Hi all

At last I have got around to restarting our blog!

 

We flew back to St Maarten on the 6th December to relaunch Inga after the hurricane season ( fortunately no hurricanes affected the area while we were out of the water)

we had a busy week with preparation and launched her on Friday the 11th.

on Saturday we set off for a test sail with the new engine, full of excitement. We left the jetty and after 50 metres we lost forward drive, had to anchor and get towed back to the dock! It turns out the the propellor had fallen off. Fortunately in the lagoon that is quite shallow. It was just one of those oversights where we all assumed that ti was firmly fixed on ( we needed a bigger propellor to suit the new engine) .

On sunday a diver pulled alongside with the missing propellor.

So we had to wait to be hauled out and the propellor firmly bolted on this time.

All in al it meant we let St Maarten on the friday 18 th after checking out bound for St Bartholemy.

about 2 hours after setting off I looked at the fuel filter and it was half full of muck and dirt.

No problem I though I can just drain the bowl and we can keep the engine running. As son as I opened the tap, air got in the the new engine stopped!. I readthe instructions

  for bleeding the engine but it would not start, so we turned around to sail bat to St Maarten. I re-read the instructions about bleeding air out of the fuel and it sail pump the pump 60 times ( I hand only done about 10) - so after pumping 60 the engine fired up, we turned around again and went to St Barth as planned.

The trip from Nevis to Antigua was hard as it was straight into the wind and waves, but we were determined to get to Antigua to meed Ann and Andrew who arrived on the 22nd Dec. We just made it in time to hire a car and meet them at the airport.

They have had a good time so far although we have nt sailed much as it has been very windy with big swells. They had a day on the beach, a motor around to English Harbour and Nelsons Dockyard.

There was a big party atmosphere on the harbour as it is the ting to do on Christmas day with a live band, champagne and a buffet lunch at the hotel overlooking the gin palaces.

Ann and Andrew have go off in a hire car to explore the island while we catch up on jobs.

Tomorrow we hope to fit in a sail then return to English Harbour to visit Shirley heights to see the sunset and enjoy the BBQ, steel band and party atmosphere.

Enough for now Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all

 

B and C