We’ve now had one night on the water. Compared to being on the hard it was bliss. Sheer bliss.
The day was quite busy. I went to the little Island Water World outlet at 8am to pick up some fast setting compound that would allow us to reseal the starboard stern trim. I paid off the sail maker next door and talked to the yard office to see if we could still get in the water that day. We arranged to go in last and if the workers were not ready, we’d postpone til Tuesday.
Helen and I then set about sealing the remaining trim at the starboard waterline. Helen then cleaned the side of the boat not realizing the polishers were coming later to finish of the gelcoat work. I performed maintenance on the outboard which meant greasing it (and myself).
As the day went by we had worker scurrying all over the boat doing the little items left to the last minute. We had a couple of fixes required around the gooseneck (the join between the boom and the mast) which was holding up our fitting the mainsail. At least this work was started.
Around lunchtime I met up with Mike from Jeannius. We’d known each other from an online forum and had met once before in St Martin. This is an out of the way back of the woods place to bump into each other again but we enjoyed catching up over a few beers at the bar. It was just as we were finishing that Helen showed up forlornly with her broken eReader desperately hoping it was fixable. A cracked display is beyond my (and I believe any) capability to repair bar replacing the component. Helen is currently looking up her warranty info in case we’re perhaps covered for this.
Back on the boat the gooseneck work had been completed so we set about putting the mainsail back on. We had just enough time to put it on and set up the lazy bag before we were to splash. In between we’d managed a test of the windlass to ensure we had no nasty surprises and sudden panics out on the water.
The boat was easily lifted and taken to the dock. Unfortunately, the boat in front of us (another catamaran) had problems with it’s diesel engines and hadn’t yet left the slip. A ladder was at hand so we could board Dignity as she dangled in the air. I threw down some of the beers which we still have left from Martinique (I’ve gone off them) for the workers while we prepd the lines for lowering.
In the end, the cat in front was manhandled out of the slip around the side to let us out. We were in and out quite quickly. We got the usual reminder/query to turn on our engines before leaving. We reminded them we were on electric power which they thought was cool.
From our perch in the cradle we’d already decided where to anchor. We headed straight for our target and dropped the hook. It stuck first time. This new anchor is a dream.
I then tested the genset for about 30 mins as well as all the A/Cs aboard. Not that we use them really but it’s good to use equipment from time to time to stop it from seizing up. All was well.
We fired up the water maker for 6 hours to fill our tanks then settled down to enjoy our new surrounds. Helen made a great curry – the first since we were last in the water.
Today we still have much to do. Our first wash is currently going. We need to get the dinghy in the water and the outboard on. We will have to put the second reefing line onto the main sail. The first reefing line will have to wait until our parts arrive late this week (or early next).
We’ll probably move Dignity down the coast later today – probably to Clarke’s Court Bay – where we are a little closer to things.
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