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CHAPTER 1
Houston, Texas
CHAPTER 2
Kemah, Texas
CHAPTER 3
Kemah, Texas
CHAPTER 4
Galveston, Texas
CHAPTER 5
Seabrook, Texas
CHAPTER 6
Seabrook, Texas
CHAPTER 7
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 8
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 9
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 10
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 11
Port Fourchon, Louisiana
CHAPTER 12
Cut Off, Louisiana
CHAPTER 13
Cut Off, Louisiana
CHAPTER 14
Cut Off, Louisiana
CHAPTER 15
Houma, Louisiana
CHAPTER 16
Houma, Louisiana
CHAPTER 17
Houma, Louisiana
SPINDRIFT - CHAPTER 13
Cut Off, Louisiana
April 12, 2003
Well, we had work to do. Thanks to the kindness of a local Catholic church, we were able to repair our sails in their youth center, a basketball court under roof. They even made sure we didn't miss lunch.
A local lady who has an upholstery shop sewed some corners for us which even our little sailmaking sewing machine couldn't handle.Rolando, a local welder completely crafted a new roller furling spool from kmarine grade aluminum, and for nothing! Talk about nice, Rolando came over from Cuba several years ago, is the nicest guy, and is ever so smart. He is so resourceful, a result of having to do a lot with little for so many years it appears.
Rodney, the youth worker from the church when he hears we need a good mechanic sends one by. Mike is an expert of the highest order who immediately diagnoses our problem: the injector pump, even though 3 or 4 before him couldn't figure it out. He takes the pump out for us, Rodney takes it to another town where it is repaired. Mike charges us nothing. This is all just too good to be true!
We buy new anchor rode (rope) and shackles, new line for the jib. Rolando straightens out all the damage on the bow (free again) and things start really looking up for us again.
Ray, a new friend tells us of a welder who is willing to climb up our mast and weld a piece to reinforce it. We hoist up part of his gear, and run long cables over the water from the shore to the boat to connect him to the main welding equipment in his pickup. This takes us one whole morning.At one point we had to do some work on our rudder shaft. A part of the steering had been damaged. We weren't sure if the damage was only below deck or under the water to the rudder itself. David dived down and checked it out. Now, no one was excited with the idea of someone having to go into that muddy bayou water, least of all David. But he had been the one responsible for causing the damage, something we won't get into here, and bravely "volunteered" to do it. Much to our relief the rudder itself was all right.
The only work that would have to be done was inside the boat. In theory it was simple. In reality it was anything but that as it was all so inaccessible, low, behind the engine. Space is so limited there that David was the only one able to twist around the engine and under things so as to be able to repair it. It took us several days, and several attempts before we successfully completed it. Thank God for the unencumbered sailing lifestyle we have. (?!!!)
"What bliss to be in the cockpit with the sun and the warm breeze on one's skin, just watching the sea, and the sky, and the sails..."
Sir Francis Chichester