A SHORT WALK ABOUT ON A SUNNY DAY(or In Search of a Nissan Carburator)

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

SMALL RESIDENTIAL LANES NEAR PRICKLY BAY

Today it is time for a day trip into town for parts & pieces .  While living aboard, anchored by beautiful islands, I have become far to comfortable with staying on the boat & watching the world go by.  I seem to stay busy with, daily chores, laundry, reading and swimming.But there are times when you need more interaction with other people.  Before leaving the boat we were up kind of early for us, 9AM, and fired up BOB the water maker. We need to make water for the next 5 days before we leave the boat. 

At about noon Bob had finished. We boarded the dinghy and were off to the dock.  The weather has been blustery, with scattered light showers for the last 5 days.  The end of a Tropical Wave that came off Africa is finally passing us by.  In its wake the weather is humid, breezy and a bit cooler.  A good time for walk, first stop Budget Marine to try and order a carburetor for our 18 hp Nissan outboard. Our OB has been in the shop for about a week. They finally gave up after trying to turn 2 old carbs into 1 good one. No luck. We need a new carburetor.  We put on our backpacks and were off.

THE FLOWERS ARE BEAUTIFUL IN NOVEMBER

Our dinghy motor is making Rod crazy one more time.  We decided to bite the bullet and buy a brand new carburetor in order to maintain his sanity. Our motor is an 18hp Nissan which we have been told takes the same parts as a Tohatsu.  They can be repaired using the same manual. With a little prompting from Rod the parts men at Budget looked up the parts for the Tohatsu (they do not deal with Nissan parts).  Bingo!  The Budget Marine in St Maarten has two carburetor's in stock.  Like magic, and $300 US later, one is on its way to us and will be express shipped,  delivered by next Tuesday, verses container shipment which will take 3 to 4 weeks.   Remember, we are running on Island Time.  No one is in a hurry.

IT TURNS DARK BY 6:30PM & THE SKY FILLS WITH STARS

That taken care of, we head back toward home.  On our way we passed CK's Discount Store.  Diet Coke, Tonic Water and cookies were on our list.  We are also in need of  some mayonnaise, but for $8 US a quart we passed for now.  We finished our purchase and headed back up Lanse-Aux-Espines for the final hike toward Mt. Hartman Bay.  We returned to It's Perfect just in time for Sun Downers in the cockpit and discussed our good fortune in finding motor parts only a week away.