I've often wondered what an earthquake would feel like if one were afloat. Today a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck deep, just about 26 miles off Roseau, the captial of Dominica. I was sitting at the saloon table and Maryann was in the marina's gazebo when it struck. I felt the table move, "rumble" is the best description I have. Workmen were installing our new refrigeration system at the time and I wonder what in the world they'd done to the boat! I was sufficiently puzzled to actually get up and stand by the companionway to see if I still felt the rumbling.

A short while later someone came on the local VHF radio cruiser's channel and announced we'd had an earthquake. Well, it was actually centered about 300 miles to the north. But it was felt strongly here in Trinidad. Maryann said the entire gazebo structure shook and she was worried about all the boats stored on the hard as their masts were shaking something fierce.

Haven't heard any reports from Martinique or Dominica, other than some fairly minor structural damage. But then I imagine as we hear more we'll get a clearer idea of what happened.

Meanwhile, we're nearly done with our seemingly inexhaustible list of boat chores. We might actually leave Trinidad behind one of these days! Stay tuned for an update (with pictures) of our recent outing to a couple of local bird sanctuaries, the Asa Wright Nature Preserve, and the Caroni Swamp Preserve.

Hello Everyone!

Coral Cove Marina in Chaguaramas, Trinidad is beginning to feel like home. Yes, we're still here. An attitude adjustment has helped me accept that we are not setting sail in early November as anticipated. As much as I enjoy our cruising lifestyle, it is challenging at times to let go and go with the flow. The producer in me wants to keep to the schedule.

On the right is a photo of the Chaguaramas Harbor at sunset as seen from the end of our dock in Coral Cove.

Seems we humans need the company of others who share our plight. Brings to mind "Wilson" in the movie Cast Away. There is comfort in swapping stories with other cruisers about their boat issues and the length of time they've been in Chaguaramas. It helps put our time here in perspective. More than one cruising couple has been here for months! The good news is that we are meeting lots of folks and familiar faces are seen everyday. Susan, on Hakuna Matata, is an experienced canvas sewer. She's sewn all the upholstery, sail covers and canvas work on her boat. I've pestered her with questions on how to design and construct the awning. Yes, I have books, but it is not the same as having access to a knowledgeable person. Devi, on Arctic Tern, is a yoga instructor and taught yoga classes twice a week until last Thursday when she and her husband set sail. Nothing like an hour of yoga at 7:00 a.m. to start the day! Rose and Tom on Sojourn are the kind of people who will just help out. Out of oil for a recipe? Need the shower room key? Want to know how to get the propane tank filled? Tom and Rose can help and if they can't, they'll direct you to someone who can.

There is a large group of North Americans here in Chaguaramas including cruising families. As a result a Halloween celebration with trick-or-treating was organized by some of the parents. The kids, about 12 in all, were taken from marina to marina in a large dinghy. Fun to see a boatfull of costumed children! We all knew they were coming and were prepared with treats as it had been announced on the VHF radio. So different from last Halloween, when Ken and I were anchored off the bight at Morehead City, NC preparing for our first overnight passage to Charleston SC.

As we head north up the island chain this season, we'll know other
cruisers. Bumping into folks we've met here and along the way will add to the adventure.

Although we're all at one destination now, when the cruisers leave they'll scatter across the oceans. Many will stay in the Caribbean. Others will head south to Venezuela. Some will sail west to Panama and then across the Pacific, and others will eventually cross the Atlantic. It is inspiring to hear where people have been and where they plan to go. Although we cruisers are for the most part a mature group of people, beyond the recklessness of our youth, there is no lack of courage in this community.

As for what keeps us here--waiting for work to get done and boat chores. Ken put up his "to do" list on our site, svAurora.com. Although it is his list, I get to help out with many of the tasks. =^) "Maryann, can you get me the green-handled crescent wrench?" "Maryann, where is the transmission fluid? And the funnel and the hand pump?" "Here, grab this line." As for my list, it's mostly non-system tasks like staying on top of vendors so we can get the boat work done (sounds a bit like producing), managing the marina office so we can continue to extend out stay, sewing, bright work (varnishing and stainless), web site maintenance, financial stuff and insurance stuff. I also have the fun "household" tasks of shopping, laundry and cleaning. All of which take more time on a boat that in a house.

The awning design is done. Although it is just a glorified tarp, it took me awhile to figure it out. I've decided to do another small sewing project before tackling the awning. I'm making a cover for my folding bike. Last season, we wrapped the bike in a gray tarp and tied it to the handrail with a length of line. Although the bike made it to Trinidad and still works, it was not an attractive or convenient solution. We'll have to strap it to the rail again, but this time is will be in a linen-colored canvas covering/case that matches the bimini and dodger. And it will have its own straps to secure it to the rail. Oh, do I feel like the boat decorator. Everything will be color coordinated. Even the awning will be made out of linen-colored Sunbrella fabric. Ooooohh! ;-)

Some Aurora update readers have asked what the bimini and dodger are. My friend Sherry said she had no idea what I was talking about, but it sounded like a reggae song! The bimini is the canvas covering that goes over the cockpit to keep out the rain and sun. The dodger is the canvas and plastic covering that serves as a windshield. It also keeps out rain as well as sea water that comes over the bow. They are mounted on two separate stainless steel frames. However there is a transition piece that connects the two. In the photo I'm standing under the bimini and looking through the dodger.

And a bit of good news, the pattern for our dodger was completed yesterday. It should only take three days to make the dodger, but next week is election week and Friday is a holiday, so I expect three days to really be seven.

And more good news, I found a local man to do the varnish work on the deck. He's going to start on Monday. And our sails were returned to us yesterday. We had them inspected and repaired, routine maintenance. Boat life is nothing if not routine maintenance in a non-routine lifestyle. So progress toward leaving is being made.

Last I wrote, I had lost my cell phone. The marina phone store never did get their phone delivery. It took me two weeks of hearing that the phones will be in tomorrow to stop asking when the phones were going to arrive. I also attempted to find a phone at a local mall where there are two phone stores. After spending an entire afternoon on the outing, I learned that I could not purchase an unlocked phone. In fact I would have to have local ID at one of the two phone stores to even purchase a phone. I accepted that I will not have a phone for a while. Anyway, we are sharing Ken's phone, which now has a local sim card in it (which means we have a local phone number), so we can make the many calls required to get work done here without having to pay expensive roaming charges. Thus we do not currently have access to our U.S. Cingular numbers. But, be assured, AT&T is still getting money from us. The AT&T thing is not so easy to accept.

Just a reminder, we have a web site, svAurora.com, where we post our updates as well as location information, photos and contact info. Ken doesn't send out his updates so if you want to read his take on our journey, check it out.

And hopefully we will be sailing "up island" by December. Theresa and Dave will be spending Christmas with us. We'd like to meet them in Guadeloupe's Isle des Saints, but it is not certain. Depends on getting all of this work done. We'll see. Wherever we are, it will be a joy to spend Christmas with family.

Fair Winds!

Maryann

The transmission on the boat is fairly simple. One gear forward, one gear reverse. We had a very slight leak of transmission fluid where the forward/reverse selector enters the gearbox case. Being fairly fastidious, I didn't like the idea of leaking transmission fluid. There was actually a good chance that it came out of the transmission filler hole, since the plastic threads on the old dipstick disintegrated, allowing fluid to probably splash out. Still, it might have been leaking around the selector, and it was easy enough to pull it out, so I did.

I took the part to our local diesel mechanic, who agreed with me that the O-ring seal looked good and that it probably wasn't leaking. So I reinstalled the selector, topped off the transmission fluid, and started the engine. Terrible racket ensues. Quick, shut down the engine. Go talk to the mechanic. He asks, "where is the piece that actually moves the clutch plate forward and back?" I ask, "what piece?" He shows me an exploded parts diagram. Whoops, there's a large piece of metal floating around in our transmission. Must have fallen off when I pulled the selector. Damn. And a slew of other similar, but stronger words.

Yesterday, after nearly a day and a half, with as many as 3 mechanics working on it, the transmission is sitting on the sole in the saloon. As the lead mechanic turns it over, the missing piece falls out. Amazingly enough it's not even badly chewed up, and it appears it didn't do much, if any damage rotating around in the transmission. Of course the engine is in pieces. Had to remove cooling hoses, the turbocharger, and a bunch of other bits and pieces. Had to undo cable ties holding hoses and wiring conduits. Had to disconnect the transmission from the drive shaft. Finally had to remove the engine mounting bolts and move the engine 1/2" forward in order to get the damn transmission out of the engine compartment. Oh, and they dropped it 3 or 4 times.

Today they reassembled everything. And along the way we find a fairly massive steel plate used for attaching auxiliary equipment (like our high-output 220Amp alternator) is cracked. And the engine is no longer aligned with the drive shaft. It's out of true by 1/4", which doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it is. So the engine has to be remounted. But after that the engine starts again and the transmission appears to go forward when shifted forward and reverse when shifted reverse (better than our neighbors who managed to swap their forward and reverse).

Tomorrow they'll return to remove the auxiliary equipment sheet steel plate, take it away, weld it, and hopefully return it. Then I get to pay for this little fiasco. Let's see, I think their local labor rate is around US$50/hour. Oh, this isn't going to hurt a bit.

We are still waiting for the canvas shop to start on our new dodger and bimini. Their original estimate was to start last week, or certainly no later than Monday of this week. Tomorrow is Friday. And the refrigeration replacement won't happen until at least the end of the month. And we don't even have a tentative start date for remounting our stern seats and welding together the outboard engine hoist.

It's been a tough week. The only good thing is the majority of things on my todo list are done and I think the remainder can be knocked off soon. What'll we do? We'll actually have to resume cruising, at least until we can return for the remaining work.