{"id":6567,"date":"2017-02-10T07:02:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T12:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=6567"},"modified":"2017-02-10T07:02:51","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T12:02:51","slug":"whack-a-mole-in-st-martin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=6567","title":{"rendered":"Whack-a-Mole in St Martin"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is often said that cruising is nothing more than boat repair in exotic places and sometimes it feels just like that. \u00a0However, I heard a fellow cruiser last night desribe it even better. She called it “whack-a-mole”. \u00a0 You know, the game where a “mole” pops up through a hole in a board and you “whack” it with a hammer? \u00a0 The goal of the game is to hit the mole before he drops back into his hole and when the the next one pops up, well, you wack that one too. \u00a0And, to make the game even more diabolical, the faster \u00a0you “whack” the faster the Mr. Mole does his thing.<\/p>\n

Well, that almost perfectly describes boat repair. \u00a0No matter how fast you “whack away”, more moles pop up.<\/p>\n

Let me give an example. \u00a0 As I began to better understand Pandora, I realized that all was not right with the first batten on the mainsail which always seemed to look, well, not quite right with wrinkles appearing in odd places. \u00a0After my first “sporty” offshore run, the receptacle that held the luff end of the batten (Pandora has full battens) broke out. \u00a0I ultimately replaced the entire receptacle only to have it break yet again on the run down to the BVI. \u00a0However, I didn’t know that it had broken until I removed the sail to repair a stressed (read: almost torn out) sail track lead and a fist sized hole in the main from one of the spreader tips. \u00a0 \u00a0The “whack-a-mole” \u00a0pops up yet again.<\/p>\n

So, although my plan was to pull the sail only to have some sewing done, it turns out that I needed a new batten piece flown in from Newport RI. \u00a0 However, as the piece in question had broken twice already, the loft suggested that I upgrade to a more “heavy duty” version, which I am. \u00a0 And, to make things even more fun, the airports in the NE are closed due to a blizzard. \u00a0 Another “whack a mole”.<\/p>\n

No problem, the piece will be here in a few days. \u00a0However, the weather window to head to St Barts looks like it’s going to open up in a few days and now I may miss it do to, you guessed it, “whack a mole” and shipping issues.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it always seems that things are more complex than expected so perhaps it’s “whack a mole” behind that too. \u00a0And to think that I thought it was Murphy of “Murphy’s law” at work. \u00a0You know, the “it can always get worse”, and it does Murphy’s law?<\/p>\n

So, yesterday morning was taken up getting the main off of Pandora and out for repair. \u00a0 It took three of us, me and two other cruiser friends, to get the sail down, battens out and sail into the dink so I could deliver it to the loft. \u00a0 Now, I know that we will be delaying our departure for St Barts because of snow in New England and not getting the new part until sometime in the middle of next week.<\/p>\n

And, speaking of the “whack a mole” I have also been having trouble with my SSB not having good reception for the last year and a half, since I first installed the unit. \u00a0 I can hear pretty well but my transmissions don’t carry very long distances. \u00a0 “whack a mole!” \u00a0 So, I hired Dave another cruiser who is supposed to be pretty good with electronics to have a look. \u00a0 \u00a0 After about an hour of troubleshooting we discovered that one of my wire crimp connections was loose and we believe that is a big part of the problem, meaning that when I transmit the radio isn’t getting enough power due to the loose wire not conducting well. \u00a0 Happily, after fixing that and a few other “tweaks” to the system, we measured much greater transmission power with Dave’s “transmission power measuring thingy”.<\/p>\n

I am hopeful that his “fixes” will indeed solve the problem and I’ll be able to be heard better. \u00a0I’ll know later this morning when I try to contact Chris Parker in FL. \u00a0Fingers crossed… No more radio “whack a moles”.<\/p>\n

But wait, there’s more. \u00a0I wrote a post a while back that talked about the havoc that RO water caused on some metals<\/a> and that I planned to install a “re-mineralizer” on the watermaker system to make the product water less acidic and taste better too, as a bonus.. \u00a0 \u00a0I ordered the parts, well most of them anyway, before I left Beaufort NC to head to the BVI. \u00a0 However, I have been so busy “whacking” moles, that I have not had time to install the new unit. \u00a0Yesterday, with most “moles” whacked back into their holes for the moment, I decided to install it. \u00a0It was actually pretty simple and only involved one additional trip to the “RO water parts store” on the Dutch side for some additional hose. \u00a0Amazingly, those sorts of stores are very well stocked here in St Martin so I was able to get the parts I needed very easily. \u00a0Voila… re-mineralizing unit installed. \u00a0“Down you pesky mole, down boy, back in your mole hole now”. \u00a0\u00a0\"\"Hopefully, when I start up the watermaker today it won’t leak. \u00a0However, you know those moles…<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, another mole that I punched down recently. \u00a0Remember the broken pin on the autopilot? \u00a0 The one I replaced in 20′ seas? \u00a0Yea, that one. \u00a0 Well, here’s a photo of the failed “pin”., the one on the right. \u00a0The one on the left, the “new” one complete with a set of washers designed to spread the shear load and keep the pin from breaking. \u00a0That’s the way it has been set up till now.\u00a0\"\"However, Pandora’s previous owner told me that this pin had broken about once a year. \u00a0Not a great design if it’s breaking that often. \u00a0My solution to the problem was to put on larger washers to fill the gap between the quadrant attachment point and the autopilot attachment point. \u00a0 By putting on larger washers I hope to spread the load more evenly and thus reduce the sheer force on the pin. \u00a0Time will tell if that works. \u00a0 Here’s what the new install looks like. \u00a0Fingers crossed. \u00a0 \"\"If it doesn’t work….Well, I have three spares on hand.<\/p>\n

As I have mentioned, we are anchored in Simpson Bay, between the Dutch and French sides of the island. \u00a0We opted to enter on the French side as it’s more open and it costs much less to clear in here than on the Dutch side. \u00a0 Besides, \u00a0we have a hankering for French food. \u00a0 My friend Roger says, as do others, “shop on the Dutch side and eat with the French”. \u00a0Indeed.<\/p>\n

When we entered the lagoon, we went through this impossibly narrow draw bridge. \u00a0I felt like we just squeezed through.\u00a0\"\"A popular sport here is to have a drink at the St Martin Yacht Club near the Dutch bridge and watch the mega-yachts come and go through the bridge. \u00a0We watched Jade make her way toward the bridge.\"\"She looked enormous as she approached. \"\"A VERY tight fit. \u00a0I heard that sometimes they don’t make it without a scratch. \u00a0Get out the lube captain, she’s a VERY tight fit. \u00a0 Can you imagine how fast the “whack a mole” game is played on a boat like Jade? \u00a0No wonder these boats have such large crews. \u00a0It takes a lot of them “whacking away” to keep up with everything that breaks on these “big girls”. \u00a0 Mega yachts have mega moles, I’d expect.\u00a0\"\"I can’t imagine how this tri-hulled yacht fit through. \"\"She’s a looker though. \u00a0I’ll bet she goes pretty fast through the waves. \"\"And speaking of eating, which I alluded to a few paragraphs ago. \u00a0How about this shot of Brenda’s lunch at a beach side restaurant the other day? \u00a0Not likely you will see food like this on most small beaches unless they are French. \u00a0 \u00a0The cup on the right has bean sprouts, caviar and crab meat. \u00a0Under that guacamole. \u00a0 Yum…\"\"I won’t lie. \u00a0Brenda didn’t eat the snails. I happily obliged. \u00a0This was the view from our table. \u00a0We took our time and somehow stretched lunch out to about three hours. \u00a0What’s the rush? \u00a0“Can I get some more bread with my glass of wine please?” \u00a0“Of course, sir. Right away, sir.” \u00a0 I forgot to mention, those French…Well, topless applies on this beach too.
\n\"\"So, I can not tell a lie, \u00a0it’s not all “whack a mole” aboard Pandora. \u00a0We still are somehow finding a way to enjoy ourselves. \u00a0I hear it’s snowing at home, like 15″ snowing. \u00a0 I’ll have another glass of chard please, and a baguette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is often said that cruising is nothing more than boat repair in exotic places and sometimes it feels just like that. \u00a0However, I heard a fellow cruiser last night desribe it even better. She called it “whack-a-mole”. \u00a0 You know, the game where a “mole” pops up through a hole in a board and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6580,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567\/revisions\/6580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}