My blogs have been a bit scarce of late, but our chores and boat work are collectively coming together, and improving our peace of mind, and cruising lifestyle!
We did a night run down to Trinidad a few weeks back, with a big list of things to do, buy, and people to see! Replacing Lord Perkins timing belt, ditching the Mase genset, buying a wet /dry powerful small vacuum cleaner, a Honda 2kva Inverter generator, a 25kg Rocna anchor, new windlass gypsy, momentary foot control switch for the windlass, a new push button Eco stove, security grids for the butterfly hatch, updating the software on the Mastercharger… etc etc!
Amazingly, we nailed it all in two weeks, and still had time to organise a South African cruisers braai at Crews Inn Marina! We were joined by Nick and Lynette Marvin ( Ukulele Lady), Mike and Lesley Blamey (Extasea), Larry and Marlo D’Aguiar ( Beatrice), Walter and Jackie ( Jean Marie) Joop & Jaqualette ( Goody), plus Steve (Cinnamon Girl) and Ralph (Uvubu)
We had a great evening discussing launch dates, plans and routes. While we were busy jolling however, unseen by us, a cruiser moored below, was broken into by ever more brazen crooks, and relieved of computers, cameras, cell phones and cash. Sadly, this is no longer unusual in Chaguaramus, as, two days later, another neighbour had his 14ft dinghy and 40hp outboard stolen one night, even though it was “lifted and locked”. Police and authorities don’t seem to be doing much about it, and the local business folk are resorting to patrols and neighbourhood watch type efforts, to protect their businesses, which are battling in the general economic down turn, combined with worries about crime and Piracy issues. Made me feel like we were back in Hout Bay !
We helped Ukulele Lady to splash (our sister ship Shearwater 39), after a very extensive and professional refit, and two days later, were able to sail back to Grenada in the company of a smart and shiny repainted “Beatrice”. We left at 4.00am for a mostly daylight passage ( so that we could fish), and made Prickly Bay 13hrs later with two Dorado each!
No sooner were we back in Grenada, than a widespread general depression decided to grow into Tropical storm Tomas, which put all jobs on hold, put everyone in a tizz, and caused a lemming like exodus from Prickly Bay ! More about Tomas in the next blog! We battened down the hatches, deployed two big anchors, with a third on standby, and started planning our route up the Island chain in time to join Tom and Johness ( Springtime) in St Martin for Christmas.
Once Tomas had passed through, it was back to the job list, where a new big 185w 24v solar panel was added to the array. The 2 X 85w 12v panels were put in series, and then put in parallel with the new 24v unit, and regulated via a new Blue Skies MPPT Solar controller. What a huge difference!! It pumps in between 18 and 24amps for about 5 hour a day! We have also fitted new “Silent” blue carbon fibre blades to the wind generator, and it too is more efficient, as well as quiet! Together with our little Honda genset, and high output alternator, it seems that we are at last beginning to win the power struggle!!!
The new Rocna anchor , which sets incredibly, the new footswitch, and rust free anchor chain ( courtesy of a Nick Marvin discard!), are all helping to simplify and clean up our anchoring routine. Whereas we only ever knew about the light at the end of the tunnel, because we were told it was there…. We are now in real danger of seeing it!
We have booked our haul out for August to November 2011 in Grenada, and will be flying back to RSA for Oct/Nov, after overseeing the re-spray in August. Between now and then, we hope to explore the Leewards, the Virgins, and possibly the Bahamas, before making our way back to Grenada.
We did a night run down to Trinidad a few weeks back, with a big list of things to do, buy, and people to see! Replacing Lord Perkins timing belt, ditching the Mase genset, buying a wet /dry powerful small vacuum cleaner, a Honda 2kva Inverter generator, a 25kg Rocna anchor, new windlass gypsy, momentary foot control switch for the windlass, a new push button Eco stove, security grids for the butterfly hatch, updating the software on the Mastercharger… etc etc!
Amazingly, we nailed it all in two weeks, and still had time to organise a South African cruisers braai at Crews Inn Marina! We were joined by Nick and Lynette Marvin ( Ukulele Lady), Mike and Lesley Blamey (Extasea), Larry and Marlo D’Aguiar ( Beatrice), Walter and Jackie ( Jean Marie) Joop & Jaqualette ( Goody), plus Steve (Cinnamon Girl) and Ralph (Uvubu)
We had a great evening discussing launch dates, plans and routes. While we were busy jolling however, unseen by us, a cruiser moored below, was broken into by ever more brazen crooks, and relieved of computers, cameras, cell phones and cash. Sadly, this is no longer unusual in Chaguaramus, as, two days later, another neighbour had his 14ft dinghy and 40hp outboard stolen one night, even though it was “lifted and locked”. Police and authorities don’t seem to be doing much about it, and the local business folk are resorting to patrols and neighbourhood watch type efforts, to protect their businesses, which are battling in the general economic down turn, combined with worries about crime and Piracy issues. Made me feel like we were back in Hout Bay !
We helped Ukulele Lady to splash (our sister ship Shearwater 39), after a very extensive and professional refit, and two days later, were able to sail back to Grenada in the company of a smart and shiny repainted “Beatrice”. We left at 4.00am for a mostly daylight passage ( so that we could fish), and made Prickly Bay 13hrs later with two Dorado each!
No sooner were we back in Grenada, than a widespread general depression decided to grow into Tropical storm Tomas, which put all jobs on hold, put everyone in a tizz, and caused a lemming like exodus from Prickly Bay ! More about Tomas in the next blog! We battened down the hatches, deployed two big anchors, with a third on standby, and started planning our route up the Island chain in time to join Tom and Johness ( Springtime) in St Martin for Christmas.
Once Tomas had passed through, it was back to the job list, where a new big 185w 24v solar panel was added to the array. The 2 X 85w 12v panels were put in series, and then put in parallel with the new 24v unit, and regulated via a new Blue Skies MPPT Solar controller. What a huge difference!! It pumps in between 18 and 24amps for about 5 hour a day! We have also fitted new “Silent” blue carbon fibre blades to the wind generator, and it too is more efficient, as well as quiet! Together with our little Honda genset, and high output alternator, it seems that we are at last beginning to win the power struggle!!!
The new Rocna anchor , which sets incredibly, the new footswitch, and rust free anchor chain ( courtesy of a Nick Marvin discard!), are all helping to simplify and clean up our anchoring routine. Whereas we only ever knew about the light at the end of the tunnel, because we were told it was there…. We are now in real danger of seeing it!
We have booked our haul out for August to November 2011 in Grenada, and will be flying back to RSA for Oct/Nov, after overseeing the re-spray in August. Between now and then, we hope to explore the Leewards, the Virgins, and possibly the Bahamas, before making our way back to Grenada.
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