Monday 18 January - The Verdict is In

Monday 18 January - The Verdict is In
The mechanic came to the boat several times, did his tests, and decided that the injector pump is failing. There are other indications in addition to what I described that led him to that conclusion. This engine is old and a new injector pump will be quite difficult to find. The good news is that it can be rebuilt. Since the engine is still running quite well most of the time, the plan is to become a sailboat and head north to Turks & Caicos, sailing as much as possible. Ideally I will only use the engine to enter and leave port. Departure is depending on the wind. It is about 400 miles, and if I can average 5 knots I can do it in four days, three nights. Am tentatively planning to depart Tuesday, tomorrow, which would put me in TCI Friday afternoon.
When we were trying to figure out the engine problem, there was a little pow-wow between the mechanic named Alva, his friend and part-time helper whose name is Tuckett, and me. The engine issue was settled, and I mentioned that I wanted to find the church. Alva said,"Tuckett can help you." It turned out that Tuckett is one of the pillars of the church, the church I wanted to go to Christmas, and the one I went to the last time I was in the Virgin Islands. So Tuckett picked me up at 08:15 Sunday morning and took me to church. It is a beautiful church in the woods on the side of a mountain overlooking the ocean. And BOY can those folks sing! From the first: "As with gladness men of old Did the guiding star behold" to the last: "Christ Jesus Lord from heav'n above, Cum dung to all a we;" The Lord's Prayer done to in calypso. Songs throughout the service. It was wonderful. The Second Sunday in Epiphany is Normandie and My anniversary, and the reading was when Jesus and his mom went to a wedding, and turned water into wine. Thank you, Normandie, for the years you have given me.
The church is named St Luke's. There was a banner there that didn't make sense. It was about St Thomas the 6th, or more exactly it said: St Thomas VI. I know that popes and kings are named in succession, but I didn't know that there were more than one St Thomas. Then I realized that it was not St Thomas the 6th, it was St Thomas, Virgin Islands.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II