Oh What a Day!

The last two days have been restful and calm - exploring lovely Elizabeth Harbour in places we hadn't yet seen. Gorgeous snorkelling just a dinghy ride away from the boat, a strenuous climb uphill to the "monument" at Monument Beach with our new friend Christine (pic 1), and down to the spectacular turquoise raging atlantic ocean and its pink sand beach. Then off to the Exuma Yacht club for the usual provisioning, etc.

All seemed well as we headed back to the beach for one night, and then planning today to sail up north, finally. But the best-laid plans ...

I hear a strange noise, I say ... moments later, the engine is pouring steam into the cabin and engine coolant is all over the galley floor. My captain flies into action - "drop the anchor" - quick! We turned off the engine, let it cool, and then discovered a completely shredded fan belt. Not so bad ... but the coolant had exploded in the lazarette (for non-sailors, read storage locker) - full of stuff, now covered in pink stickiness. THAT was bad! So, two hours later, we had a new fan belt on the engine, the lazarette cleaned out completely (it needed it, anyway), coolant washed off of everything, and all of it stored again. Meanwhile, Jeff took the opportunity to change the oil in the engine - so it was a busy evening! Our gins and coconut water were more welcome than usual as the sun set and the conchs began to be sounded.

Today we're waiting for a fellow cruiser who offered to take a look at the batteries and solar panels, just to make sure everything is OK. Then we're going to try again to leave for points north ... we'll see.