February 17, 2007 - Bequia

After our run-ins with the authorities the past few days, I really wanted to get out of Bequia, but we were stuck - we can't go anywhere without our hatch (going sailing with a big hole on your deck is what we like to call a BAD idea - and we know from BAD ideas; remember, we're the folks who made the Newport to Bermuda run our shakedown sail after a year on the hard). Late afternoon, Sten got it back from Fixman.

While Sten worked on installing the hatch, I spliced lines for our preventer. Splicing line is like renovating a house. There is a stage in the operation where it seems like all you've done is make a big mess, you're afraid to take the next step for fear of making it worse, but you're too far into it to undo it. So, you take that tiny leap of faith and take the final step, and voila! You've got a new kitchen or a pretty little splice. Okay, so when Sten spliced our dinghy anchor rode it was a pretty little splice. Mine are more aptly described as ugly but effective.

As Sten installed the hatch, the freshly welded crack cracked open again. So we had to decide whether to finish the installation and go with it as is, or miss Carnival and stay in Bequia until Monday to get it properly repaired. The hatch isn't currently leaking, but it is a weak point, on a part of the boat that takes a lot of water when we are in big seas. And who knows when we're going to come across another aluminum welder. So, we stayed, but I was totally bummed.