2007 day 2
2007-03-07

I always sleep well on the boat except for the first night for some reason but this night proved to be the exception as I slept like a rock. My first mission of the day was to find the missing booze bacause sailboats do not sail by breeze alone, oh no, they are fueled mostly by drinks and I was not goingto be left without fuel. It was too early to call the liquor store to get our order straghtened out so I just killed time while the ladies had breakfast.
Finally 9:00 am rolled around and we called the store. They had no record of our order. I gave them the confirmation number and everything but no dice. They retook the order ans said someone would try to make the delivery before noon, but no promises. Um, no... We were ready to sail and you are the only thing in our way. Very sorry sir, we will try to do better, but no promises. Right... I filled the others in on the situation and the person who placed the order said that couldn't possibly be. Well, yes, it could. Welcome to the islands.
We decided to grab a cab to speed up the process so Ken and I headed out. Cabs in the islands are not like cabs at home. You might get the family sedan, a van, hell anything that rolls. Some are official, some are not and the quality varies widely. We had one where the passenger door was literally held closed with velcro. Sweet. I hope it was good velcro. Did I mention they drive 80 miles an hour and on the wrong side of the road and that the roads are narrow and full of mountains goats and chickens? Fun, fun, fun...
Well we got the best ride in the islands to take us on our search for booze, a brand new Range Rover with air that actually worked. He zipped the few minutes over to the store and and the driver named Shampoo (I kind you not) came in with us. He was a hustler, unusual for the islands. The manager said it would take 2 hours to write up a pick ticket and print and pull the order. WTF? I finally asked can I cancel the order and just buy the stuff from the store? She said sure, cash only though.... So we did just that.
We split up the list, grabbed a carrage and with the three of us pulling stuff we were out of the store in less than ten minutes. We left Shampoo a hefty tip. Of course I had already paid provision lady for the booze and now had paid for it again. They promised me my money back and eventually I did get it back. We were ready to pull out.
The channel looked fairly straight forward, pull off the dock, hard right, sharp left through the markers and another left into the main channel. We cast off and vacation had started. I was having problems with the right throttle right off the bat but nothing that couldn't be managed. We made it thru the channel and by the cruise ships and headed for the open waters of Road Harbor. It was a typical island day, 82, sunny and a breeze.
About half way out of the harbor I decided to put up the mainsail. it was then that I noticed that all the wind instruments were messed up and pointing off in the wrong direction. Oh well, we'd do it the old fashioned way, hang our the side of the bimini steer with one hand (or foot) and give directions. Skippers do have to be multi-talented. The battens kept getting caught in the lazy jacks but eventually we got it up. The other boat had the same problems only times ten. We finally had to park the boat to wait for them.
When they finally got their main up, we rolled out the jib and vacation began. I killed the engines, grabbed a cold beer and like always, felt I was home. Catamarans are great to live on but as far as driving, well, driving a 41 footer is like driving your house. They don't respond well, don't point, don't have any indication of speed. On the plus side, you can put your drink anywhere and it will never fall over which is nice.
We finally got some speed up an begand passing islands I fondly remembered from trips past. It was like visiting old friends. Peter, Cooper Salt all rolled by as we headed for Gorda Sound. The boat had autopilot and I sued it several times while I adjusted sails, grabbed another beer or took pictures. The girls sunned themselves on the trampoline so I had the back of the boat all to myself. We had some good tunes blasting through the stereo, we were moving well and all was right with the world. We had to go back a few times. We were easily outsailing the other boat and I didn't want to let them get too far behind. it was a good opportunity to take pictures was we literally sailed rings around them. Sweet... By the time we had sailed by the Dogs, we realized we didn't have nearly enough beer on board. This would be corrected later in the trip.
The islands passed by and the water was that incredible color blue that you just can't find here. I could have sailed forever. We rounded Misquito island and headed for the reef that marks the entrance to the bay. I started the engines we dropped the sails and waiter for our sister boat to A: catch up and B: do the same. Then we motored slowly through the reef.
I told Ken to stick close, but I don't think he was that impressed with the reef until some guy fishing walked to within 20 feet of his boat with nothing but his ankles getting wet. That got his attention. Gorda Sound is one of the most beautiful places in the world in my opinion and I was glad to be back. There were a few more houses one or two more beach bars, but besides that, not alot had changed.
I motored us over to the Bitter End YC and we were in the main channel looking for a mooring when a whole fleet of kids in little boats sailed by. We cleared most easily, but the last two made me nervous. They wouldn't sail right in front of 44,000 pounds of boat would they? Yes they would. I slowed to almost zero speed which meant I could no longer steer. One boat barely made even though one of the kids, fell or jumped while the starboard hull was going by. The second we were going to eat, big time. I hit full reverse in the engines, felt something pop and we stopped inches away from this stupid kid who looked up, way up at us with glazed eyes. Apparently the kids father was in a powerboat behind and lamely said boats under sail have right of way. I coolly responded that we were in a restricted channel, invoked big boat rule and advised him that his darling child almost had 44,000 pounds of boat shoved up her ass... That shup him up.
Now we had issues though. The trip in reverse had severed the problem throttle cable and we now had one engine locked in reverse. M.E called the dockmaster advising that we might need assistance. They asked are you the boat going around in circles? Yes, that would be us. I couldn't correct the turning with the helm no matter how much juice I gave the port engine. I didn't knwo the Starboad engine was stuck in reverse, but I suspected it. I took a chance and shut it down. The circles slowed dramaticly. I found a spot where with just the right amount od speed and rudder, I could go straight again. We limped into the mooring on just the port engine and picked it up first shot. I killed the remaining engine, checked the lines and then poured a huge glass of wine. I called shore for a service man and then sat down with a sigh. We were back if not totally in one piece.

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