April 1 - 9, 2006

Houma, Louisiana

We'd heard that Houma, Louisiana, is a "must stop" and we heartily agree. We
are convinced that this pleasant little place is our salvation and in no way
responsible for the misfortune that befell us the day after our arrival and
would extend our stay to almost two weeks.

The morning, just happened to be April 1, otherwise known as April Fools Day
in the U.S.  We had no idea any practical jokes were planned for us until
Jim went into the engine room just to check on things.  There, he discovered
a problem that had to be repaired before we could resume our journey.

So we counted our blessings to be at a dock here with a good chance of
getting parts and service and not in a remote anchorage or place ravaged by
a hurricane.  It appeared at first to be just one of those things that boats
do to get your attention when they think you haven't spent enough money on
them lately.

We did not have a car, and knew nobody in town, but we had the use of a
phone book, and phone and Internet access, when Jim began his quest for some
way to lift a 1,258 pound engine, find replacement nonstandard size parts
for a 22-year-old boat, and a mechanic in case of damage to the
transmission.

The difficult part would be to convince co-captains Rosie and Cinder that
the floor was removed to give the crew and other humans access to the engine
room underneath, and not to provide the cats another place to explore.  And
the humans did not desire supervision, even if purrs were offered.  No,
indeed.

Instead, the cats had to endure the indignity of being shut in the bedroom
while strangers came and went and made unfamiliar noises on the other side
of the door for several days.

As Jim tackled the frustrating mechanical problems and the cats endured
temporary incarceration, I noticed other indications that this may not be an
ordinary problem at all, but perhaps the work of gremlins that were up to no
good.

One ominous sign was that the carnation buds I bought did not bloom.  This
is highly unusual for carnations.

But it was the three large putrid, bloated catfish that appeared out of
nowhere and with at least 200 feet of dock and several other boats to
offend, settled out of reach under the dock right next to Genesis, that
convinced me that this was an April Fool joke planned and executed by
gremlins.

But, we persisted, and thee cats endured, and eventually, Jim located four
new engine mounts that only needed a slight alteration to fit, and a
mechanic who helped him install them and who found and installed a
replacement transmission and even exchanged one of our empty propane tanks
for us.

Perhaps the gremlins grew bored with us.  Perhaps Rosie and Cinder were able
to chase them away.

The engine was running again. Some of the carnation buds began to bloom. The
three catfish floated out from under the dock.  Jim scooped them up with a
net and disposed of them.

It appears all is well, except that the shipment of the electronic
navigation chip that Jim ordered to be delivered last Friday has been
delayed because of a mechanical problem  with the plane containing the
shipment.

We will stay in Houma until it (the chip) arrives.

Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further delays
would be much appreciated.  Next we go past New Orleans, across the
Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the Mississippi
coast.  We probably will not have cell or Internet service for a few days.

Purrs are on the way from our end to all in need.

Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder