I know what you're thinking... By now, 7 days into their trip, they have found themselves a nice sandy beach, umbrellas in their cocktails and hats on their heads, and their only worry is re-applying sunscreen every couple of hours while checking frozen snow images on the Facebook walls of friends they left behind in the cold...
Well... Not just yet...
We landed in Puerto Rico on Tuesday afternoon, and got to Fajardo that evening. The boat with the crew arrived at the marina around the same time and we have agreed to meet them in the morning. 
It was good to meet them, and great to see the boat again. They reported a good yet bumpy voyage. The boat held well except for multiple tears that must be fixed on the front sail (known as the JIB. Yes you will be learning to talk the talk). The other 'small thing' they reported was that somewhere in the last miles of the 1200 mile journey, the right engine (aka starboard engine) stopped working... Well it was running, but not turning the propeller...
Being professional sailors, they managed to safely dock with only one engine, but being less professional it is obvious we can't go anywhere before fixing the problem...
Oren took a quick look, and when he couldn't find any obvious problem, called a mechanic, who explained how the whole engine needs to be taken apart in order to find the root of the problem. Just before agreeing to take it apart Oren decided to eliminate one last usual suspect. Snorkel and mask on, he jumped in the water and dived under the boat to find the reason the engine wasn't turning the propeller was that there was simply NO PROPELLER!!!!!
Simple, right? Get a new propeller, put it on, and off we sail!
Well... Not just yet....
Turns out there are no such propellers on the island and they must be shipped from the US. Turns out they need a special spacer, which can not be found on the island either, and has to be shipped in as well... And now the race begins. Christmas is but a few of days ahead and many of the suppliers are about to close shop for 2 weeks. The marina we're staining at is nice, but it's not where we want to be for the next 2 weeks! Oren dropped everything and used his data searching talent to the max, while the kids and I focused on unpacking the boxes.
Yes. Boxes... Remember, storage space is extremely limited on the boat, and so we couldn't just pack ourselves into nice suitcases, because there's simply no place to put them on board. We did just pack our entire house into storage, so we used 3 more boxes to bring the last of our things on board.
The kids are re-adjusting to the boat fairly quickly, but it will take time (and some actual sailing) to adjust to life on a boat...
These Eliases will sail!!!
But not just yet...
Stay warm and happy,
Darya
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