On our approach to Marsh Harbour we noticed something odd going on with Sea Star's diesel engine. It would chug along forward for awhile then sort of "coast". We lifted anchor in Marsh Harbour on April 1st; destination Hopetown, but immediately dropped again when we realized we had no forward motion. Barry determined the clutch was slipping on the transmission.
And Then This Happened:
Barry checked with a nearby marina (Conch Inn Marina) to see if they would take delivery of the package for us. Their address is 700 Bay Street, Marsh Harbour, Abacos, Bahamas. Unfortunately, when we received confirmation of the order we saw that an error had occurred and the word "Andros" had been substituted for "Abacos"......close, but regrettably quite a different Bahamas island.
Every effort was made repeatedly, each day to amend the address with the shipper and the U.S.P.S. over the next seven days.....to no avail.
Prior to this, we made a major decision to leave our boat in the Bahamas. We booked with Abaco Yacht Services on Green Turtle Cay to haul out on May 3rd and store with them. We also booked non-refundable flights to Miami that day but now we found ourselves anchored in Marsh Harbour with no transmission.
And Then This Happened:
Barry decided to take the transmission apart and switch the forward clutch with reverse. If we could at least go forward we could get to Green Turtle Cay to haul out, albeit with no reverse gear. While working, Barry dropped (and lost) one of the small ball bearings in the transmission.....truly a devastating consequence.
It seems impossible to imagine that a ball bearing could be lost in the boat cabin and not found but indeed that was the case. We searched e-v-e-r-y where, many times, to no avail. Barry felt it fall on his foot.....never to be seen again.
Sooo, we found ourselves searching through a hurricane ravaged community for 3 days for a ball bearing.
We posted on the Bahamas cruisers Facebook page looking for help and called in to the Cruiser's Net on the VHF radio. Several good suggestions were received from fellow boaters but many of the businesses suggested were no longer operating, having been destroyed. Remarkably, we had two separate offers from people flying in from the U.S. who said they would bring a ball bearing with them.
Luckily, the bike shop in Hopetown (on the island of Elbow Cay) was reopened and they had ball bearings. Kindly, one of their employees brought some over to us in Marsh Harbour on her way home on the ferry. Regrettably, they were the wrong size. Barry took the ferry over the next day ($20 U.S.), went to the bike shop and managed to get the right size. He installed the transmission the next day and we now can move forward.
So, now we just need to await delivery of the "improperly addressed" package from the U.S. We have received word from the U.S.P.S. that it has made it as far as their clearing center in Jamaica, New York. We ordered it one week ago today.
How long could it possibly take?
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