39. Paint Job

The new paint is on, and Sonic Boom, surrounded by white boats, looks very blue. I played it safe this time, and paid over $300 per gallon for Sea Hawk, but there is a black market here for cheaper anti-fouling; better commercial paint that fell off the back of a tanker, or from a friend of a friend who knows a captain that bought too much…

2 gallons of Sea Hawk Island 44 plus blue later

[The boat on the right has a concrete hull – I’ve never seen one before. Tom told me they were popular in the 70s, especially for self builds]

So busy in the yard. The white stripe around my hull is peeling badly, so I scraped, sanded and painted it, twice. I put on new letters, but I had to also paint the stern first. The dinghy is cleaned, lightly sanded, glued and pumped. I cleaned the old outboard and sold it for a hundred bucks – about what it cost to fix up the new one. It’s non-stop boat maintenance until re launch on Friday.

New letters - thanks Chris 

I cleaned my propeller with muriatic acid – a trick I learned in St. Martin. Before I go back in the water I will smear it with grease. Tom’s going to cover his with Sharpie magic marker ink, Pim put Propspeed on his, but it’s very expensive, Trinity put hot sauce on most things. Robert and Kerstin will be back in less than two weeks, it’s so exciting, I can’t wait to see them. They will head to the Panama Canal so hopefully we can sail together until Curacao.

PS

Just a reminder: if you type your email address into the box (on the right of the page), new posts are emailed to you automatically.

38. On the Hard, or My Johnson just got Bigger

I hauled out at Peake’s Marina on Monday. I was worried my anchor would be difficult to get up after nearly five months, 35 feet down, in silt. When I got back from teaching on Saturday afternoon, I saw a free mooring ball and asked Tom to help me move on to it. It meant Monday morning I just had to untie and motor over to the haul out dock.

In the sling

Very exciting to see Sonic Boom being lifted out of the water. The bottom was scraped and power washed. Last time I cleaned the bottom, or tried to, I was chased off by thousands of little shrimp things that bite, two big crabs who were living happily on my rudder, and a kind of orange blob that popped out of what looked like a huge barnacle, and then sprouted yellow feelers.

Flying

Next is sanding and two coats of paint. I’m scheduled to go back in on Friday. I can’t wait.  It’s weird being out of the water; all the bounce has gone, everything on the boat is rock solid. It’s not a nice feeling. A bit like running aground (although I don’t have much experience of that). Also I feel very high up, and it’s hot as hell.

Being parked

While I’m out of the water I will try to fix my dinghy, again: air’s going out and water’s coming in. Actually my dingy situation just got much better. Through some bartering and exchanging, with Tom’s help, I managed to get a much nicer outboard engine, for two crates of beer. It’s a Johnson, like the one I have, but more powerful; up from 3.5hp to 5hp. I took it to Jonathans to be serviced.  I’ll clean up my old one and try and sell it.

37. Cockpits and Testigos

I’m reconsidering Los Testigos, or even back to Grenada, as a first stop to Blanquilla. I will ask about pirates on the cruisers’ net, and see if anyone’s been there recently. Stopping at Testigos would be best, but getting stopped by pirates would be worst. Going to Grenada would mean I could buddy boat with Honey Rider, and keep well away from the Venezuelan coast.

Two sides of Chaguaramas:

There’s lots of  Cikungunya virus in the Caribbean, and it’s getting worse in Trinidad. Sabrina on Honey Rider and their neighbors both got it, and it sounds pretty bad – a week of painful joints, fever, rashes. I’m glad I’m out anchored in the bay, there’s less mosquitos here, but I’ve still got net over my hatch, a little clip on anti-mosquito fan in my cabin, citronella oil on the floor, and I spray my feet and ankles.

Sabrina finished my cockpit cushion – and transformed my life.  Four inch foam wrapped in Sunbrella. Comfy. My cockpit is over 7 feet long and quite deep; it’s a nice place to sleep. Much nicer now.

Thanks Sabrina