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Our trip to Marin, Martinique, on May 8 was even more difficult than we expected. We had to head south along the coast and then east to Marin. Heading east against the trade wind is tough. But our problems began even before we turned east. Pete noticed that our vacuum gauge read high. The engine was having trouble getting enough fuel. So we shut the engine down. The wind along the coast was erratic but I had no trouble sailing along while Pete purged the FPS (Fuel Purification System). He then changed the Racor filter. We did not realize it at that time but we were running low on fuel on tank number 2, the tank we were using to power the boat. While still low on fuel we ran the engine again and made our turn east. We were at the southwest corner of the island with a steep mountain beside us. Ahead of us lay the barren Diamond Rock, a very tiny island with sheer cliffs on all sides. Diamond Rock is so menacing that the British Navy commissioned it as a warship. It was called HMS Diamond Rock and included cannons to fire at passing ships. We planned to motor through the pass between Diamond Rock and the island. The mountain ashore and Diamond rock funneled the trade wind and seas against us. Our speed dropped from 6 knots to 3 knots. We inched along. The wind gusted to 30 knots. Suddenly there were huge waves in front of us. The bowsprit seemed to rise almost straight up before crashing down. Our forward progress was stopped. The cliff walls seemed to nearly close in on us as if the ghosts of the British Navy would not let us pass. So we turned around to the open ocean. We motor-sailed an extra 12 miles into wind and seas to avoid the ghosts of Diamond Rock. We made our way to Marin before we realized what was wrong with the fuel system and changed to tank number 1 there.
For the rest of the story, order The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.
Sneak Attack in Trinidad
(Pete writes)
Susan left me stranded in Trinidad and flew home on July 20th. She had no idea what distress I would soon be in. While she was in Ohio I had lots of jobs to get done but back pain was slowing me down. Still I removed the cap rails and resealed the hull deck joint. I paid a local Trinidadian to sand the bottom and get ready for new bottom paint. I removed the two existing fuel tanks and contracted to have new poly tanks made. I ordered new anchor chain and new batteries. I flew to Venezuela to have my eyes checked and had another LASIK procedure performed. As the weeks went by I developed the most agonizing pain in the lower back just below the ribs spreading around to the front of the abdomen and often extending into the groin area. The pain came in waves. I noticed some blood in my urine. I talked to Julius from Argonauta and he said, "Congratulations, you are giving birth to a kidney stone." Julius recommended that I see a doctor as soon as possible.
I went to a doctor and described my pain. I had an x-ray and found out that I indeed had a kidney stone on the warpath. The doctor gave me a prescription for pain pills that would help pass the stone. Ten days went by and no stone passed. The pain was down. I went back to the doctor who then did a die test to show where the stone was. Well it was stuck in the ureter between the kidney and the bladder. The right kidney was blocked. The doctor made an appointment with a specialist two days before I was scheduled to fly home. I wanted to see if it would be OK to travel. The day I was to see the specialist I developed a fever over a hundred degrees and the specialist sent me straight to the hospital that night. I had surgery at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. They tried lithrotripsy. It did not work. So they went in the hard way to remove it. They used ureteroscopy: sending instruments up through the urethra, the bladder, and into the ureter to grab the stone and pull it out. That afternoon I was back at La Boatique, getting ready for my flight home the next morning.
August 17th I flew home on schedule. Talk about a fast three days! I was feeling a lot better, but when I would get back to Trinidad the doctors would have to go back in and remove the stent (a small tube that was inserted between the kidney and bladder).
While at home we purchased some boat supplies to take back to Trinidad with us. We tried to visit as many friends as we could in the short time we were in Ohio.
Kidney Stones in the Tropics
(Susan writes)
Kidney stones are common in hot climates because we sweat so much more than in a cold climate and therefore not enough water makes its way to the kidneys. Pete needs to drink at least 3/4 of a gallon of water a day. While in Ohio Pete was uncomfortable because of the plastic stent inserted in him between his kidney and bladder. He did not need to see a doctor while in Ohio. On September 7th we flew back to Trinidad. We hoped to get going on boat jobs, but Pete took a turn for the worse and ended up back in the hospital.
(Pete writes)
Yep, I am resting again. I had a pain attack on Saturday the 9th of September. I called Dr. Khan. He said to meet him at the hospital. So off we went after finding a car to rent. The pain was bad. Dr. Khan said that probably there was a little infection from the stent. He considered operating that night. The x-ray looked OK so he gave me a shot in the butt. The pain was soon gone so he put off surgery until Monday morning. The hospital staff got me ready, and off I went into dreamville. Dr. Khan went in and removed the pile of rocks that remained in the bladder. Apparently many stone fragments remained as a result of the procedure that was done in August to break the huge stone that clogged the ureter. The doctor left the stent in and added two more tubes. When I woke up I had saline solution being forced in my arm and drained out my penis to bags next to the bed. Talk about a back flush! So I spent the night with what felt like a faucet running through my system all night. In the morning after breakfast the fun began. Three nurses (cute ones) came in and removed the tubes and the stent. It was a peculiar feeling having them removed from my penis. Being fondled by six hands was different.
Now after a week, I feel so much better. It is hard to believe a little thing like that stone can put a person down. The strange thing is that my backaches are gone. I went to do Dr. Khan today, September 19th, and he gave me a clean bill of health.
During our time here in Trinidad we have been getting ready for a Pacific Ocean crossing. I had the cap rails removed and I resealed the hull and deck joint. Tony Tinto, a local carpenter, helped me with the cap rails and made a wooden box to fit over the rear lazarette. We installed the new fuel tanks. We replaced all the batteries. I sanded and painted the bottom with Sea Hawk 44. We installed a Garmin 100 fish finder and a Garmin 130 GPS, which includes a map of the world. We plan to use the fish finder mainly for finding an acceptable place to anchor. We installed new 5/16 high-test chain 287 feet long. I started to install the new Nexus autopilot, which we named Harvey & Joyce. Susan's parents would have liked to have come along but they can't, so they bought the autopilot. This way they can take their turns at the helm. We thanked them again and again.
We have been putting things away and making space for new stores. And of course I have been messing with the engine. Also we got rid of the microwave, which gave the cook (Susan) more room in the galley.
(Susan writes)
During the morning of September 22nd La Boatique was launched back into Chagauramas Bay. We motored over to a dock at Coral Cove Marina. Our good friends Julius and Sally on Argonauta launched later the same day. It sure felt nice to be back in the water where we belonged. Little did we know that in only a week we would go through the major expense of pulling La Boatique back out of the water.
Hurricanes, an Earthquake and Other Close Calls
On September 27th Joe from the catamaran Ladybug offered to help us carry jerry cans of diesel fuel to La Boatique from the nearby Power Boats Fuel Dock. Dave, Stacy, Joe and Mat aboard Ladybug (from Wisconsin) would soon be our cruising partners. Poor Joe ended up performing all the heavy lifting. Joe and I motored his dinghy full of yellow 6-gallon plastic cans back and forth between Coral Cove and Power Boats. Pete dumped the fuel into La Boatique and then marked a dowel rod showing how full the tank was after each 6-gallon can. In hot 90-degree sun with no air we loaded 47 gallons into tank one and 56 gallons into tank two for 103 gallons overall.
Hurricanes were brewing out in the Caribbean and Atlantic on September 28th. Hurricane Isaac was far north of us but it may have been the cause of a ground swell that sent La Boatique wildly rocking for 5 hours at the dock. We were lucky to escape without damage as La Boatique was nearly thrown against a cement pier. Many boats were not so lucky. Much more threatening than hurricane Isaac was hurricane Joyce. Joyce was taking a very unusual southern path and was heading directly for us. On September 29th we reluctantly hauled La Boatique back out of the water to be better prepared for the hurricane. That same day there was a huge crude oil spill that fouled everything in the water. La Boatique was lifted out of the water just as the oil arrived. For the most part we were spared from the mess the crude oil made on other boats.
Pete thought that the steering seemed mushy when he drove over to the boatlift. He decided that we should try to bleed any remaining air out of our hydraulic system. When he opened up the system expecting air and hydraulic fluid, he got drips of water. Water in the hydraulic system would ruin our steering system including our new Nexus autopilot, Harvey & Joyce. While everyone else prepared their boats for a hurricane, we flushed our hydraulic system repeatedly with air and new hydraulic fluid. How could water get in there? We found that the Vetus hydraulic fluid that we added when we had installed the new Nexus Autopilot contained water. We were lucky to have found the problem before any major damage was done to our steering.
Ironically, a hurricane with the same name as my mother, Joyce, caused us to use our new steering system that led us to bleed the system that ended up saving our autopilot named Harvey & Joyce. So, Hurricane Joyce helped to save Harvey & Joyce. That was a close call.
Another close call was hurricane Joyce now heading directly for us. However, contrary to all the forecasts Hurricane Joyce suddenly dissipated. By the time Joyce arrived on October 1st she brought no more than two cool dreary rainy days.
We had plenty of excitement in one week with the ground swell, water in the hydraulic system, the crude oil spill and an approaching hurricane. But the excitement was not over yet. On October 3rd while our boats were still held up by jack stands, Pete and Julius were busy under the boats cleaning the oil slick off the hulls. I was in the cabin sitting at the navigation table working on the computer. The boats began to shake and then to jump. I held on to the armrests of the chair I was sitting in.
Earthquake!
The rigging from all the boats made a terrible clatter. Pete and Julius quickly backed away from the boats. They saw the earth move in waves. I thought about what would happen to me if La Boatique fell off the stands. I hoped falling boats would not crush Pete and Julius. Just as I was thinking that I was safer in the boat, Pete yelled up to me to get off the boat. He thought that he was safer on the ground. The boat was still shaking as I climbed onto the cabin top. Seconds later the shaking stopped and I climbed down the ladder to ground level. All the boats at Coral Cove Marina were still standing. However one boat at another boat yard did fall off its stands. The quake registered 5.9 and was centered about 50 miles from us out in the ocean.
La Boatique went back in the water again on October 4th. We spent the next week preparing La Boatique for being away from boat stores, grocery stores and other trappings of civilization.
Jerry, you can send me an email at JoyceFoote@kellnet.com