Any Port in a Storm

This week one of Bristol Rose's engine mount brackets broke. Crossing from the big island of Puerto Rico to Vieques, I discovered the damage and quickly shut down the engine to prevent any stress on the remaining supports. We were able to sail the remainder of the passage.

Our friends on Slow Mocean were already on the island of Vieques. I hailed Blake on the VHF radio to ask if there looked to be any facilities in Vieques that could get the support bracket fixed. Good news there is a local machine shop and a couple of local welders that can help. Blake helped me remove the broken engine mount. The damage was worse then we had originally thought. A weld job may not be enough. We really need a replacement part. Finding the part proved to be more difficult as this is an aftermarket part, used to mount our Seafrost refrigerator compressor. It's not made by the engine manufacturer, Yanmar. I called Bill at Shannon Boat Company, the builder of Bristol Rose. Bill offered some ideas to get us operational. After a number of calls I made contact with the RV Power, the Puerto Rico Yanmar Distributor. Their customer service is disappointing; after numerous phone calls and emails, I am still waiting for RV Power to get back to me with price and delivery. Time for plan B. That means a repair of the broken bracket so that we can get to a port that can assist us with getting a new part. As the sailors of old say “any port in a storm”. 

Blake and I go to town to find a welder. We get a name. A young lady working a tourist stand in the main street knows of the welder we're looking for.  She suggests that the guys in the bar across the street could help. We ask around the bar, and sure enough one of the patrons is a friend of the welder. He is getting ready to go to Utah today. On close inspection of the damaged part the patrons of the bar tell us that the guy we are looking for does not have the equipment to make the repair. They suggest either walking 3 miles to AA Machine Shop or sit in the bar and hail down a guy in a white truck who carries welding equipment that could make the repair. 

We ordered a beer and watched the passing traffic, looking for a white truck. There he is but we're too slow to wave him down. Not to worry he will be back. After waving down the wrong truck and finishing our beer, making the 3 mile trip to AA machine shop looks the better option. The AA Machine Shop is surprisingly well equipped. Three men are busy working, one of the men approaches us. Without a word from him I hand him the broken bracket. He walks away, grinds and tacks the bracket back together.  It is offered to us for inspection, still without a word. We indicate that it looks good, thumbs up, and he then proceeds to complete the repair. It should see us through to when a new part is shipped. On completion we ask the man “do you speak English?” "Of course!" The damage is $10 for the repair, $6 for a taxi and $4 for beer.  One of the successes to be celebrated and talked about later!