We are still in Nassau

We are still in Nassau.  Not much has gone right.  The only good side is that have been sitting out some strong winds from the east.  The down side of that is that we are facing west and the winds and the waves it builds up are hitting us on our stern making a lot of noise and bouncing us around.  At least we are sitting at a dock and can get off the boat but then there is nowhere we want to go when we get off.

This all started when the damper plate broke and we had to sail back.  Once the transmission was removed and we found the broken damper plate they ordered a new one.   It arrived on Friday and it was installed.  We thought we were going to be able to leave.  When the engine was started and put in gear there was a lot of vibration and noise.  This was not supposed to happen.  Since it was the end of the day we had to wait until Monday for answers.

We had a couple of rain showers over the weekend and it has blown a steady 15-20+ knots out of the east every day.  We pretty much hung around the boat until Jason was back on Monday to work on the problem.  We tried a couple of things like using the little video camera to get a good look at the propeller; he disconnected the prop shaft from the V-drive to see if there was any change.  All indicators were that something was wrong with the V-drive.  He pulled it and took it to the shop to have Albert tear into it.  The V-drive is a special set of gears that allows the engine to be set further back in the boat with its shaft connection pointing towards the front of the boat.  Basically it is installed backwards.  There is a shaft that goes into the drive and just below it is the prop shaft with the two shafts forming a V.  This allows the engine to be installed much further back in the boat but also adds to things that can go wrong.  On Thursday Albert stopped by to check the shafts and how it was installed since he couldn’t find anything wrong with the V-drive.  There is a special self-centering bearing in the drive and he feels that may be the problem.  One has been ordered.  Of course, everything has to be sent over from the states but we do not have to pay duty on it.

It is Friday and we were hoping the drive would be ready and be installed.  So far no luck.  We had hoped to get out before the weekend since that would only add to the number of days we are paying for the slip in the marina.

When we arrived in the Bahamas, on 12/16/2015, we were issued a 90 day cruising pass.  Our 90 days will be up next week so we took the opportunity to walk down to Immigration and apply for an extension.  You are not allowed to file until at least three days before or after your expiration date.  We are a couple of days early but they extender our stay instead of telling us to come back next week.  We get to stay; now we need to get out of Nassau and start having fun in the islands.

There is one other piece of good news.  I have been having a lot of trouble with the 3.3 horse outboard.  When we want to use it it usually does not want to start.  It also has taken to draining its fuel tank if the shut off is not closed.  There was a boat here ready to go back to Florida that had an identical motor they bought when they arrived in January and decided they would not have a use for it when they got home.  They offered it for sale and we bought it.  A new motor with about five hours on it instead of our 13-14 year old.  It was too good of a deal to pass up.