April 24-25, 2001 -- Underway to Salinas

No, we weren't underway for 2 days. However, we pulled out of Ponce and staged at Coffin Island. Coffin Island is an island off the south coast of Puerto Rico that is about 2 hours from Ponce. By staging there, we trimmed almost 16 miles off our trip and had a very easy exit, as opposed to picking our way out of Ponce Harbour. Anyway, we arrived at Coffin Island around 1400 GMT (10:00 AM). We stayed there for the day, enjoying the scenery and watching other boats. One boat that was anchored by us broke free, and was heading for the Dominican Republic! We had seen two people get off the boat and head to shore. We tried to call them on the VHF, and another boat that was also close to them tried to get their attention. However, the people were oblivious. Fortunately for them, there was a third person aboard their boat that was able to handle the situation. It certainly teaches you to carry a handheld when you go in to shore! On April 25, we left bright and early for Salinas. The trip was fairly smooth, though, as usual, the wind was right on our nose! About an hour out of Salinas, we heard a friend talking on the VHF. They had run aground! We called them and told them where we were and that we could help after we anchored the boat and dropped our dinghy, which is exactly what we did. After assisting our friends, I dropped Mike at the boat and went in to the marina to check on packages and to find out what the proper procedure was for receiving things. Along the way, I stopped at Beaujolais for a cup of coffee, visited with Sojourner and finally chatted with Hallelujah. After getting the information I needed, I headed back to the boat. I pulled up in time to hear our high water alarm going off. Mike had disappeared so I tied the boat up then went in to help. After scouring the entire boat, I double checked the utility room and heard water spraying. We cleared out the utility room, lifted the floor and discovered that the leak was coming from our raw water intake for the air conditioning/freezer system. We closed the through hull, and while inspecting the problem, the pipe came off in our hands. Some yutz had put a brass fitting on a bronze sea strainer. This doesn't work due to galvanic corrosion. So, off I went to the marine store to find a new part. The had the part I was looking for in bronze! I came back to the boat and we reassembled everything. At 2:00 PM AST I headed back to the marina to wait for our first package. At 5:00 PM, I gave up waiting and headed back to the boat, since at 6:00 PM we were being treated to dinner by the friends that we had helped that morning.