Back in the Water

We are back in the water. After three and a half weeks of projects we are finally in the water.

It has been a lot of work but the time has gone fast with the last two weeks flying by but Hi Flite has never looked better.

Here is a photo to illustrate:

What is new? the teak wood along the toerail was installed this summer, the windlass was painted, the tan areas of the deck were painted and Cori repainted the white non-skid surfaces. The bow pulpit (those shiny post in the photo) had been removed and it was a couple of days job to remount it. The stanchions that hold the lifelines had to be removed and re-bedded (three days project) and those are new chocks that the dock lines will run through that you see in the photo. All of these involved two people with one trying to reach and attach nuts and bolts in a small confined space. The other big change is the new cockpit enclosure. We have had the clear glass/poly replaced in the dodger, the canvas top for the bimini replaced and now will have side curtains to keep out splashes from waves and rain. We will now be able to stay dry when sailing and when it is raining. It will be almost like having another room.  None of these projects will have to be redone for a number of years.

The other big project was to remove all of the old bottom paint, about 25 layers, seal the bottom with epoxy and then reapply several coats of anti-fouling paint.

There have been many other smaller projects, my list was a full page of a legal tablet plus others that I thought of and didn't write down. Along with painting the deck, Cori had her sewing machine out making new hatch covers among other items. Here is a photo of the materials for one of my projects:

I needed to replace the screws, nuts and washers on the Dynaplate. That is a metal plate attached to the hull below the waterline to work with the Single Side Band radio, our means of communicating and getting weather reports. What is special about them? They are gold plated, that is about a hundred dollars worth of hardware in that photo.

Cori has made several trips to town for provisions but unlike the Bahamas there are grocery stores on most of the islands. It is not necessary to stock up with as much as we have had to previously. There are a number of things that we need in volume and this is one of them:

It is LLB or Lemon, Lime and Bitters. It is sort of like a 7up or Squirt but also has Angostura Bitters. 
Angostura Bitters is one of those products you will find behind every bar and is used, if I remember my days as a bartender, in an Old Fashioned. It adds a unique flavor, Cori also likes to add a bit to her drinking water. The bitters is a product of Trinidad.

We learned a few lessons last year that we did not want to repeat. We tested the windlass and the chain wash down pump before going and anchoring. I don't want to have to pull in a hundred feet of chain and anchor by hand again and it helps to be sure the pump is working so I can wash the mud off of it before storing it away. There are a couple of systems that we tested making sure they still work after spending six months unused.

As I stated, there were a lot of small and large things done and I don't think Hi Flite has been as ready for another years adventure.

What is this years adventure going to be? Who knows? Our plan is to leave Trinidad next week for Granada, spend some time there with friends then start moving up the chain of islands visiting familiar locations and discovering new. How far north? Our plans at this time to to work our way up to Antigua and spend some time there, we haven't been there yet. At some point we will turn around and work our way back to Trinidad where we will put the boat up for another summer. We have been talking about working our way back to the States the following year and then continuing as we had previously with trips between New England and the Bahamas, once again becoming full time cruisers.

As always we keep in mind the old adage: "plans are written in sand at low tide" and are often subject to change.

Check back often, I will try to keep this blog updated often but it will depend on where we are and how good of data connection we are able to get.