First thing this morning, John, the caretaker, called and asked us if we would like some fresh fish they had just caught. We said “sure” and headed over to shore. They gave us a ziplock bag containing enough fish for two dinners for us. There was tuna, rainbow fish, and something else. Much to Christi’s delight, the fish was filleted. Continue reading
This morning we checked the outboard engine motor as soon as we got up. Eric washed off the outside of the engine, then opened it up. He checked the cylinder and it was dry. Good sign. He pulled out the spark plug and dried it. He drained the fuel from the carburetor. Then he tried starting it.
Our plan was to go diving, then into town to check out of the country, do some internet stuff such as sending blog updates, then spend the rest of the day getting the boat ready. We were going to leave the next morning for Suwarrow, an atoll in the Cook’s.
Eric awoke with a really bad cold. Diving was out. The wind in our protected anchorage was howling at 20 knots. The weather forecast for Thursday was 12 foot seas at 8 seconds intervals (for non-boaters, this means bad seas). Leaving was out. Much to our dismay, we found out that the large boat anchored between us and the wireless antenna at Bloody Mary’s blocks our signal. So, with all our plans cancelled for us, we took it easy all day. Continue reading
Tomorrow is Bastille Day, one of the biggest French holidays of the year. According to Lonely Planet, when a holiday falls on a Saturday, everything is closed the Friday before. Since (we assumed, at least) everything was closed, the plan for today was to do some boat chores, then go snorkeling.
Conditions were ideal for several chores. It is much easier to change fuel filters when the tanks are full and when you are in a calm anchorage, so Eric changed all the fuel filters aboard. Christi assisted. Continue reading
May 31 — Thursday was uneventful. We spent the day doing boat chores, which means cleaning, organizing, and maintenance stuff. Eric changed the on engine fuel filters for the generator and main engine. Tip: If the primer pump is not working, turn over the engine to realign the camshaft so the primer pump works. If you forget this step you tend to panic because Continue reading