Dinghy and Fan Belts Sagas

January 20, 2011

Where to start today? Yesterday would be a good place I think
The following incident Bob found funny and I can see the humour now but last night I was doing the What if…thing?
At about 5 pm we took the dinghy in to shore. Bob was off to buy a fan belt (fan belt story to follow) and I took the dog for a walk. We had a meal and by then it was getting dark but it was a bright night so we weren’t worried about finding our boat. There were large waves and when we pushed out we thought we were in between big waves. Patches and I got in the dinghy and Bob pushed us out farther. Then he crawled in over the back. I was facing forward and suddenly the boat jumped ..I thought Bob had gunned the motor. At that point I looked back to tell him to cut it out, and there he wasn’t. Simultaneously with that discovery I heard him yell. By now the boat is attempting to go in circles and I can’t reach the throttle. Oh yes and I have Patches on my lap. Bob yelled at me but the surf drowned him out. At that point I grabbed the key, and removed it not knowing what else to do. I considered jumping out with the dog but that would leave a crazy dinghy on the loose. Yes that was the thing to do and what Bob had yelled at me to do. During this time Patches collar and harness had come off over his head. How or why I don’t know but I suspect he was struggling in all the pandemonium. I learned from Bob that a wave hit the dinghy at the back but on the left side. That bounced him out of the boat just after he had started it. He thought the boat had overturned but when he stood up he saw the boat going forward and I was looking ahead oblivious to what had happened because I was facing forward. Bob was convulsed with laughter when he got into the dinghy. I was not! End of story.

This morning we left Chamela Bay and were back in about 2 hours. Now you will hear the fan belt story.
Yesterday Bob realized that the fan belt on the boat was too long. In a marina this never showed its true nature but when the boat sat for a day or two then the fun began. I don’t know if I mentioned the rubber burning smell that we had noticed last week. When we left La Cruz Marina there was no smell of rubber burning so we assumed it was insulation falling on the hot engine. We were totally incorrect about that. The fan belt was too long and when the batteries were down the alternator kicked in and the sloppy belt slipped and got really hot and smelled like yes burning rubber. Bob bought a new fan belt yesterday and it was just a little too tight. We had just set out this morning and I was below to check to see that all was well. The voltmeter went from charging to NOT. We removed the engine cover and there was the belt not where it should be. At that point Bob replaced the new belt with the old one and off we went. Batteries were charging and all seemed well. Then there was a ringing sound and at that time Bob said that we had problems. I went below removed the engine cover and there was the old belt now broken. Now we can’t run the engine so Bob puts up a sail. Of course there is no wind.
He then puts up the main sail and with the 2 sails we did some sailing at about 1 knot per hour. This is the only time on this trip that we have moved by sail alone.
Suddenly Bob sprints below, turns the intact belt inside out and puts it on. Yes it worked. Then we motored back into Chamela bay and anchored in our old spot. Bob is now off to buy fan belts.
Bob returned with 3 fan belts. Amazing but having the right size belt seems to work. We ran the boat for about an hour with no smell of burning rubber. Batteries are recharged so everything seems to be working in that area.
Bob had another dinghy incident today. When he went to buy fan belts he landed on a different beach where the surf is much bigger. He was rowing (as it takes so much time and effort to put on the motor) so he thought that he would surf onto the beach. That plan failed in so far as Bob wanted to surf in forwards. Somehow the dinghy turned 180 degrees and he surfed onto the beach backward. Bob jumped when it hit the beach, in fact you might say he hit the beach a running.