be brought in duty free), Linda and I took a walk to their facility at the Marathon Mall, a few miles from the dock.

As an aside, the mall was quite nice, reminiscent of the states, quite different from the surrounding neighborhood with its take-out shacks and small clothing stores and bars. Just like in the states, the mall was filled with teenagers.

Anyway, I got the customs charge dropped, and paid the shipping so I could pick up the package at the receiving side without having to wait for the cashier a second time. There was a bus stop right outside the mall entrance, so we took one of the local buses back to the marina. Once back, we asked one of the taxis waiting in the parking lot what they would want for a trip - $15 each way. The bus was $1.25 each way. I don't know if taxis anywhere else are over ten times a bus fare, perhaps they are. The buses stop running at 7PM, so after calling to ensure our package had arrived, we decided to wait until the morning to retrieve it.

That turned out to be the right call, as when I arrived back at the mall around 10:30 on Saturday morning, they said the plane hadn't arrived until 1AM and they were still sorting packages, it would be a little wait. I didn't quite understand how my package could have arrived at 7:15 PM on Friday when I called, when the plane apparently didn't arrive until 1AM, but at least it appeared to be there, so I picked up a tall coffee from Starbucks and returned to their lobby, which was quickly filling up with people.

The package did materialize, and I hopped on the bus with my 5' tall box for the trip back to the dock. It had been threatening rain when I left the boat, and while I was in the mall it had started. I made it back aboard a little soggy, had lunch, and waited for the showers to stop. Linda was able to help me aloft, raise the spreader to me, and then manhandle the sidestay while I positioned the the spreader into the fittings for each end in between boat wakes. It started sprinkling again just as we were pinning the stay back in place, so we called it a day and got out of the rain. We ventured back out into the cockpit for the lighted boat parade that evening, and then caught a bit of Wizard of Oz on TV.

By Sunday the rain had abated, so the port spreader came down, the matching new spreader went up, and then the upper spreaders were adjusted a bit for the correct angle, since they had drooped while everything was loose. We tweaked on turnbuckles, and tapped on shrouds until it appeared that everything was straight and taut. We'll have some further tuning once we get out with the sails up, but I think we're finished with repairs (for now)!

A special thanks to Rob Mundell at True North Sailing Services in Daytona Beach for all his help with the spreaders and rigging questions. Honorable mention to Dennis Gorden and Bob Bittner for standing by for any additional help and support. We really appreciate the support from afar.

Today is finals: final trip to the market, final laundry, top off water tanks, etc. The plan is to settle up with the marina and get off the dock tomorrow, get some fuel, and then start heading to the Exumas on Wednesday. From the looks of the harbor, we'll have company on the way down as the weather has been conducive to crossings from Florida. Looking forward to moving on!