After a light breakfast to finish up the last of my homemade banana bread and coffee, today was another maintenance intensive day, and with teamwork we made a lot of headway in completing items on our list. I dug out a bucket from the cockpit port lazerette, tied a line to it and used seawater to clean the cockpit. Fortunately I remembered this time to close the hatch into the aft cabin BEFORE doing that so as not to turn it into an indoor swimming pool down there (most people only have to do that once to remember the next time). One of the things you learn quickly on a boat is “always protect your bed” – because if go ashore and forget to close that hatch over the berth and one of those typical tropical showers (often more like monsoons) happens while you’re away, it can
make for a very wet and uncomfortable night. Tim took on the chore of cleaning up the port lazarette which is about the size of a small household closet but located under the cockpit seating area. Access to parts of this area involves climbing down into the lazarette – because here we store not only our docking lines and fenders on a high shelf, but also below we have fenders, kayak paddles, boat hooks, and other miscellaneous gear. We worked together to organize and repair any gear in the lazerette that needed work - taping frayed lines, checking and removing rust from spare anchor tackle (chain and rode), cleaning and restowing life jackets, etc.
Tim also climbed down into the other somewhat smaller area in the transom (very back of the boat) and inspected our steering system and cleaned other equipment in the aft area as well. We’ve found it a good idea to check out that steering system once in a while, because once after we had delivered the boat from BVI to Grenada, we were in Mayreau (here in the Grenadines) a
few days later when Tim happened to hear a bumping noise in the transom, and when he checked he discovered our entire steering system (tiller, rudder) had lost some of their bolts and were just another bolt or two away from making our steering system completely useless. It was a pretty scary realization, because I have a friend down here who lost a boat on the reefs due to steering problems. Tim and our hired skipper for the delivery, Kevin Parsons, spent the next few hours scouring the small island of Mayreau for any available bolts that might work (not to many Ace Hardware or Walmarts on Mayreau don’t you know), and they finally found some from some local gentleman who had a machine shop and worked on engines. It was a case of “making it work” but it did the job and allowed us to continue onto Carriacou, albeit a few hours behind schedule so we arrived and dropped anchor in the dark. But then, that’s another story….So getting back to our projects today, our next taks was to make measurements for privacy panels for either side of cockpit along the lifelines (heavy mesh fabric). This is probably our biggest single splurge this trip, since it will create at least some minor privacy for me when I’m alone on the boat later. Earlier this week Tim spoke w a very nice lady at Bequia Canvas & Sails about making them for us, and we were delighted to discover they can make them this week in just a day or two for about 287 EC (that’s only $107 US, and I’m guessing they’d be double or triple that in US). Tim has also researched getting a replacement battery for our spotlight (one of those West Marine things) which is invaluable for night approaches into a harbor, or even at anchor if someone goes overboard at night or any other night time difficulties arrive. While it appears no one on island has this type of replacement battery pack, after some additional examination he discovered the spotlight actually works without the battery using the 12 volt
adaptor (cigarette lighter) on our boat, and since it has a pretty cord, we’re in business even without the battery.After a quick break for a cold lunch on board of salad w/cucumbers, tomatoes and artichoke hearts and deviled egg sandwiches (and chocolate chip cookies for dessert!), we continued with our project list. Next on our checklist was to sort through all our owner’s manuals for the various equipment and systems on board, and to inventory what manuals we have and study them for the systems we have that need some attention. I wrote technical manuals for a number of year for various software companies, so I’m one of those people that actually reads them. It was kind of funny to discover that after all these years (13) of owning this boat, it was just now that I discovered what that small access port under the 3rd step on companionway steps is used for – it’s a safety feature that allows you to insert the fire extinguisher hose into the port in the event of an engine compartment fire – so you can fight the fire without the risk of opening the entire engine doorway under the steps. Someone was
thinking there.We took a small break later when one of the local vendors, Billy, paddled by on his wind surfer board carrying his handmade jewelry for sale (he also sells fruits and vegetables on some days). I’m a huge fan of things I can buy from the person who actually makes them, so as you can see by the photo, I bought a bracelet and ankle bracelet to match (ankle bracelets are one of my favorites). The jewelry is made with strong fishing line underneath, so Billy kindly adjusted the ankle bracelet to fit while we watched). We asked his price for both items, and we agreed to his request of $25 EC (about $9 US).
That’s all I have time to write today, so have a good night!
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