Share the Sail Bahamas: Day 1 — Marsh Harbor…Stuck at the Dock with a Bad Water Pump

Our Lagoon 42 at the dock with its Highfield dinghy on the davits

Unlike the Share the Sail last year in Croatia where I arrived days early to explore Trogir, this year due to work and other obligations, I arrived in Marsh Harbor the day we boarded the boats. Fortunately, despite a bit of questionable weather, and a one-hour mechanical delay, I did arrive by noon Saturday, plenty of time to grab lunch and chat with friends from previous sails before we boarded.

Snappa’s signature Mahi burger and fries as we waited to get on the boats

With two drink coupons in hand, I ordered a Mahi sandwich and a local cocktail for lunch and settled in to relax and chat for a few hours until it was time to move into our boats. For this voyage, we were on a Lagoon 42, with 4 cabins and 4 heads. Unfortunately, the 42 only has an enclosed shower in the rear two heads with the larger cabins, so my single birth in the starboard forward cabin only had a sink and toilet. Technically, there was a shower head, but using it meant soaking the entire bathroom, so I just made arrangements with the couple in the rear cabin to use their shower as needed. That was much easier, and much less messy.

Starboard Forward Cabin on the Lagoon 42

The forward cabin has an almost queen bed with the corners cut short, and lots of storage, especially compared to the MonoCat in Croatia, which had 6 tiny cabins and 6 tiny heads in a 46-foot monohull, that was just crazy. I won’t be chartering that boat again! I could even stand up fully in this cabin, and this boat had air conditioning, which we used quite a bit, as even in early November in Marsh Harbor it was quite warm during the days at anchor. Thankfully, at night it was fine just to open hatches, so we didn’t need the generator and AC running the entire time. This was good because this boat had an enormous generator right next to my cabin, almost as large as the one at my house, so it was very loud.

The main salon on the Lagoon 42

The main salon of this 42-foot catamaran was plenty large enough for the 6 of us, two couples and two singles. We spent most of our time outdoors in the rear cockpit, however, so other than cooking we weren’t inside too much of the time. There was enough seating in the rear cockpit for everyone, so we could lounge and even eat outside in the breeze and fresh air.

The raised helm has a large wheel and a great view of the surroundings

After moving my stuff in and unpacking, I did a bit of boat hopping, checking out the other boats in the flotilla, we had several 46-foot Lagoons for the larger groups of 8 or more, and a few other fancier boats chartered by some of the ‘old school’ groups who all know each other and have been doing these sails for many years. They always plan ahead and tend to want something nicer than a Lagoon, which is one of the cheapest catamaran sailboats you can charter in most of the Caribbean.

Dinner and American Football the first night at Snappa’s in the marina

Later that evening, we headed back to the marina for dinner and drinks…a recurring theme throughout the week. There were American college football games on the TV as well, so it was a fun night. Heading back to the boats, the marina was lit up nicely, and the sky was clear, though nothing like the amazing night skies later in the week when we were at anchor and far from bright lights that dim the stars these days.

A beautiful clear first night at the marina

As we would soon find out, however, our main water pump was not working in the boat, meaning we could not flush toilets, take showers, or use the sinks. It would turn on, work fine for the first few minutes, then trip the breaker and stop. We could reset it, but it would just trip again. We tried to get someone to check it out that evening but all the maintenance workers had left for the night, so we had to wait.

The next morning, some guys came to check it out, but after several hours of messing with it, they still had not tracked down the issue. They replaced the pump, filters, and some of the wiring, but it kept tripping the breaker, especially when the shower was running. Likely, there was some blockage they couldn’t locate in the pipes, which caused too much pressure on the pump. In the end, they got it working well enough that it would run for a few minutes each time. If you were careful in the shower, and only ran the water a few seconds at a time, you could get through a shower without tripping it. However, there were a few times when someone would have to bang on the walls and get someone else to flip it off and on again…such a pain the whole week.

At least we discovered this while we were still at the dock, so we were able to use the facilities at the marina, including showers. We also had time in the morning to walk to a nearby grocery for additional items. Eventually, we headed out but were too late to stop at the planned snorkeling area, though we did stop at the bar at Tahiti Beach and got pictures on the water swing!

Please follow along next time (Link Soon!), when we get the propellor caught in a mooring line prompting our neighbors to help us get loose.

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Thanks so much, and safe travels!

Share the Sail Bahamas Series

• Previous Post: *Getting There — Houston to Marsh Harbor*
• Next Post: Day 2 — *Tahiti Beach and Hope Town…The Day We Wrapped the Prop in a Mooring Line*