We are still in the boatyard, I had guessed we would be here for about three weeks and it has been two and a half so far. I am estimating another two at most. We have been busy. We decided to pull the mainmast and have it painted. There was some corrosion and we would be able to repair it and give everything a close inspection. Having the mast pulled was the easy part.
I had gotten everything ready the day before and it took less than an hour. That's when the work started. I spent two days with a three pound hammer and an impact driver removing everything I could from the mast. Most of these screws had been in place since the original construction in 1981. The mast is aluminum and the screws are stainless steel. There is a chemical reaction with two dis-similar metals and they will seize together. A lot of PB Blaster, a penetrating oil, was used and a lot of force from the driver. My arms ached for days. Our painter got busy once everything was removed and stripped the old finish and got it ready for painting. We were delayed several days while we waited for the welder to repair some spots with severe corrosion. He did an excellent job of filling in and then grinding down the problem areas. Finally it was time to paint. Painting aluminum involves a number of steps. First it needs to be cleaned, then etched so the paint will adhere, then primed and finally painted. This was all done in an afternoon.
It is now sitting over the weekend to let it cure.
While all of this has been going on Cori has been polishing the stainless pieces that have been removed. She has borrowed a grinder with a buffing wheel and is giving everything a good going over.
Other things have been happening also. We have been having a problem keeping the batteries charged so it is time to change them out. We use six 6 volt golf cart batteries as our main house bank. When changing out batteries you have to replace them all at the same time or the older ones will drag down the new ones to their level. Fortunately this doesn't happen very often but it is an ongoing cost of cruising. The Budget Marine store next to the yard carries the ones I need. An order was placed and when they were ready we made a trip to Customs to declare them and they were ready to be installed. The yard provided us with a forklift and driver to raise them up instead of carrying them up the ladder.
This is what $8400 TT (Trinidad and Tobago dollars) will buy. It isn't that bad since it converts to $1200 in US dollars. The reason for the trip to Customs was so that we would not have to pay the 14% VAT (value added tax or as we call it, sales tax). We should get at least six years of use if I take care of them.
Another project was to finish up the windlass install. It did not come with the proper size gypsy to fit our chain so that needed to be switched out. I had bought the right one over the summer and brought it with us. I found that I would have to remove the windlass in order to make the switch. That went well. I was also going to add a chain-stopper to guide the chain as it was going in and out. Once I got the mount for that made and decided where it needed to be placed I realized I needed to remove the windlass once again in order to access the underside of the deck to bolt it down. I am now very proficient at removing and installing the windlass.
It hasn't been all work. We stop around 5:00 or beer-thirty to sit back and have a couple of beers with some of the other cruisers. Sunday afternoon is time for dominoes. Cori sends me to play and tries to get more work done without me in the way. Thursday was Thanksgiving and in previous years we have joined the other cruisers for a pot luck dinner. This year there are only about three of us from the US so it didn't happen. Thursday evening is BBQ night where they fire up a grill and you bring something to put on it and a dish to share. We spent the evening with three Canadian couples and grilled some chicken. The day did not go by without some turkey being eaten. Here is what lunch looked like:
This last Saturday we made a run to the public market. It wasn't that we needed much, it is just another adventure. Here are some photos:
Tomorrow we start putting the hardware back onto the mast. Once that is done we will schedule having them reinstalled and continue with the projects. Several of them can't be done until the mast have been re-stepped.
Did I mention that it is hot? Everyday is about the same, 80-90 degrees during the day with a rain shower most afternoons that really kicks the humidity up and then down 70 at night. We have an air conditioner so we are able to be comfortable and can get out of the heat at times. Here is a typical weather forecast:
I have taken advantage of a good Internet connection to add a lot of photos. I hope you enjoy them, I won't always have a good connection.
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