The Long And Winding Road

Patillas, PR

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin with this post. Our laptop has been broken and we just got a new one here in Puerto Rico -- a real bare-bones model that we hope will get us back to the states.

Left St. Maarten, sailed to British Virgin Islands. There we met Michael Beans, a local celebrity who is well known for his pirate musical act and ferro-cement ketch. Michael has a history with Haiti and as Larry on Tropical Blend began chatting with him, Michael wondered if both boats could take some supplies to a small, isolated island there known as Ile a Vache. It's definitely a "no phones, no lights, no motor cars" kind of place where the fishermen still use sailing craft. Last year, it was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. Although due to the hospitality of the people on the island, it had been one of the few places cruisers would regularly call in a country that otherwise enjoys (if that's the term) a fairly poor reputation, post-hurricane, few are going there. We agreed to Michael's request and loaded up with used sails (to be re-cut for fishing boats), snorkel gear (for spear-fishing), clothes, etc. In addition, we went online and raised $700 for school supplies and various other items for a newly constructed sail. (Thanks to everyone who helped us!)

Buying supplies for Haiti.

From there, we sailed to the Spanish Virgins (Puerto Rico) for a visit to Culebrita. Then Fajardo (east coast of PR) and now find ourselves in the sleepy little anchorage of Patillas on PR's southeast coast.

Along the way, we discovered a major problem with our engine. I had suspected a serious issue for months, but mechanics I met along the way seemed all-too-eager to disabuse me of the worst-case scenario. After losing power completely en route to Fajardo, we tried again for a mechanic, but were unable to get anyone there to even look. Strange thing about Fajardo -- tons of boats, no mechanics. While searching online to find some answers, I virtually bumped into Michael Kneeland, a mechanic and jack-of-all trades whose own boat is anchored in Patillas. After much back-and-forth, Michael convinced me that he would do the job (whatever it was) if we could get down to him.

Engine stuff.

We managed to get the engine started and kept it going at low rpm while we sailed down the coast, first no wind at all in the shadow of Vieques, then 30+ knots as we rounded the eastern coast and plowed our way to Patillas. There we met Michael and the next day, he commenced to tearing down the engine. We knew it was at least a head gasket, but once we got into it, we realized there was a lot of water in three of the four cylinders. Pretty much a worst-case scenario -- this would require a total rebuild.

So, we are looking at thousands of dollars in parts, shipping and labor and we don't even know yet how long the machine shop will take in refurbishing the block and cylinder head.

That's where we are now: a big hole where the engine used to be and us waiting on parts, which should be here on Monday. Meanwhile, Tropical Blend is still in Fajardo waiting on weather; they are expected here tomorrow. We are surely looking at another week, probably more, before we can get under way.

Two bits of optimism amid the doom and gloom: we will have a practically brand new engine, which means the problems we've been dealing with for months should be behind us. Second, when we list the boat for sale, we should get some or all of our investment back out, as a new engine should be a strong selling point.

Keeping our fingers crossed the engine won't take too long!