Success!

We have success! The Dink has motivation. I walked up to the marina office this morning to discuss some kind of alternative to getting us back underway. One we had in mind was to rent a car, drive to the nearest Suzuki dealer, buy a new engine for about the same amount of money has we have already spent sitting here trying to get the Yamaha fixed, and be on our way. We would leave the Yamaha for them to do with as they pleased.

Much to my surprise I walked into the shop and there was the Yamaha puttering contently in the work stand. Not too long after that is was mounted back on the Dink and puttering contently once again. Some thought was given to making a hurried departure and being on our way to Cape May. When I say “some” I mean about 10 seconds worth. Pretty much every time we have made a hurried departure the day turned sour. There was weather that looked like it might catch us out in the middle of the bay and still and hour or more from our destination. More reason to spend another day or two here. But, knowing that we can leave rather than wondering when we will be able to leave makes all the difference. Besides, there was still a smelly leak in the head that would have been more than a little irritating to most people, let alone a couple of perfectionists. (Next to outboard motors marine heads have to be considered one of the most relentlessly troublesome and irritating systems on a boat.)

So, with nothing else much to do, Deb started the disassembly process. I offered to help but, truth to tell, the head on First Light is single occupancy only regardless of the purpose for the visit. Envision rebuilding anything mechanical and pretty gross while in a smelly phone booth with the door shut, and you will have a good idea of what kind of day she had. I kept asking if she needed anything and was around to help out any way I could. Which was mostly by reviewing the YouTube vid on the process and handing her parts and tools. By days end the head was working so much better, wasn't leaking any more, and the ambiance in First Light was much improved.

So now we are just waiting on the weather. One of the really helpful things about being at the Delaware City Marina is the daily “Captain's Meeting.” Each day at 1600 local they pull up the weather forecasts while offering the best information available, that of local knowledge. They know all the shallow spots, where and how the commercial traffic will be moving, the best bail out options in the bay, what the currents and tides do, and how those interact with prevailing winds to determine what kind of day it will be for those traveling by Looper style boats. Today's discussion suggested that tomorrow will be an okay day to go. But Deb and I are both pilots who spent nearly 6 years living on Kintala. We listen to what others have to offer but we make all own weather decisions. Our look at the weather suggested that tomorrow might be an okay day to go. At this moment there is a cold front lurking less than 100 miles to our west inbound. Two of the weather apps we use are suggesting winds in the 10 to 15 knot range for much of tomorrow. Ten to fifteen makes a sailboater smile. So far our experience suggest that 10 to 15 knots in 42 foot trawler, particularly with miles and miles of fetch, will make a trawler crew wish they were somewhere else. Have the wind and currents going nose to nose rather than moving side by side and the trawler crew will definitely wish they were somewhere else. So we are likely to be here another day or so. Still...

Success!