It's time for an update.
We are back in Trinidad working on the boat. There is always something that needs to be
done. Cori has been here for five weeks
and has been buffing and polishing almost non-stop. I am not sure Hi Flite has ever looked
better. I arrived three weeks ago and
have been checking off jobs while adding more to the to-do list. Every job seems to create several more. For example: there was a small leak above the
nav-station. It had caused a shelf to
delaminate and was loose, also ruined a number of CD's that were stored
there. We gave it to one of the shops
here to have it remade and since it was out Cori decided it was a good time to
varnish the area. As the table top was
being sanded she found a small problem with one of the hinges (there is storage
under the tabletop) that we thought could be replaced. In order to get at it we had to remove the
two shelves under the table, and then remove the bottom of the storage area all
in order to get at the hinge from below.
Of course all of this did not help since the hinged top cannot be opened
far enough to get at the screws that need replacing. Basically the boat was built around the
station and short of a saws-all it is not coming apart. However, it all looks really nice with its
new coat of varnish and it is all more secure with the old and somewhat
corroded screws replaced.
The biggest news is that the wind generator got installed. One of the reasons we got jobs this summer
was to buy some new stuff for the boat and top of that list was a wind
generator. Just before Cori left for
Trinidad we ordered the generator to arrive just after she did so she could
pick it up after it cleared customs.
Then she had to fine a shop that could make the mount for it and arrange
for a rigger to remove the old TV antenna and install the mount when it was
ready. Now remember we are in the
islands and are dealing with "island time". Of course they need to know how soon we need
it, "no problem mon, it be ready".
After several weeks, he shows up to test fit it and says it will be
ready Thursday. Thursday comes, no
mount. Rigger gets rescheduled to
Monday. Saturday comes and here is the
mount to be checked for fit before adding the support piece. "No problem mon, it be ready
Monday". Monday morning, lo and
behold here it is and it is beautiful.
Where is the rigger? Cori finds
him up another mast and he will be here is the afternoon. Afternoon comes, no Gary, still up the mast.
"Be there in the morning" and shows up after lunch. He had been up another mast in the morning. Once up our mast and measuring, marking,
drilling and feeding the power cable it was looking good until he looked out
and said "rain in five minutes".
It was only three and work had to stop but they will be back in the
morning. Wednesday morning they are back
and after several hours the mount is mounted.
During this I have been working out where to locate the controller and
how to run the cabling. The controller
will look real good where the AM/FM radio is mounted. No problem, I can relocate that later (every
project creates several more). After
several days of working out the cables and several trips to one or both of the
supply stores it was completed. The only
thing left to do was to connect the wires and mount the generator. Friday morning Cori winches me and all of the
turkey, stuffing and other Thanksgiving food I ate the day before, up the
mast. With a minimum of cussing and a
major change in the wire connections it was mounted and tightened down. Next Cori hoisted up the blade assembly and I
got that installed and tightened down just as the wind came up and it decided
to start spinning. Once back on deck the
rain started. We had finished just in
time. A quick check of the controller
and it seems to be working. SUCCESS!!!
It has not all been work.
There is a social life here with different events scheduled such as
drumming night at one of the other marinas, pot luck and grilling on Thursdays
and music jam sessions on Fridays not to mention trips to town for shopping and
a variety of other activities. We have
been able to get into the city (Port of Spain) several times for provisions, a
new phone for use in the islands, the public market and Cori even got a trip to
a fabric store for one of her projects.
We have several other outings scheduled during the next week.
Along with all of this we have had to deal with insurance
problems. Not a claim, just trying to renew. It seems our insurance carrier decided to
stop writing marine insurance but didn't tell anyone. Also the agency got bought out. The bottom line - we have no insurance. We got several quotes but both are higher than
before, go figure, and need a new survey.
We choose a surveyor and he shows up to start going over the boat. At the end of the day he is not done and is
back the next morning. By mid-day he is
done, for now. We need to call him back
when we start working on the steering project so he can check that when we are
done. That is the next big project:
replacing some of the steering components under the cockpit. I am not sure if I can actually fit under
there and get the work done but I have to try.
There is only so much we can afford to hire out. We seemed to have picked a good surveyor
since he is looking at everything, stuff that had not been looked at in
previous surveys. Things like when were
your fire extinguishers last inspected, not just where are they and how
many. This morning we had to send all of
the extinguishers out for inspection.
The spreaders are out of alignment, so we have the rigger go up the mast
and adjust them. More unexpected $'s. He
is just looking too darn close.
The sails are back from the sail loft, and are ready to be
bent on and we will start looking like a sailboat again.
At the market
The new wind generator
Thanksgiving pot luck
