Scoot Coupe (Mis)Adventure
Back to Our Holiday Cruise
As is our habbit, we were down in ample time to join our excursion. It started off somewhat suspiciously as first batch of us were picked up by a driver in a van taxi and were dropped off at a ATV rental place and told to wait in the office there. The manager there had no idea what to do with us but was trying to reach HAL excursions to find out. He had little good to say about the Scoot Coupe operator.
After a bit someone came to collect us and drove us up the road a bit where the Scoot Coupes were waiting along the side of a hilly road. The actual Scoot Coupes were cute little vehicles made by Panther Motors of Tamarac, FL. Brand new they would be marginal for this excursion given the hills involved and a 49cc engine. This lot looked like they were pieced together from units recovered from a junk yard using much baling wire, chewing gum and duct tape.
We first filled out some paper work to establish our driving credentials and limit the operator's liability. We then picked out our units and after about 1/2 hour we were ready to start our coupes and head off. Several would not start so another 20 minutes or so were spent trying to get them going or replace them with units that would at least start.
The run to our first stop at La Me Shores took a while since we had to stop while various units had problems or could not make it up hills and had to be pushed. The 49cc engines in top condition would barely make some of the hills with a running start so most of these were challenged. We finally got there about 11:30. It was an interesting site where you could see the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
After a short stop we were off again heading for Orient Bay. Shortly after this stop it was our turn to hold up the gang as our coupe just quit and show no interest in starting. We ended up getting pushed by one the ATV's being driven by the guides the rest of the way to the beach.
We finally got our coupes lined up in a parking lot near the beach. We were told to be back at the coupes in 30 minutes. We were then led to the vendor where we were to get our rum punch. We opted for a beer (our expense). By the time we had it in hand, we had about 15 minutes left. We were then told it was US$10 each to use the chairs. Lillian sat on her towel and Rod took a brief walk up the beach. As we were heading back Lillian was going to use the restroom but was told there was a charge for that since we had not rented a chair.
We were back at the coupes on time but waited about 15 minutes for the "special people". We then spent about 30 minutes getting all the coupes started. Our was running again so we were just sitting there idling. As soon as we were ready to go it quit again and no amount of coaxing would get it to start.
So we were pushed all the way back. As we passed through busier areas this was more than a bit challenging to downright dangerous. At least some of the brakes worked. Their fine "rack and pinion steering" was somewhat sloppy so keeping control as we roared down some hills was a handful and busy town intersections a but scary.
We did make it back intact if a bit sun-baked. We did get a few minutes on the beach, saw some interesting sights and had an adventure but in the end we spent at least 2/3 of the excursion sitting and waiting on roadsides.