Wednesday 19 December, Jolly Harbour Marina: Launched and full on day tidying up.
We are up at 6:30am, the travel lift crew arrives spot on 7.15am as promised, and while waiting for the engine to warm up we finish cleaning the litter on the perimeter around the boat. I don’t think anyone else does that! Then get the drone out to video the launching.
The launch itself is quick and issues free, and a heavy weight has lifted off our chests when we see Cloudy Bay back in the water. And before we know it the travel lift and all the crew are off to another boat in the yard. Hey! Come back, we still have all lines on, we want to get outta here!
While waiting, Glen switches on the fridges. He is anxious to check them as soon as we touched water. They seem to be starting (cooling) OK. Phew!
The marina guy arrives in his dinghy to guide us into our dock. We’ll go bow-to same as last time. He handles our stern lines, but he has nobody to assist with the bow lines – his colleague didn’t show up for work yet.
Half an hour later a helper is found and the travel lift crew returns to release our lines. We are free. And afloat, which is the most important part!
Back into the same dock where we left from, we try to decide what pleases us most: not having to climb the step ladder or not having to walk through grit anymore. I would say both, equally.
Armed with the cool bags, we head back to Lynda’s Cafe (inside the yard) to pick up the provisions which she kindly agreed to store in her fridge and freezer. The smells coming from her kitchen were very inviting, so we also get breakfast to go. Bacon and eggs, to be served in the peace of our cockpit. With coffee!
From the jetty we noticed that the slings have squashed the antifoul and squeezed some amount above the water line. Our perfectly straight waterline messed up! Agggrrrr!
So Glen jumps in the water and finger scrapes the excess off above the waterline. Most of it comes off, but there is one section that he couldn’t clean.
The slings really messed the antifoul, it now has caterpillar marks all the way around the hull. Just how long did we need to wait for the antifoul to fully harden? Damn it!
While in the water, using a battery acid container and pipe, he also pumps a bleach solution through the salt water toilet inlet pipe.When we launched a really bad H2S smell entered the toilet, so need to kill that issue immediately.
Then the frenzy starts again, cleaning and tidying up the decks.
Spray hood is removed, ready for a good scrub on the jetty. But that activity will have to wait, as two of the neighboring boats are also in full swing scrubbing canvas and cushions. Not enough space for us to start this activity too. I can bet that the owners of these two boats will be arriving today.
Dinghy gets launched to give the engine a flush – we forgot to freshwater flush it while in the yard. Then davit strops get a good de-rust.
And the swim ladder is taken apart for de-rusting too. But oops, one part fell in the water. Glen checks the depth. 4.5m. No problem. And in he goes with diving mask. The water is not clear and he doesn’t see the bottom until about 1ft from it. After a couple of dives he gives up because the muddy bottom is now all disturbed. Will have to try again later.
All the trip from Bermuda to here I’d said to Glen “when we get to Antigua, I’m going to cut your hair”. Finally, 2 weeks later he actually volunteers to sit still for 1/2 hour to have that haircut.
Cleaning up the hair from the saloon floor launches us into a general vacuum and tidy up inside. The forward bathroom gets a good clean and the bow cabin gets cleared out so we can complete our video tour of Cloudy Bay. Only the bow section is left to film. We have had several requests from YouTube viewers for an internal tour.
For the late afternoon activities, Glen moves his work place onto the jetty.
The 4 Parasailor sheets are in very good condition, but the snap-shackles and swivels spliced on the end of each sheet are jammed solid. With a good WD-40 soaking and a little help from a knockometer (aka hammer) they soon loosen up. And after a brush with re-rusting agent and a rinse off, they look like new again.
Then onto canvas washing. The spray hood needs a good scrub, and hopefully some of the mildew we collected in New England will clean off. To be seen when it dries off. The outside of the Sunbrella material seems to clean well, but the inside surface really gets stained very easily. We could use stronger chemicals but then we would lose the waterproofing.
Chased by mosquitoes, activities move indoors, under the galley floorboards. Now that we have the 2 fridges and freezer all working fine, it is safe to tidy up the pipes and secure them in place, all neatly with tie-wraps. Once this is done Glen connects up the refrigerant gas and gauges to check pressures on the suction lines. All look good. But we’ll get Philmore back to double check. Efficiently working fridges are vital to our daily life.
Meanwhile, in the jetty bar they seem to be playing decent music for once. But the place looks pretty much deserted, as usual. Shame.
A bit more of a tidy up then to bed. It’s been full day and so glad to have the luxuries back – shower, toilet, sinks, cool mosquito less air and not feeling perpetually dirty for a change. Lovely.