A couple days after our arrival in Morgans Bluff, we were diving around the harbor and I wanted to check all that fancy work I had done on the running gear. To my shock I saw the cutlass bearing had slid out and was resting firmly on the zinc halfway down the shaft. Good news is, this stopped it from coming all the way out, bad news, what the hell was I going to do?!
The cruisers we met Jeff and Trish had stopped by the boat in their dinghy after seeing we had a CSY 37, a boat they had owned several years earlier. Jeff seems like a pretty handy guy and I stopped by his boat later that night. I figured i'd bounce some ideas on how to fix the problem off him. I didn't get the first sentence out and he laughed "I had the exact problem, heres what I did" He went below and came up with about half a tube of 2 part epoxy "mix this up on a paper plate, scuff up your cutlass, smear it around nice and even. Then shove the cutlass back in and let it cure for 48 hours" I very gratefully accepted his sticky advice and tried not to glue my hands together as I took it back to the boat. The next day Colby and I hooked up our hookah rig to a tank and jumped in to give it a shot. About 15 minutes later I had what I though was a good fix, just needed to let it cure.
I was also able to tighten the port side set screws quite a bit and between the two I think the repair should last.
Since we have been here just over a week we have completed several projects on the boat, after all cruising is just a fancy way of fixing your boat in exotic places! I had a holding tank issue and was able to use an epoxy stick to solve the problem, I've replaced seals, greased fittings, repacked and adjusted my shaft packing, checked fluids, topped off fluids and replaced filters. We are ready and after a week, it's time to get out of here and continue our journey. Even though we didn't intend on stopping here, this has turned out to be an amazing experience. Andros Island is interesting to say the least. Morgans Bluff, while not luxury by any means, is a great resource and stop for cruisers living on the hook.
I was able to pick up Chris Parker this morning for the first time on our Kaito portable radio and we heard our friend Julie asking about a weather window to Bimini. It's amazing how small the ocean really is with cruisers, the islands are littered with friends old and new.
While we sort of have a destination, we don't have a timeline.. We are here until the money runs out and it's time to head home. Plans change like the weather, directions, destinations, it's all subject to change at any given moment depending on so many factors. Maybe that's why I feel so at home living like this, life is hardly ever boring while cruising. I'm as free as a person can get, living sustainably from the ocean and making as small of a footprint as I can, while making as big of an impact as I can on my children. They grow up fast and I am fortunate to see every day of it.. It's funny how close you get spending every day together on a small boat, exploring the world one stop at a time. I am a lucky man..
Time to check the weather!
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