Dec 1
Today we are returning to MoonSail in Jolly Harbor Antigua. The past few months have been busy with getting Barb's parents settled in their new places. Her Dad has gone to a nursing home to care for him and his advancing Alzheimer's disease. We got her Mom into a subsidized seniors housing place that she can afford by herself. It took all summer for Barb to wade through the myriad of paperwork and bureaucracy to get this all accomplished, and one last major financial hurdle was still pending when we left things to her sister. This leaves her sister staying at the house we bought two years ago for them to rent from us. Next summer the plan is to clean out all the remaining stuff her folks had and get the house sold.
In mid-November we took a two week road trip to Texas. As Texas is still our state of legal residence, our car is registered there. It needed it's annual safety inspection, and Chris needed to renew his driver's license. We also wanted to see our friends there. We spent a couple days on the north side of Houston with Barb's son AJ, then three days with Barbara and Gary Salazar, old BMC friends in west Houston, then a week in Kemah with old Parrothead friends John & Pege Wright. We spent Thanksgiving with John & Pege and about a dozen other old friends came for dinner. It was a great visit.
The day after Thanksgiving we headed back to Ohio. Two long days on the road got us home Saturday afternoon. We spent Sunday and Monday sorting and packing. There were the bags to go back to the boat, stuff to stay in Ohio, and just enough warm clothes to stay in NY at my brother's a couple of days. Tuesday, we drove seven hours from Ohio to my brother's in NY State. We drove in a snowstorm almost the entire way. Looking at the weather on TV that evening, it was apparent that we had been driving east and the storm was moving east, so we kept up with it all day. Fortunately, the temperature was right at 33° or 34° all the way, so it was pretty as it collected on the trees and ground, but it didn't stick to the roadway at all. My brother and his wife are enjoying their timeshare in St. Maarten, so we had their house to ourselves.
Our bags to Antigua this year are fewer and lighter than last year. This year, instead of carrying a ton of boat parts in our bags, we shipped a barrel of stuff via Tropical Shipping. All summer as I collected boat parts, I had them shipped to my brother's. Then in October, I went to his house and packed the shipping barrel and delivered it to Tropical's terminal near Newark, NJ. It cost $170 to ship it to Antigua where I arranged for an agent to clear it through Customs before we arrived. Even with the fee for the agent, this was about the same price as what we paid for baggage fees last year with five bags and one or two overweight. And it was enormously easier on the baggage mule (me).
We leave our car at my brother's for the winter, so our original plan for getting to the Newark airport was to rent a car one-way on Friday, spend the night at an airport hotel and get our early fight Saturday morning. As I said earlier, my brother is in St. Maarten and will be returning Saturday, the same day we are flying to Antigua. His son-in-law took them to JFK and was supposed to pick them up there. However, said son-in-law got called out of town on business. So, the plan now got a little more complicated. We cancelled the rental car and drove my brother's van to Long Island on Friday. We had a short visit with my daughter and grand kids who live about thirty miles from JFK, then drove to JFK, where we parked their van in the short-term parking outside the terminal they would be arriving at. Then we were to take a shuttle from JFK to Newark. We had a reservation for the shuttle, but when I called them to say we were there, they had no record of my reservation. They didn't have another shuttle that evening, but they gave me the name of another company. They did have a shuttle going, and said we would be picked up at 8PM. This was only half an hour later than we planned, so no problem. Except that by 8:15 we hadn't been picked up. I called again and found out the driver had locked the keys in the shuttle van but he would be there soon. About 8:45 we were finally on the way to Newark. The good news was the driver felt bad, so he dropped us at the hotel instead of the terminal where we would have then had to get the hotel shuttle. In the morning, we took the hotel shuttle to the terminal. We had prepaid our baggage fees, so we were able to curb check the bags even though we were on a international flight. Antigua here we come.
We have arranged for a villa through Typically Tropical again this year. Their driver was waiting for us when we exited the terminal. It was good to be back in the tropical air after a cold fall in Ohio. We were met at the villa by one of Typically Tropical's workers and given the keys. Having rented from them before made the lady's job easy since we knew the ropes. It was about happy hour time by the time we were settled, so we hopped on our golf cart and headed for WestPoint, the marina bar. On our way there, we ran into Abu, the guy who is painting the boat's bottom with anti-fouling paint. We stopped to say hi. He said he had "found something we needed to look at", and that he would show us tomorrow. What could be wrong now? Our favorite bartender Fred was not working tonight, but he had told us via e-mail that he might try to come by the bar to show us his new baby. As it turned out, he wasn't able to make it, but we were greeted by a number of the other permanent residents of Jolly Harbor that we knew from last year. We felt more like we were back home than we did all summer in the States.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 2
In the morning we went over to the boat yard to get our first look at MoonSail. She was still in the same place where they had parked her when we left. Sometimes boats have to be moved around for various reasons, but we haven't been. Abu was there painting the bottom, and he showed us what he had found. Forward of the keel a foot or so there was about an eight inch long crack in the hull. It appeared to be fresh and dry. We know there had been to impacts to it last season, because we never went anywhere. There was no obvious evidence of what may have caused this unless the stands holding the boat up may have been bumped or something tweaking the whole hull. To further add to the mystery, our surveyor had just inspected the hull two weeks ago. Our insurance requires a survey (thorough inspection) every five years. We had kind of blown them off last year, but this year they insisted on it. So, the surveyor had done the portion of the inspection that gets done out of the water already and he didn't say anything about a crack. I'll have to call him tomorrow.
I found a ladder and climbed aboard. After our experience last year with the interior being quite moldy, Barb was very apprehensive about what we would find this time. I went aboard first and came out with the good news that there was no appreciable mold. Barb then came aboard to see for herself. The cabin needed a good wiping down with bleach and water, but it was 98% better than last year. We didn't do much aboard today except put the bimini up to give some shade in the cockpit, and move things like the fenders and dock lines on deck from where we had just tossed them into the main saloon when we left.
For lunch we went to Peter's BBQ. They are still there, and welcomed us back. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, and Annie the waitress remembered I liked BBQ sauce on the side, which is not how they normally serve the burgers, but something I started asking for last year. We have always enjoyed the cats that hang around the restaurants here, and soon after we sat down, a new little tabby cat came around. Shortly before we left last June, we knew that the black and white cat that we had called Tootsie had been in the company of one of the tabby family that hangs at the other end of the marina. When we left, she was not showing signs of being pregnant, but Annie confirmed for us that this new little tabby was indeed Tootsie's son.
About 4PM, we went to WestPoint to meet Fred and three-month-old Dustin. Fred considers us Dustin's pseudo grandparents since we have helped him a little financially over the summer, and we brought a bag of clothes for Dustin that Barb got at a second-hand store in Ohio. It was good to see them after having heard all about Dustin via e-mail during the summer. Fred left once the regulars started showing up at the bar. We had a few drinks and then went to Melini's for dinner. Again, we were remembered by Mark the owner, and Sandra our waitress.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 3
Before leaving the villa, I sent an e-mail to the surveyor to get his input on repairing the crack in the hull. I explained that I didn't have a phone yet, but I would like him to look at it. We then went back to the boat. Our main order of business today is to hopefully get our barrel delivered from the agent who has been storing it for us. Since we don't have a local phone yet, we had the marina office call Mr. Walker, the agent, and tell him to please deliver the barrel to the yard as soon as he could. We started putting things together that we can do while still on the hard. We got the rest of the cockpit enclosure put up and Barb started wiping down the interior.
A little after lunch, I saw Mr. Walker's truck coming. I waved him over to the boat, and he and his helper unloaded the barrel and the box containing our new Engel freezer. I paid him for his services and thanked him very much. Much as I trusted everybody, I was glad to see the barrel again with my own eyes, since it has about $7000 of stuff in it. We spent the next hour unloading the barrel, checking everything off the list to make sure it was all there. The only thing missing was one of the two four-packs of lithium AAA batteries. Oh well. We used our canvas shopping bags to hoist a few things at a time to the deck of the boat where Barb stashed them below. The only particularly heavy items were the new freezer, and the compressor for the new refrigeration. I tied a line to them, one at a time, and I did the lifting to get them to deck. Within minutes of the barrel being empty, one of the yard guys asked me if he could have it. Takes care of what to do with that.
Our friends Mike & Lynn from Seabbatical arrive today. Their flight got in about 15:30 from Miami. They too have rented a villa for a week, and Amy at Typically Tropical had told us which one it was. So, about 16:30, we headed over there to greet them. They weren't there yet, but Margo from TT was waiting for them and said they should be there any minute. We chatted while we waited. When they arrived, we helped them get their luggage unloaded and then whisked them away for happy hour. After a day of travel, they were ready. We just had a couple of drinks and then the four of us went to Melini's for dinner.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 4
My project today was to replace the raw water intake strainer for the engine cooling system. It is made of brass, and the old one was quite green with corrosion. Our friend Brian, who has the same kind of boat as MoonSail, had one of the bolts on his break, so I wanted to be proactive. I also installed a new valve at the thru-hull for the engine cooling water that will allow me to connect a hose to the system and flush the salt water out next time we store the boat. This was an idea I got from Seabbatical last year. I was going to replace the bellows on the PSS dripless shaft seal, but it appears I brought back the wrong size. It also appears that there is no signs of cracking or other deterioration of the original, so that will wait until next year.
Mike & Lynn were not having such a good day. When they got to Seabbatical in the morning, they found that their two wind generators had been stolen. Since Seabbatical had been stored in the satellite storage yard, which is supposed to be super secure, with video monitoring, etc. the yard manager was very surprised at this. When Seabbatical laid up last May, they left a few days before we did. Seabbatical had not been moved to the satellite yard before they left. But it was before we left, and we had taken a picture to send them. We printed that picture for them, which clearly showed the generators in place at that time. So, now they have to sort all that out.
Being Tuesday, we went to Al Porto for 2-for-1 pizzas. We were joined by Mike & Lynn, Tom & Leslie from Farhaven, and Rob & Ellen from Miclo 3. As with the other places, we were warmly welcomed by Angie, the owner, Nicks the bartender, and Steph the hostess.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 5
My work today consisted of finishing up the installation of the fresh water flushing valve in the engine compartment, and fashioning some hold-down straps for the two big batteries that live in the engine compartment. These hold-down straps were recommended six years ago by the last guy who did a survey of MoonSail. I figured I better install them before the current surveyor told me the same thing.
Speaking of the surveyor, he showed up right after lunch to have a look at the crack in the hull. He swears it was not there two weeks prior when he did his hull inspection. But, he too was at a loss to explain how it might have happened. He came inside and looked around the forward bulkhead, which is about where the crack is, and didn't see any other signs of cracks. He spoke with Abu the painter about how he would recommend repairing the crack. I'm relieved to know he doesn't feel we have a serious structural problem, but it still is puzzling how this happened.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 6
We were supposed to launch today, but this little crack issue has caused us to reschedule that. We are now scheduled to launch Tuesday morning, as Monday is a holiday here. We also extended our rental of the villa so we don't have to stay aboard the boat while on the hard. Staying on the boat in a yard pretty much sucks.
Abu started grinding the area around the crack today. He had to go through three layers of fiberglass mat and resin to get to a depth where the crack was not evident. This amounts to maybe a quarter inch depth, and the hull is about three quarters of an inch thick. I've seen much more severe fiberglass damage successfully repaired, but when it's yours, you feel different about it.
Inside my project for the day was to replace our aging refrigerator. The refrigerator on a boat is not like your home unit. The box is a top loading box built into the counter top. The compressor is installed in a small compartment next to the stove. Copper tubes run behind the stove to the box, where there is what's called a cold plate. This plate is the evaporator portion of the system, and as it gets cold, it freezes a liquid inside it. This makes the box cold, and as the compressor cycles off and on, the plate holds the cold. The new system is an almost identical replacement for the twenty-year-old original, which has never given us a problem. Why replace it you might ask. Well, being twenty years old, it is charged with R-12 Freon. Being twenty years old, it is bound to quit sometime, and you cannot get R-12 Freon anymore, even in the islands. I think an R-12 system can be flushed and cleaned and have a valve or two replaced and then be recharged with R-134a, which is the current standard, but I figured for the cost of doing this, I would still have a 20-year-old system. So, I bought a new Adler Barbour (now Dometic) system exactly like the old one. There may be better systems available these days, but I wanted the ease of installation that using the same system afforded me. I removed the old system, which required removing the stove to get to the copper lines behind it. Removing the stove was easy. The fun part was cleaning the sticky dusty walls behind it that have not seen a cleaning rag in twenty years. It really wasn't as nasty as Barb had feared, and she cleaned it up while I got the cold plate and compressor out. The new unit went in relatively easy. The only hitch was that the new compressor was a slightly smaller footprint, so I had to drill two new holes in the shelf it sits on. My drill wouldn't fit in there, but fortunately, Mike had a small right angle drill that would fit. I hooked everything up and turned it on and watched for the tell-tale frost to start to form on the tubing. It was there in a few minutes!
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 7
Abu started applying the new fiberglass today. He is going to apply four layers of glass mat, and since he's basically working upside down, they have to be applied two at a time so the wet resin isn't too heavy and sags.
My projects were to finish details of the new fridge, like secure the tubing and wiring properly, and replace the woodwork I has removed to get the tubing properly fed. Once that was done, I installed our new stereo. The stereo should be a pretty simple system on a boat, but this one has turned out to be a nightmare. Our original was Sirius equipped and that worked fine, all the way to Grenada in 2009. When we left the boat here in 2009 the Sirius had quit, so I removed the system and took it home to get it resolved while there. The logic in this was that if we needed a new Sirius box, you can't get it activated outside the US. So, I thought I had that all resolved when we returned last year. But, when I installed the unit, nothing worked. In frustration, I paid big bucks for a new Polyplaner stereo and remote control. The remote is a big deal. It has to be a wired remote, so that from the helm I can mute the radio in a hurry if I need to talk of the VHF or something. Of course the remote was nothing like the old one, so new holes were cut, old holes were plugged, and we had a new non-Sirius radio. That new radio had two problems. After a couple weeks, the remote quit working entirely. And, the jack on the front where you plug in an iPod, was loose. Since the unit had a one-year warrantee, it all came back out and went home with us last June. I sent it back to Polyplaner, and they replaced the stereo and remote with no questions asked. That part was good. So today I installed this new unit. The remote works fine, but the auxiliary input jack is just like the first one. In order to get any sound you have to wiggle the jack and get it just right. This can be done at the dock where we aren't moving, but it won't work for underway. So, I guess my solution will be to buy the optional iPod cable that plugs in the back of the unit when we get to St. Maarten where I think they have them. There's always something.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 8
Abu showed up today and applied two more layers of fiberglass mat and resin. This will have to cure before sanding and painting. He assured me that weekend or not, it will be ready to launch Tuesday.
I had got two projects accomplished today. We have two fans in the aft cabin that are very nice when sleeping. The ones considered best are Hella brand. They use less electricity than other brands, and they are quite quiet. Except one of our two is not so quiet. It is actually fairly annoying to me when trying to sleep. The other has a broken switch, that requires wiggling each time you turn it on. So, I brought back two new ones. I replaced both fans in the aft cabin with the new ones, and then installed one of the old one in the main saloon. My logic was when sitting in the main saloon awake, I don't care about a little noise. That project went smoothly. The other task was to put the nav station back together. With all the electronic stuff I have added to the boat over the years, the mess of wires behind the nav station panel has grown exponentially. The panel no longer fits flush, and it's always a challenge to get it as close as I can. I got it buttoned up as best as I could, and hopefully when the surveyor comes back to finish the inspection, he won't ask me to open it up.
We quit working mid-afternoon and joined Mike & Lynn at their villa to barbeque burgers. We had a nice evening with them overlooking the harbor from their patio.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 9
Even though it is Sunday, Abu showed up to sand the repair and paint it. That is now ready for launch.
I replaced all seven rope clutches on the cabin top. A rope clutch is a piece of equipment that lets a line slide through one way, but not the other, when it is closed. All the running rigging lines run through clutches. Last year, when we had our rigging replaced, the rigging company recommended replacing them. And in fact, when we did get to do a little sailing last season, we found that two of the most important ones would not hold the line as they should. So, I brought back seven new ones. They are held to the deck with two big Phillips screws each. I had tried to undo a couple of these before we left last year, so I knew they were not going to be easy. So, just for this purpose I also brought back an impact screwdriver. An impact screwdriver is a device that has the screwdriver tip on the end, and you whack it with a hammer on the other end. Each whack produces a shock which helps break loose a stuck screw, and the driver rotates just a bit with each whack. This made the job very easy. I got all the screws out except one which I had already messed up last year attempting to remove it. So, for that one, I had to disassemble the clutch, which with the others out of the way wasn't too hard. I was then able to use my Dremel tool to cut a notch in the screw head. Then I was able to use the impact driver with a flat blade to remove the screw. The new clutches were exactly same brand, so they bolted in with ease.
The second project for the day was to paint the prop. The prop is brass. Untreated, it will grow barnacles if you stay in one place for a couple weeks. You then have to get under the boat and clean it, otherwise you find it just won't propel the boat. You can't just paint it with the antifouling bottom paint, because the friction with the water will just take the paint off. There have been various products over the years that claimed to stay on and keep barnacles from growing, but I had never heard of one that really worked. That is until last year. PropSpeed is a two-part paint system that claims to work, and I have several friends who have used it. The stuff better work, because it is very pricey. If you did the math, you could probably pay somebody to dive and clean your prop many times for the same money. But it's still a hassle. So, we applied the paint. Barb had spent several hours cleaning the prop a couple days ago, and now she helped me apply the PropSpeed. It is a two-person job because you have to apply the clear topcoat just as the primer coat dries which is only a couple of minutes. We got it on, and it looks good. We'll see next May if it worked.
Barb busied herself with other interior cleaning projects while I worked on things, as she has every other day.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 10
Today is Hero's Day. Antigua has four citizens who have been designated as National Heroes, and the first Monday of December is a public holiday to honor and celebrate all of them. The date is the birthday of one of the four, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, the first prime minister of Antigua, who is considered the father of the nation. The others are Prince Klass, who led a slave revolt in 1736; Dame Ellen Georgian Nellie Robinson, a pioneer in education; and Sir Vivian Richards, one of the world's greatest cricket players, who was captain of the West Indies team from 1985 to 1991.
We had an easy day today. There are no more major projects to do before launching, so all we did at the boat was get the fenders and dock lines ready for launching so we don't have to climb the ladder tomorrow morning before they launch us.
Mike & Lynn have also delayed their launch a few days. They were not able to extend their villa rental in the same unit because it is booked. But they were able to get a few days in the unit right next to us, so about noon we helped them move their stuff to the new unit. Once that was done, we all went to Castaway's on the beach for lunch. After lunch James, one of the beach chair vendors who remembered us from last year, hooked us up with chairs and umbrellas and we spent the afternoon on the beach. If you recall from last year, there is a cut from the beach to the canal system which allows the canal water to circulate and not get to ugly. We took a nice picture of this cut in 2009 and were surprised to find it completely filled last year when we returned. Last year just before we left, they had dug it out again. So we were curious what state it was in now. It is filled in again. Apparently this is an ongoing battle, and they just keep digging instead of making the jetties a little longer which would resolve it.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 11
Today is the big day. We launch MoonSail and keep our fingers crossed that things are better than last year. In other words - we hope she starts. I did cheat and bump the starter once a couple days ago, and I know she turns over. But, without water I couldn't start her on the hard. My new fresh water valve would let me do this, but then I would have had to find about 100' of hose to get to the nearest faucet, so that didn't happen. Our scheduled launch time is 07:30. That's the first launch of the day. We know friends John & Marie on Metalia are launching at 09:30, so we don't have a lot of time to spare if there are any issues when we hit the water. We got to the yard a little after 07:00 to be ready. We don't have to get onboard first, so we just sat in our golf cart and waited. We had our old freezer and refrigeration units on the ground under the boat for several days. We had given them to two different yard guys, but they had not taken them yet. So while we waited, I took them over to the storage container the yard guys use. A bit later, the head of Security came and asked what I had done with the things under the boat. I guess they are a little more careful now that they know some things (Seabbatical's wind generators) have gone missing. MoonSail was parked with inches between her and the boats beside her, so that means they had to use the trailer to pull her out of the slot and then transfer us to the Travelift. Once MoonSail was in the Travelift, they had to wait for Abu to show up and paint the bottom of the keel, and the spots where the stands had been supporting the boat. This takes only a few minutes, and the paint can go in the water quickly after being applied. I had told Abu several times that we launched at 07:30, but he wasn't there. Once they were waiting on him, one of the yard guys called him. He claimed I told him 08:30! When he got there 45 minutes later, I gave him some friendly ribbing because I know I told him 07:30. The painting got done, and the process continued to move us to the haulout slip and lower us into the water. Once in the water, I went aboard to make a quick check that there was no water coming in the boat from anyplace unexpected. After a few checks, I came above and gave the thumbs up. At that point they move the Travelift away. Before the Travelift was gone, I tried to start the engine, but I couldn't hear if it was even cranking, let alone starting over the sound of the Travelift. About this time, Marie from Metalia cam over to tell us they had delayed their launch, so we were not under any time constraint to clear the haulout slip. I waited for the Travelift to move away and get shut off, and then tried to start the engine. It cranked a little more than usual, but eventually she started up and ran fine. After warming up, we hailed William the dockmaster and told him we were ready to go to "our" slip. We pulled out of the haulout slip, and then backed up the fairway a bit to the same slip where we spent the majority of last winter. That's why I call it "our" slip. I'm thinking of putting a little plaque on the dock to indicate our honorary ownership.
Once we were secure in the slip, we had other things to deal with. We are checking out of our villa, so we immediately drove over there to load up our stuff and take it to the boat. We got all our bags on the golf cart, made sure everything was shut off and locked, and took our stuff to the boat. Once the bags were aboard the boat, I took the keys and cart back to Typically Tropical's office. I paid our bill for the extra days and thanked them for a great stay as usual. Mike & Lynn now need a golf cart to go with their new villa, and they are getting ours, so I simply filled it with gas for our part of the usage, and then took it again to the boat yard and left it with them.
I finished installing the last two of the new rope clutches which had to wait until Budget Marine opened and I could get a few new screws. Barb spent some time unpacking our clothes and getting the bags stowed.
Being Tuesday night, it was off to a short happy hour and then pizza night at Al Porto with Mike & Lynn and Jim & Cheryl from Ptarmigan.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 12
Today's big task is finishing the interior portion of our survey. The surveyor needs to see inside places we don't often go, to make sure everything is in good condition to keep us floating. This means moving stuff and opening things we don't usually do. We started at the bow and worked our way aft. He found some things I expected to find and knew needed attention. Unfortunately, once we moved a bunch of stuff out of the v-berth, which we use for storage, and opened up underneath the bed, we found two more places where there are cracks. One was in the hull itself, just ahead of the forward bulkhead. It was about four inches and then a 90° turn and another four inches. It looked suspiciously like a jack-stand had pushed through the hull. However, it wasn't exactly where the exterior crack was, and there is no exterior damage that lines up with where this crack is. There also was separation between an interior piece that holds the forward water tank in place and where it attaches to the hull. Both of these places look like they are fresh damage, but there is no way to explain it or blame the yard. In the end, even if we could blame the yard, the repairs would most likely be at my expense.
When the surveyor was done, he indicated that while there were a few things to fix, in general we were in good shape. Even the new cracks didn't worry him. He still thinks it was the result of some shock the hull took, and not an overall structural problem. His recommendation was to have it repaired during our next haulout. Once he was gone, we went to lunch at Peter's, and relaxed. In the afternoon, we put things I had torn apart for the survey back together. One of the things he discovered that I wasn't aware of was that our propane solenoid was not working. Our stove works off propane, and there is an electric solenoid by the tank that turns the gas flow on and off. I replaced this solenoid back in 2009 just after we left Grenada, so I didn't expect it to have gone bad again so soon, but I went over to Budget and got a new one. I installed the new one, flipped the switch, and still nothing. I had checked the voltage on the wires before swapping the units, and had 11.5 volts, which is low, but I figured meant the connections were ok. I guess there will be more to this task tomorrow.
Bartender Fred stopped by before opening the bar to say hello. He had been to the boat once last year to say hi, but had never been below. We gave him a quick tour of the boat before he had to go to work. Of course, we joined him a bit later.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 13
This morning, we checked in on the Coconut Telegraph cruiser's SSB net for the first time this year. The radio theoretically only works well with the boat in the water, and we were busy first thing yesterday with our survey, so today was our first chance. The radio worked and we were welcomed back to the net by lots of our friends from previous years. Once we are out of the marina, I'll probably start hosting the net one day a week again.
Today's project is to figure out the propane solenoid deal. I brought both the old and new solenoid below and rigged a hot wire from the battery to them. To my dismay, they both worked fine. So, the solenoid itself wasn't the problem. So, now I have a spare. While it is a $100 USD part, it is a good thing to have as a spare, so I'm only mildly dismayed about that part. But, I still have to figure out what's wrong. I'm not a wizard at solenoid operation, but have since learned that if it's a 12 volt solenoid, it really needs 12 volts to operate. I was only getting 11.5 volts at the end of those wires, even though the batteries were at 12.8 volts. So, a wire tracing I went. There is a main switch for the propane at the main electrical panel, and another that we normally leave on in the galley at the stove. I checked at the back of the galley switch, and had 12.8 volts there. So the drop was happening in the five or six feet of wire between there and the solenoid. The problem with this scenario is that these wires travel in an unreachable place, and are wire-tied together with several other wires. In the end, I had to cut yet another four-inch hole in the inner liner of the boat to get to where the wire goes into the exterior propane locker, and then use a mirror and flashlight to deftly cut two of the wire-ties to get several feet of this wire accessible. I cut six inches at a time off the wire until I had 12.8 volts at the end. I then spliced one a new piece of wire, and fed it back to the locker where the tanks and solenoid are. Once hooked up, it all worked fine. Of course then I had to install a new access port cover over the four inch hole I drilled in the inner liner. Since the covers are designed for about a 4 1/4 inch hole, and my hole saw is 4 inches, that meant I had to use my Dremel to make the hole a bit larger. This resulted in a lot of fiberglass dust in the area. Quite a bit of it I personally filtered with my lungs, since I was not wearing a mask while doing this. But most was all over the general area below the hole. Once the cover was installed, Barb grabbed our vacuum cleaner, which is a 110v plug in the size of a Dustbuster. About halfway through cleaning up, it quit. It has sounded like the bearings in it were bad since last year, but had kept working. More on the vacuum later. Barb finished the cleanup as best she could manually.
We went to dinner at Al Porto tonight. Thursdays they have an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet. We have been to this before, but what specifically brought us tonight was the offer of a free eggnog and rum drink for everybody. The eggnog drink was so-so, but the food was good, and we got to talk to Angie a bit more about her long-term plans in Antigua.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 14
When we haul the boat for storage, we take the sails off. Our mainsail is what's called in-mast furling. That means instead of the sail laying on the boom when it is not in use, it rolls up inside the mast. To remove it from the boat, you unfurl it, and then release the halyard that holds it up. It comes sliding down onto the deck, leaving the tube inside the mast upon which it normally rolls up. I'm explaining all this as background to understand the problem we have if the main is not in the mast. That darn furling tube bangs around inside the mast with the slightest movement of the boat, making a loud and very annoying noise. When the boat is on the hard, it doesn't move, so the noise isn't a problem. But once we are in the water, the boat is pretty much constantly moving, making for a continuous cacophony of which your dock neighbors frown upon. Remarkably, inside the boat, the noise isn't that bad. But, I do feel guilty about annoying neighbors with it. So, the point is, getting the mainsail re-mounted on the boat is a priority once in the water. (I'm not a fan of attempting to deal with sails while the boat is on the hard.) As we sit in the slip, the prevailing wind comes from directly astern of us. Which means in order to raise the sail, you still need pretty much dead calm. We have been in the water three days now, and the wind has been quite strong, even first thing in the morning when frequently there is a calm period. But this morning, we awoke about 06:30 to calm. We were up and raising the sail before 07:00. The holes in the mast where fingers have to go to attach the sail to the furler are not designed with my big hands in mind, so it took a bit of time to get everything attached correctly and then we could furl the sail. Noise stopped. Neighbors happy.
Today's other project is to remove the battery charger/inverter and take it to Falmouth Harbor to a repair facility. I just installed this unit last year, but after charging for one day, the charger portion has ceased to work. It is a model no longer made of course, so I'm not sure if we can get parts for it or not. Since the charger weights about sixty pounds, renting a car is the only way to get it to Marionics, the repair place. I went to Pineapple Rentals, whom we used many times last year, and the young girl who works there immediately smiled and greeted me by name. I rented a small car for the day. We loaded up the charger and headed for Marionics. I know we have been in Antigua too long, because I can actually find my way around the island without a map anymore. We got to Falmouth Harbor in about half an hour and dropped the charger off at Marionics.
From Marionics, we drove on in to the marina area of Falmouth Harbor. It was only about 11:00, too early for our favorite lunch place to open, so we sat at the coffee shop on the docks, had iced coffees, and took in the sights and sounds of Falmouth. Falmouth and English Harbors have a totally different feel than Jolly Harbor. They get all the huge mega-yachts, both power and sail here, similar to St. Maarten. So there is always a bustle of activity of crew cleaning boats, and walking around in their crew t-shirts that identify the vessel they work on. There are several bulletin boards with numerous pieces of paper tacked to them with various things for sale, or crew looking for work. It's quite different from laid-back Jolly.
Since The Mad Mongoose doesn't open until noon, we drove around to Slipway Marina in English Harbor where there is a pretty good chandlery. I am looking for some 4200 sealant. Budget Marine didn't have any, nor did the small chandlery in Falmouth near the coffee shop. Slipway did have one tube, apparently the last one on the island. I had a couple tubes left on the boat from last season, but they had hardened even though they had not been opened. I squeezed this tube before purchase to see if it felt pliable. It felt a little stiff, but not hard, so I bought it. Later when I went to use it, I found that it too was not usable. It was a soft rubbery consistency, but would not flow or stick to anything.
About noon, we were back in Falmouth at The Mad Mongoose. The Mongoose is just off an intersection. The intersection is a "T". When we had left to go to Slipway, there had just been an accident in the intersection. It looked like one car pulled out from the stop sign thinking the car coming on the main road had a stop sign too, but they don't. The car that got hit also seemed to be on the wrong side of the street. My first thought was "tourist", but a glance at the license plates on both cars revealed neither was a rental. Neither car was damaged beyond being able to be driven, and nobody appeared to be injured, but there was no attempt being made to move the vehicles and clear the intersection. When we got back from Slipway, nothing had moved still. Apparently they were waiting for the police to show up. There is a police station about a quarter mile away in English Harbor, but nobody was there yet. We went in The Mongoose and were happy to see that Junior was still the daytime bartender, and he remembered us as well. We both had cheeseburgers and they were as good as ever. We finished lunch about 45 minutes later and left. The cars were still sitting in the intersection and now there we two police persons there. As we drove out of Falmouth, a third police car was on the way too. I guess they were making up for the lack of response speed by having plenty of quantity.
Our next stop was the Townsend Megastore. The purpose of stopping here is to see if they have a portable vacuum to replace the one that fried a few days ago. We have to be sure to get a 110-volt unit, as they sell both 110 and 220 appliances here. We found exactly what we needed, and probably paid twice what it would cost in the States, but we can't go all season without a vacuum. We joked as we left the store that this was Barb's Christmas present early. It was even bright red.
When we were at The Mad Mongoose, the power in the area had been out. The Mongoose has a generator, so there was no problem keeping the beer cold or cooking the burgers. But, as we drove from there to St. Johns, there are several traffic lights that were not operational. The concept of the intersection defaulting to a four-way stop doesn't seem to apply here, and it was much more exciting when it was your turn at the head of the line to make sure it all worked. (This had nothing to do with the accident in Falmouth, as that was just a stop sign.) When we left the Megastore, the power had apparently just come on, because the signal nearby was working again. However, as we drove from there to the Large Epicurean grocery store, we encountered several intersections where the lights were now flashing red, apparently in need of a reset. While this controlled things better than the free-for-all style, it took us half an hour to go a few blocks. We finally got to the big Epicurean and went in to just get a couple things. Well, this store would be good by US standards, so it's outstanding by Island standards. A "few" things turned in half a cart load.
We got back to Jolly Harbor around 16:00. After happy hour, Barb made pizza on the boat for the first time, now that the gas is fixed and she can use the stove.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 15
This morning was calm as was yesterday, so we put the foresail on. It is a bit simpler than the main, and went on without a problem. The dinghy had still been on the foredeck all week, so today we threw it in the water. In the past we have literally picked it up and thrown it off the deck, but in reality this time, we used the spare halyard to lift it and lower it gracefully into the water. That method is much easier on the back as the dinghy weighs about 125 pounds. With the dinghy off the deck, Barb was able to start scrubbing the deck to get six months of dirt off. I contemplated the repairs I plan to make to the outboard, but thought better about starting them today.
We joined Mike & Lynn for a late lunch at Peter's BBQ. We finished lunch about 14:00, just in time to hear Santa arriving across the street by helicopter. We walked over there and saw Santa (a.k.a. George that owns WestPoint) entertaining kids. There was a good turnout from the surrounding area. There was a loud DJ playing reggae beat Christmas carols, although after being there half an hour, I think he only had about five songs he kept repeating. There were several food booths and big kids bouncy castle things there as well.
Later, at happy hour time, we found the marina manager Festus on his boat with some friends enjoying a beer after the Saturday afternoon races. He invited us to join them and we did for a beer. We then went to happy hour and were entertained by a live steel drum band out on the plaza in front of the bar, where the Christmas Festival was continuing. They were quite enjoyable, and later there was a fashion show as part of the entertainment.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 16
When I looked at the boat from a distance, something didn't look right about the mainsail. It took me a few minutes, but I finally realized what was wrong. When I had attached the outhaul line to the clew of the sail, I had done it in a temporary fashion just to keep things under control if a puff of wind had come while we were getting the sail on. I had forgotten to retie it correctly to the car that slides along the top edge of the boom, resulting in the tail that sticks out when the sail is furled being way higher than it should have been. So, this morning while the wind was calm again, I unfurled the sail, retied the outhaul correctly and refurled the sail.
One of the items that the surveyor had pointed out was how ugly the compartment in the v-berth where the old air conditioning unit is looked. The air conditioner has not worked since 2009, and over the years has gotten pretty cruddy looking. He suggested that if we weren't using it and it wasn't going to be repaired, take it out. So I did. If we ever bring the boat back to the States, the whole thing would have to be replaced anyway, so I took it and all it's plumbing out and discarded it. Now the bow is about a hundred pounds lighter which can't hurt since we are bow-heavy with all the crap we have stored in the v-berth. Removing this also gave good access to the interior crack that the survey had revealed. We are going to have this repaired when we haulout in June, so there needs to be access to it then anyway.
We relaxed most of the afternoon, and then joined Mike & Lynn, and Jim & Cheryl from Ptarmigan for happy hour. Ptarmigan is leaving in the morning, so this will be the last we see them for awhile. After happy hour, Barb made her famous jambalaya for dinner. It's good to have the galley in service again.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 17
Today's first project was to fix the lids to both compartments of the refrigerator. The fridge box is built into the galley counter and there are two top loading doors in the counter. The one on the left started binding so that neither on of us could open it without grabbing the latch button with a pair of pliers. I opened it up and unscrewed it and found that at the very back edge a piece of the weather stripping that seals it had torn off and was getting pinched in the back edge when the lid was closed. I cut off the offending piece of the seal, reattached the lid, and it worked fine. The lid on the other side isn't quite so simple. The lids are held open by small gas shocks, similar to what you would have on a hatchback or the tailgate of your mini-van. Where the shock on the right side of the fridge attaches down in the box, the screws had cracked the fiberglass and were no longer firmly attached. The solution was remove everything from both sides of the fridge, remove a good portion of the insulation I added last year, and drill holes through from one box to the other. I then was able to attach the shock mount using two through-bolts instead of the screws into the fiberglass. I then got to reattach the interior insulation and reload all the food. The galley wench was quite happy to have both lids functioning correctly again.
Next project was to fix a water leak at the water heater. Since we have had the fresh water system turned on, we knew we had a slow leak somewhere because the pump would come on occasionally without us using any water. When the surveyor was doing his inspection, he found this leak at the water heater. I just hadn't looked for it yet, but knew I had to, so I thanked him for finding it for me. Upon close inspection, I found that the hose clamp had rusted and partially broken. All the hose clamps on the boat are stainless steel. However, not all stainless steel hose clamps are created equal. Unless you go out of your way, most chandleries, like West Marine sell clamps made from 304 stainless. What you really need are clamps made from 316 stainless. Last time I was in West Marine, just before we left this year, I noticed they had both, and they were clearly marked. I was glad to see them at least giving the option and making it clear. Of course the 316 clamps cost about three times as much, but they're worth it. I replaced the clamp and made sure there was no longer a drip. I was quite proud of myself until about half an hour later when the pump cycled again. I guess that wasn't the only leak.
Barb spent some time cleaning some stainless outside with a new product we brought back called Spotless Stainless. It is much easier to use than the polish she used to use. She was happy with it. There's nothing better than a happy galley wench and a happy deck slave. Especially when they are one and the same person.
With the sails both finally out of the way, we unpacked the remaining things that were in the shower stall. This meant that we could shower aboard for the first time today. The marina has ok showers, and the ladies has been totally renovated since we left last June, but it is much easier to shower on the boat. And since we are at the dock, we don't even have to be very careful about the amount of water we use.
About 15:00, Fred the bartender stopped by the boat. He had brought us a large bottle of homemade ginger beer. It isn't really beer, as it is not alcoholic. It's more like a strong ginger ale. It was quite good, especially when mixed with rum. We went to happy hour at 17:00. There is a girl named Shebby that sometimes cooks stuff on a grill and sells it there at the bar. She was doing her grill thing when a local guy I had never seen before came in yelling. He was either drunk or crazy, or perhaps both. He yelled Fred's name as he walked by the bar headed for Shebby. He yelled something at her, I think wanting food. She told him to leave, and he started loudly swearing. At this point Fred came out from behind the bar to confront him. I started moving in my chair to get up in a hurry if Fred needed help, but Fred simply grabbed the guy by the pressure point on top of the shoulder and slowly put him down on the ground. He leaned over and said something to him and the guy got up and ran off. Reminded me of how my junior high music teacher handled unruly students back when teachers could do something like that without getting fired.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 18
Another project I need to get done is rebuild or replace our wind generator. The bearings are shot. Unfortunately, the first step in doing this is to remove the blade hub from the shaft. The hub is aluminum and the shaft is stainless steel. Dissimilar metals like that either corrode and come apart, or they corrode and might as be welded together. Well, I could not get the hub to budge, so I took the whole thing over to the diesel shop where they have big tools and vises and torches. I asked them if they could get it off without damaging it. They said sure. We'll see.
Back at the boat, I made a couple of repairs to the outboard. The latch that holds the cover on it broke a long time ago. It wasn't critical since the straps that we hoist it by also hold it on, but since I was ordering parts from Honda last summer, I got a new latch, which consists of seven pieces. It took a bit of finger contorting to get it all together, but I did. The next repair was much more important. Last year we found that the throttle cables - there are two - had pretty much disintegrated. For as little as we used the dinghy last year, it was tolerable to deal with the fact that there was now pretty much stop or go instead of a nice variable throttle speed. I had to disassemble half the stuff on the motor to get to where the cables connect inside near the carburetor, but after some perseverance, I got it done without breaking anything else.
We went to happy hour as usual, and found that Fred had called in sick. That left owner George to tend bar. That was a show in itself. George is not a bartender, and he was barley keeping up with the orders. It was quite a show, and many of us who knew him were having a good laugh at his expense.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 19
Our dinghy is ten years old, which in dinghy years, is ancient. It looks pretty ugly, but it still works, so I am resisting spending $3K on a new one yet. One of the problem with an old dinghy is that the hypalon material it is made out of get chalky and leaves big white marks on you when you rub against it. Seabbatical gave us some stuff that they had used in the past to get rid of that. Barb used it on it and not only does it look better, but the chalkiness is gone. When she was done with that, I made a repair to the transom of the dinghy where the engine mounts. The fiberglass there is getting rotten and the metal piece that the motor clamps to no longer screws on. So, I drilled two holes through the plates and transom and thru-bolted it on. Not elegant but it seems to be solid for now. Our outboard has an electric starter that we never used last year because the battery was shot. This year I brought back a new battery, but when I hooked it up the starter wouldn't turn. I checked voltages and cleaned some connections and got to where it tries to turn, but it seems the starter itself may be corroded inside. Of course, I can't get the starter off without removing the flywheel, which requires a special puller, so I guess we won't be electric starting this year either.
I checked with the shop to see if they had gotten the hub of the wind generator. They had tried, but it wasn't as simple as they had hoped. They said they would keep trying.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 20
We had some unexpected excitement this morning. I wanted to mount the outboard on the dinghy and take it for a test drive. That meant we have to move the boat away from the dock enough to get the dinghy in behind it. We did that and I unbolted the outboard from the rail mount and slid it out over the dinghy. I then got down in the dinghy to guide the outboard down as Barb released the line. When Barb jerked on the line to release it from the jam cleat, the line broke, dropping the motor straight down. Fortunately, the outboard hit the transom of the dinghy and fell onto one of the tubes. It would have then rolled off and into the water had I not been able to just barely grab one of the straps of the hoisting bridle and roll it back into the dinghy. Lots of things were very lucky about this. The outboard didn't hit me and either hurt me or knock me off balance so that I couldn't react, the tube of the dinghy didn't get damaged, and most lucky was that the outboard didn't get submersed in salt water. Barb was probably the most serious casualty, in that it was a good hour later before her heart rate was back to normal. Somehow in the melee, the handle to the plug of the dinghy got broken off too, so now there was nothing but luck holding the plug in. So, after catching my breath, we hooked the dinghy hoist line to the stern and raised it just a bit so it was out of the water and I could remove the remains of the plug and go over to Budget and get a new one. I also bought a new line for the hoist. I threaded the new line through the block and tackle, and attached it to the motor laying in the dinghy. I thought about just lifting the motor by hand onto the transom, but didn't want to have another shot at dumping it in the drink. We raised the motor up and lowered in place on the transom as originally planned.
Mike & Lynn had come by during this little event, because our original plan was to take their motor off their dinghy, using our lift so we could drag their dinghy up on the dock and repair an air leak in one of the tubes. So, once our dinghy was out of the way, we did that. Patching their leak was a two step process, so while the first step dried, we all went to Peter's for lunch. After lunch, Mike finished the repair, and we got them back in the water and they went back to Seabbatical cautiously optimistic that the patch would hold.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 21
First thing this morning we took laundry over to the laundry service to be done. The ladies here are not cheap, but they do a great job and there is no do-it-yourself option. While in the vicinity, I stopped at the repair shop to see if they had made progress with the wind generator. They had not. I am about ready to say forget it and just get a new one instead of rebuilding this one, but I think it's becoming a personal challenge for them to get this thing apart, so I left it there.
About a month before we left the States, I started taking blood pressure medication again. The doctor I found in Ohio specifically gave me the type of medicine that doesn't require frequent blood work monitoring to make sure it isn't affecting liver of kidney functions. He did this knowing I would be in the islands for six months. Well, just before we left to come here, my feet and calves swelled up considerably. Turns out this is a potential side effect of the drug. My new doc has an online system where you can send him a message and actually get questions answered. I inquired about it, and asked about adding a diuretic to the plan to relieve the swelling. I had read that this is frequently done. I explained to him that while I know he can't prescribe something here, frequently here you can get prescription medicine directly by dealing with a pharmacist and not need a doctor's visit. So, he told me the name of the med and the dosage that he would prescribe if I were home. This morning I went to the pharmacy here in Jolly Harbor, only to learn that the pharmacist had left the island for the holidays. So, I hopped the bus to St. Johns to find another pharmacy. I found one and showed the pharmacist the note from my doctor with the long name of the medicine. She asked me how many I wanted. I replied thirty days worth to start. That was that. She counted out the thirty pills and sent me to the cashier. I grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler by the cashier for my walk back to the bus station. The girl rang me up and said the total was $10 EC. That's $3.75 USD, including the bottle of water! Even though the medication is a generic thing, I was floored. I happily paid and headed back to the bus station. If only our system in the US could be so simple and cheap.
When I got back to the boat, we went grocery shopping. We got a fair amount of stuff, and were pleasantly surprised again. This weekend is a tax holiday, so the sales tax is only 5% instead of 15%. We saved $33 EC on our bill. Before you freak out at 15% sales tax, keep in mind this is the only tax in the country. There is no income tax. Might be something else the US could learn from.
At happy hour with Mike & Lynn, we met a new couple from the boat Lady. Charlie and Jenny are from OK, and are now sailing a Catalina 47 down here. We enjoyed some time getting to know them.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.
Dec 22
Since I was disappointed that the water pump was still cycling regularly, indicating another leak somewhere, I decided to find it. I checked everywhere and finally the last place it could be was where I found it. The lines under the aft bed where the stern shower attaches was dripping. The clamps weren't the problem, but the plastic barb connector was deformed or cracked, so I replaced it and the pump hasn't run unexpectedly since. Yea! Since I was under the bed anyway, I cleaned up some stuff the surveyor had commented on. On of those things was the rudder post itself. When we had the rudder replaced several years ago, we didn't notice that the new rudder post was filled with foam all the way to the top. This meant there was no way the emergency rudder handle could be attached to the rudder post. The emergency handle slides down inside the post several inches. So I spent some time chiseling this resin soaked foam out of the tube. It was harder than I expected it to be, but eventually I got it to where the handle will slide in. I hope I never have to find out if steering the boat this way works.
I spent the rest of the day writing this log. I had been keeping notes, but not writing as I went, so it takes quite a while to put it all down. Hopefully I won't go so long between updates and it will be simpler.
In the evening we went to happy hour with Mike & Lynn, then we went to Melini's for dinner.
GPS N 17-00.893 W 061-46.422 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10149.