Things definitely did not go to plan – stuck in Bahai.

“19:11.680N 69:21.31W”

6126 Miles since leaving Sandwich.

16th May 2023

It is now four weeks since I last put pen to paper full of confidence that we would get the engine fixed and have a quick turnaround before getting back onto the scheduled trip up through the Bahamas. That obviously did not happen. After cleaning out the tanks and filtering the good fuel back into the tanks the engine stubbornly refused to start. Eventually it was decided that the injectors were blocked, and they were removed and sent to Santo Domingo for refurbishment. On their return the engine started for all of 5 minutes and then stubbornly refused to run again. This time the mechanical fuel pump was stripped out and sent to Santo Domingo for repair. Word came back that we could get a new one for $1000 and we took that option. Several days later it turned up and was the wrong model. Dilsen our local mechanic was very upset by this and quickly organised us getting our original pump refurbished as per plan A. This dually arrived after the weekend and guess what, the engine would not start. You could tell that Dilsen was embarrassed by this, and he organised that the pump specialists would send their guy down at no extra cost to us and that the injectors would get sent off again for a second refurbishment also free of any extra charges. A couple of days later the specialist arrived and worked on the engine for two days solid eventually deciding that the stop solenoid was the problem. A new one was called for and arrived the next day, you guessed it, from Santo Domingo. This was fitted and the engine started. We turned the engine off and it wouldn’t start again. The next 4 to 5 days was spent trying different things until in a moment of inspiration I got up early in the morning and before anyone turned up took out the new stop solenoid. When I compared the plunger to our old one, I found that there was a slight difference in the depth which could result in fuel being starved. I told Dilsen this and the specialist using Gavi from the marina as an interpreter and we all decided this could be the problem. After swapping it over the engine fired only to stop again an hour later. Again, the fuel system was stripped and this time they found that the electrical lift pump wasn’t pumping much fuel from the tanks. This was replaced with an alternative which seems to have fixed the problem. Note: I also brought two extra electrical pumps as backups and that leaves us stinking of diesel but ready to go.

The seasons are changing lightning over Bahai Marina

Now the summary, Bahai marina have been absolutely brilliant throughout, Gavi and Ronaldo the harbour masters both speak excellent English and have always been willing to help with translation or general enquiries at any time. They both have ready smiles which were employed regularly to keep me from boiling over. Dilsen (note we called him Wilson for the first week) was outstanding. He was obviously frustrated that we couldn’t get the beast running but he never gave up and was always ready to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in again when things were not working out. When the engine finally started running properly the relief all round was palpable and Dilsen was so happy that he actually picked me up in a bear hug and bounced me a couple of times which was a bit discombobulating I must say. He and his team have figuratively and literally sweated buckets getting things right for us and at the end of the day the bill was very reasonable as well. In short, I cannot recommend Bahai Marina in the Dominican Republic highly enough, we will be back. 

While all of this was going on we have also been making friends and passing time with the steady stream of yachts that passed through on their way North or South in preparation for the hurricane season.

Red sky at night, no hurricane tomorrow according to the shepherds anyway

Lady Aquataine from Australia with Ian and Basia aboard came in with no power, their freezer defrosted, and their main sail stuck halfway into the roller. They spent nearly two weeks with us as the locals tried unsuccessfully to get their all singing and all dancing Lithium power system to work again. Nothing seemed to help until the original engineer who had installed it 6 months earlier was tracked down in Curacao and gave the advice to essentially short the terminals and turn it on and off again. Everything shut down and then everything burst back into life again, bloody computers.

Callisto V an Island Packet with English couple Dave and Lynette Hardy on board came in with, “Adventure before Dementia”, proudly emblazoned along their boom and a ripped spinnaker. They spent a couple of days by the pool with us while that was getting resewed. Their spinnaker had ripped when they had to turn too tightly into the wind in order to avoid a US Coast Guard cutter that was boarding a drug runner, complete with an explosion aboard, in the middle of the Mona passage at night. All great excitement on the high seas. We did get the address of a good cheap marina in the Norfolk Virginia area from them that may be prefect for our needs later in the year. 

A rather lovely 60ft Swan ketch from Belgium moored next to us for a week and small world that it is we found out that they used to race over to Ramsgate from Ostend yearly and had spent many a happy evening in our old yacht club the Royal Temple.

We also got to know a Canadian chap in a Hanse who had shipped his yacht across country in the great lakes / New York area. I had a long talk with him about the possibility of getting Spectra lifted out of the great lakes and transported to the Pacific. He thought it was possible but would be very expensive. Anyway, he has recommended Andrew’s trucking and I will follow up on that in due course.

SV Mariposarah II hailing out of Rock Hall USA with Don and Mary Keeler aboard provided a pleasant evening of shared stories as did Nancy and John also from the good old US of A aboard Sweet Escape.

All in all, it has had its upsides being stuck in the Dominican Republic.

Norma is happy to have her baby boy back aboard.

Our original plan to go up to Nassau for a meet up with Tony our son plus Jake and Sara from crew seekers had to be shelved as time ran away from us. Tony managed to change his flight with British Airways, and we created a cunning plan to move Spectra down to Marina Cas Playa which would be near the airport. I contacted Jake and Sara giving them the bad news and we agreed to cancel their food contribution for the first week in order to offset the costs they would incur with the flight changes. With all that in place of course Spectra refused to start, and a plan B was required which would enable us to pick them all up on the 14^th and 15th. We hired a car and booked a night in an air BNB in order to make the 4-hour drive to the airport. Tony arrived on the 14^th fully loaded down with lots of spare parts including our new dinghy. After a night in the Air BNB and a mammoth shopping session to stock up for the trip to come we went back to the airport to pick up Jake and Sara who also arrived spot on time and with considerably less excess baggage than Tony. That gave us 4 hours in the car to get to know each other on the drive back to Bahai. Of course, the boat was still not ready to go but over the next two days Tony gave her an oil change while Dilsen did the final fuel pump change, we were finally ready to get out of Dodge.

Testing out our new dinghy courtesy of Tony freight services

Spectra on the dock with her deck shades on. Very nice San from Belgium next door.

I am sure I have missed loads of things here but that is a summary of the last four weeks of frustration and expense as we have got Spectra fit and healthy again for the adventures to come.

Jake and Sara learning how the engine works.

Goodbye Dominican Republic.