Sunday 12 April 2009

The bungee cord bites!

I know that you just aren't going to believe this...but we are still at Mario's. The famous, nay infamous, bungee cord has us firmly between it's teeth, encircled in it's rubbery grip.

Everything was stowed, tanks full, paperwork in order,fond farewells said. TBH manned the lines as I eased the engine in to reverse...NOT! Nothing, nada, no movement from the gear stick. Unbelievable. Quick instructions to our helpers on the dock and we tied back up again.

After pausing for breathe TBH stripped down the steering pedestal and we found that the cable had seized. Bad marks for us. We have been so good at 'exercising'the gear on board during our lengthy stay in this humid enviroment but this was one we just didn't think about...a learning experience TBH says. Bloody irritating I say!

It's not a 'show stopper' for one we ARE a sailing boat and for two we can change the shift manually at the engine. Still we will try and source a part here on Monday, when the stores reopen after Easter. If we have no joy, it's off anyway and we'll get the daughter to bring a spare out to Belize with her later this month.

1 comment:

Ranting Sailor said...

I see that Mario's still has the reputation for being a Central American version of 'Hotel California', you can check out but you can never leave.