We're back. In Antigua - and now in the water as well. Saralane was launched on Tuesday and since I opted to leave the blog on lovely Barbuda back in August, this 'round trip' blog covers our haul and launch. It's cheating on the blog a bit, but then I'll consider us up to date!
First.... coming out of the water.
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| Skip on deck as the straps go under Saralane |
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| Ray guides us in the slipway and watches as we come out; Danny gives Saralane's bottom a good powerwashing |
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| The powerwasher at Jolly Harbor needs a little TLC |
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| Skip cleans off the centerboard - which we were SURE we'd fix this time out |
Ever since the
centerboard pennant snapped back in the Bahamas we've been working on a fix for it. We really thought we had it figured out when we got hauled in August, but it turned out that the new swage fitting on the new wire that we brought with us from the states was too bulky to fit. Foiled again.
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| Ray helps a sad captain Skip tuck the centerboard away until we come back and try again in November |
There are lots of other jobs to do before leaving the boat though and Skip got help from some of the guys who work in the machine shop in the yard. We pulled the prop and replaced the cutlass bearing. Fixed the muffler and exhaust elbow. Cleaned, scraped, polished etc etc...
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| Pulling the prop and replacing the cutlass bearing. Align part A with slot H..... |
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| We give our extra fuel to a local fisherman before we leave |
We hauled out late this year and were pretty much the only ones in the yard during our stay there at the end of August. Back here now in November there's more activity and we've connected with a few new people who are working on their boats and getting ready to go back in the water.
Fast forward through September and October... and our view from the deck hasn't changed yet!
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| Boatyard living means climbing ladders. |
We dig out our respirators, gloves and protective gear and paint the bottom (no photos since we're both too hot and dirty to care much about taking pictures at this point). We tape off, sand and repaint the boot stripes too and Saralane is almost ready to go.
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| New bottom paint and new stripes |
Almost ready to go. Almost. The centerboard pennant still needs to be replaced and we'll see if we have what we need.
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| We need THIS (out of focus) swage fitting on this new cable |
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| New fitting on cable, fed into the opening at the top of the centerboard |
After a few tense moments when the new fitting seemed too big for the opening (again!) Skip managed to get it in place and attached. Here's a shot from farther back for a little perspective. The rusty line is the messenger we fed down from on deck and taped onto the new cable in order to pull it up into position. The shiny cable is our new centerboard pennant!
The yard let us hang in the travel lift over lunch so we'd have time to fix the pennant and paint the board and the patches left unpainted where the stands were against the hull.
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| Watching paint dry |
Skip rigged a piece of Spectra that connects on either side of the keel and hangs on the ends of bolts he put in each side. This will help support the centerboard when it's in the up position and will take some of the pressure off the deck and hopefully alleviate some of the wear and tear on the new pennant.
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| Spectra loop hanging off one side of the keel |
I know this photo could have been taken coming out of the water or going in.... so you'll have to take my word for it that we're being launched in this shot.
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| Going back in! |
We motored over to the marina and took advantage of their complimentary slip for one night. We cleaned out our water tanks (those of you who slept through the centerboard fix can rejoin me now that we're back in the water) scrubbed the decks, pumped up John H and got him back in the water and called it a day.
Before leaving the dock the next day, I went up the mast to reattach our running back stays and lazy jacks. We put the main back on, did some provisioning and a few other odds and ends and cleared out of the marina.
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| Me, trying not to drop any tools from up here |
Our first night anchored out was pretty nice... and we're glad to be back on board.
We're anchored just out in Jolly Harbor where we'll finish up a few things. The deck side of the centerboard fix is yet to be done so stayed tuned for that! I need to wean myself off the wifi too. Seems a few months of easy internet access has me hooked again. So, with that I'll leave it here. I'm going swimming...
