The definition of cruising
currently in: Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas
(see http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KG4EYP for latest position)

Marsh Harbour has none of the charm of Hopetown.  It's not a resort island, it's the third largest city in the Bahamas, and it shows.  Instead of a calm and quiet landlocked yacht harbor, it has a commercial dock where big ships come and go.  Instead of pastel rental houses, it has shopping centers; instead of - well, in addition to - waterside patio restaurants, it has KFC and Subway.  Instead of sharing narrow concrete pathways only with other pedestrians and the occasional bicycle or golf cart, we have to squeeze to the side on the roads - no sidewalks or shoulders - to avoid being hit by drivers who think that the proper response to a pedestrian is to speed up, honk the horn, and try to pass as closely as possible. 

What it does have is a Suzuki mechanic.  Which, alas, we have decided we need, as our outboard seems to not have recovered from its dunking.  Britt's usually pretty good at figuring out the mechanical stuff, but he's baffled.  It's not idling, it's dying randomly, there's either gas or water getting into the oil, but he can't figure out where.

We have an appointment Tuesday morning, the earliest the mechanic could fit us in.  Until then we are accomplishing a few big-city chores like laundry and grocery shopping (yes, I have lots of provisions, but I can't pass up the opportunity to buy more fresh veggies!) and hanging out reading and trying to get on the internet (which works about 10% of the time). 

At the moment we're hunkered down while the wind blows like stink from the southwest.  Britt repaired our flaky VHF by making a new cord for the microphone and did some epoxy work; I cooked up a batch of ginger fizz (see our recipes page) and did some cleaning; and together we figured out exactly how the autopilot is being screwed up when we transmit on the HF radio, which hopefully will give us a clue as to how to fix the problem.  So I guess we're "cruising" - that is, using the classic tongue in cheek definition, "fixing your boat in exotic places."  But we're anxious to get moving again to the beautiful and isolated places we prefer.

- posted by S/V Windom @ 4/15/2007 [link]