Remember how I said that Craig serviced the gear shifter yesterday? Apparently he did not put it all back together again as well as he thought he did. We discovered this after weighing anchor and then not moving forward, despite a significant number of RPMs. The conversation through our headsets went something like, “I don’t think we’re moving… Why doesn’t it look like we’re moving… Are you in gear…didn’t we check transmission… we’re definitely not moving.”

Before any of you boaters suggest that we should always check the transmission beforehand, we definitely did. And it appears that we had forward gear for a moment, just long enough to trick us, and we still had reverse. While I’m sure it is technically possible to go in reverse the entire time while aiming for the next anchorage, I have to assume it would be awful for a multitude of reasons. I’m getting seasick just imagining it.

We quickly dropped the anchor again and started troubleshooting. Within 30 minutes we were underway, for real this time. Diagnosis: the gear shifter was working properly, but the screw that connects the transmission to the throttle was not fully tightened so the message was being sent from the gear shifter to the fuel governor, but the transmission was not linked.

I think Casey was maybe the most relieved with the speedy repair since she had brewed a twosie and the holding tanks were already full. She was ready to get going! (Once we are 3 miles from shore we empty them into the ocean. If you think about it, it’s probably less total poop than one whale poop.)

Onward we sail! We will be hanging out around Magdalena Bay for a couple days before getting to Cabo San Lucas. I’m considering just passing Cabo all together since Casey is supposed to fly home from there. It will feel weird when she leaves after a whole month together, hanging out all day/every day. Who will help keep me hydrated?!

As a side note, we would like to remind folks that you can send us emails (text only) at svsmallworld@myiridium.net. Every time we get one it brightens our day. I mean, there’s already a ton of sunshine down here and we’re all in great spirits, but it’s nice to know that people remember we’re out here.