Tuesday 30 October: Herrington Harbor North, yard day #13 – first coat of Bravo (Ceramic Pro) and PropSpeed on Gori.
Very exciting and positive morning. Karen and Nancy (Red Sky Yacht Detailing) start work very early, the frost is not even gone from the decks. The gel coat on the back of our cabin and around the cockpit is so shiny, and we are happy to see the top side coming out so nicely.
Karen starts applying the Bravo coat (last product of the Ceramic Pro kit) on the hull, and we can clearly see the wet look it gives to the blue strip. These ladies certainly have great work ethics and dedication, which fits perfectly with the object of their business: yacht detailing. They do pay attention to every detail and every spot.
As we read our emails over breakfast, we see a reply from Parasailor Germany. They confirm the 228 sqm Parasailor we found for sale in Grenada was manufactured in 2014 and will do for our boat size. It will be slightly short and will fly higher from the deck, but it will do just fine. Quick call to them, and we feel encouraged to buy this sail, if it’s in good condition. Then we contact Turbulence sail loft in Grenada, and Martin there agrees to inspect this Parasailor for us. Great news!
Then a bit of admin, going through our list of things to do. The priorities that is, as the list itself is a never ending one. Yard will confirm tomorrow if they can fit us for launch on Thursday morning, when the tide and wind will create perfect conditions for us to have enough water in the slip.
Glen flies the drone briefly, to record in various types of raw files so that we can test which one Adobe agrees to mix friendly with GoPro6. What a pain!
Today’s painting job, the PropSpeed on the Gori propeller and shaft. Painting itself is a simple process, but when it’s tight against time it’s not too much fun. 2 coats of yellow etching primer, each needing to be applied in no more than 5 minutes, and with only a couple of minutes between coats. Then a clear coat that needs to be applied before the yellow gets dry. Glen is not exactly comfortable with the countdown over his shoulder! But I do my best to keep him on his toes 🙂 Then the propeller shaft anodes go on and job finished. The beautiful clean golden Gori is now a yellow silicone texture prop. Let’s hope this paint does what it is advertised to: stop barnacles attach to shaft and prop. As Glen admires his job, he declares yet again “no more painting or dirty jobs”.
Since all high priority jobs are now completed, we agree to have an admin evening. A quick trip to HomeDepo with our shopping list, mostly consumables for next big “painting” jobs (antifouling and gunwale varnish in Antigua): masking tape, brushes, rollers, coveralls, measuring cups, etc.
Back at Cloudy Bay we grab the laptops and go to the marina lounge, where we imagined there will be faster internet. The new laptop needs full configuration and softwares installed. And on the old laptop we are still doing trials with various types of video file formats. Both laptops and tasks very frustrating. Internet is very slow, so we return in the warmth of our saloon and carry on the same tasks without shivering, finally calling it a day well after midnight.