T&T: Abacos Attitudes

[danlanier@earthlink.net]

I think this is a classic story about how the Abacos compare relative to 
larger tourist areas in the Bahamas on their willingness to be helpful. My 
9.8 Nissan outboard was really acting up. We were anchoring and using 
mooring balls in the Abacos and needed to dinghy ashore esp when it came to 
getting the dogs ashore twice a day for their business. Alicia had flown 
back to Florida to collect rent on our rental houses, so Skyler (our 
sheltie) and I were alone on the boat. I tried to get Skyler ashore and the 
9.8 finally quit. I knew it was carburetor and had tried several times to 
fix it with no success.  I had a 2.5hp as a backup, but when I put gas in 
the self contained tank, I found the tank to have split seams. This was late 
afternoon, so I pulled out the fiberglass and mended the tank and got Skyler 
ashore the next morning. Seaweed on the tide change passed 
me..............painfully slow. I remembered a fellow cruiser had good 
success buying a 15hp from Roberts Marine on Green Turtle. So I decided to 
call Jimmy Roberts on Green Turtle and see if he had a 15hp Johnson (2 
cycle) in stock. He said he did and quoted me a price, out the door, of 
slightly less than $2000. I told him I would be there the next day to get 
it. I asked about payment options (credit cards etc) and amazingly he said 
he would gladly accept a check. But I digress. The next morning, I left 
Skyler on the boat, dinghyed ashore throwing a massive wake and rocking 
every boat in the anchorage with my massive 2.5hp Nissan. We usually use the 
same taxi driver when we spend a month or more in Treasure Cay, so I had 
called "Bob" and he met me in the parking lot. He drove me to the Green 
Turtle Ferry for the run to Green Turtle. I got to the ferry dock early and 
was chatting a bit with the ferry boat drivers (father and son). I explained 
that I was going to try to get to Roberts Marine, get the new outboard, then 
still make the ferry back to Treasure Cay by the next ferry. Skyler was not 
a total boat dog yet and I didn't want to leave him by himself in the 
anchorage for more than 3 hours (partly because there are number total 
a**holes that wake the hell out of boats in that anchorage). Anyway, he 
tells everyone to get on the ferry, then the dad tells me to get on his 
ferry...........by myself. He then takes me straight to Roberts Marine Dock 
and drops me off. On the way across, he radios Jimmy Roberts and tells him 
the short version of what I am trying to do. I didn't know he had done this 
(those boats are sooooo loud that I don't know how they hear their own 
radios) until he pulled out his wallet and was giving me money back. He said 
Jimmy wanted to spend quality time with me with the new outboard and didn't 
want to worry about catching the next ferry back, so they refunded me half 
of the round trip ticket I paid them. He told me Jimmy said he would take me 
back across the Sea of Abaco in his Whaler. Jimmy covered everything about 
the new motor, we even sat in his office (almost as cluttered as mine) and 
he logged on and registered the motor etc. BTW, one of his biggest headaches 
is the rumor that the warranty is no good in the states. Bombarier owns 
Johnson and honors the warranty world wide. When we finished, he loaded the 
outboard on his Whaler, and we made the trip back across the Sea of Abaco. 
He radioed halfway across to be sure that "Bob" was waiting in his taxi. He 
wasn't but was there when we arrived. We loaded the outboard in the taxi and 
headed back to the dinghy dock at Treasure Cay. I told Bob that I needed him 
to drop me off at the dinghy dock so I could move the dinghy around to the 
boat ramp where it would be easier to get the new outboard on the dinghy. 
Instead, he flagged down a friend of his, Luke, and had him meet us at the 
dinhy dock to help get the outboard on the dingy. I certainly, and 
gratefully, tipped all very well for their help (except Jimmy, he wouldn't 
even let me buy him lunch). As an aside.........I ran into Jimmy in the 
grocery store a couple of months later. He reminded me that I should bring 
the outboard back for the first service. I asked him how much that would 
run, and he said it would cost me nothing. At that service he changed the 
foot oil, spark plugs, greased all the fittings, etc. I don't know when I 
got a total service experience close to this in the states. Also, once I had 
a dependable outboard for getting us and the dogs ashore, I had the time to 
tear down the 9.8's carburetor. I pulled all the jets, hooked up my air hose 
to the dive cylinders and blew everything out. Needless to say, after buying 
the 15hp, the 9.8 now runs like a swiss watch. go figure. The bottom line 
is, in the Abacos, if you don't act like a rude tourist, explain your 
position and what you need, most people will go out of their way to help you 
out. It really is a great cruising ground. Can't wait to get back over there 
in November.........hopefully.

Dan Lanier
Gulfstar 43 Danali Star
Lying Vero Beach Florida