Ready…but launch is delayed

Monday 17 December, Jolly Harbour, yard day 7: Launch is delayed by 2 days due to yard admin error. Fridge coolers fitted; hull completely done except the patches; Parasailor test launched.

Early start again. Last energy burst before we re-launch back to civilization!
Antifouling paint looks good and Glen applies one last coat along the waterline – this is the area he tends to scrub most, so it needs the layers. And once he’s finished, what a pleasure it is to take the masking tape off. We are back to the original factory waterline and it looks prrrr-fect. So crisp and clean. Best we’ve ever had.

At 8am Philmore arrives for the fridges – swapping to the new Frigoboat keel coolers. So all our food now goes at Lynda’s Cafe fridge.
His first task is to cut the Frigoboat connectors off the new keel coolers (one of those OMG moments … vandalizing brand new equipment ). Then he cuts the Isotherm connects off the current keel coolers and brazes them on the new keel cooler pipes. In all, 12 fittings to cut off and 6 to braze back on (2 per keel cooler).
David then comes over and we install the new keel coolers through the pre-prepared holes and seal them in with 3M 5200 sealant. Philmore is then back onto the scene to connect up and check the gas.

Glen gets him to use our new bottle of R134 and gauges to makes sure they all work. Good job, because we find that we have bought automobile equipment and the hose end does not connect to our fridge suction line fitting! So he donates us one of his hoses plus an adapter.
And soon the fridges are topped up and working. Brill! But unfortunately, while these new keel coolers are great when in water, in the yard they dont work so we have to keep the fridges off till we plunge this afternoon.

Glen is a bit miffed though. He now realizes he should have purchased some Isotherm connectors rather then cutting off the ones on the current keel coolers. That way we could have retained them as back up. But too late now!
Philmore seems to be a good technician but he is not a tidy person. The pipes still need to be tidied up and secured, but we decide to leave that until we are in the water and know everything works OK. For sure, if we ty-wrap everything neatly now, it will all need undoing again!

Next job is to put the bow thruster props back on, then the bars across the tunnel entrance, sealing in the screws in with 3M 5200.

Last job before launch, grease the seacocks. Each one gets closed, then Glen greases each ball from the outside using a small glue brush to get the grease applied. Then it’s back inside to waggle each seacock leaver a few times, then one more coating of grease from the outside. Finally leaving all the seacocks open. Most were pretty freely moving but the 3 that hide right at the back of the engine are really stiff. They are so damned difficult to get to. Who on earth designed them to be down there??

We had booked to launch today and were expecting the travel lift to turn up at any moment to lift us and give time in the slings to strip and paint the patches left by the stands. We thought Jesse had it all arranged but when Glen approached the yard manager himself he finds that we are not even booked to launch… Not only it’s not happening today, but we were not even in the system.
It’s one of those “vallium required” moments, when they tell him they MAYBE able to get us in on Wednesday … in 2 days. What? Another 2 days in the yard, up & down the ladder, horrible toilets, and now no fridges! No frinkin’ way! So off we storm to find the general manager.

It turns out the yard messed up our booking. But she agrees, contrary to policy, to leave us in the slings overnight tomorrow and launch at dawn on Wednesday. So we should have plenty of time to scrape, InterProtect and antifoul the patches that are currently under the supports. At least the antifoul gets another 24 hours to harden so the slings don’t mess it up … as they tend to when launched too soon after painting.
Oh hum … life in the yard, typical.
And while at it, we also complain about toilets not flushing in men rest room, no hinges on the door in ladies rest room, no hot water etc. Jo, the general manager, concludes we didn’t have a good experience at all in their yard, so she won’t charge us for these two extra days on hard, and offers a complimentary day in the marina. Well, we can live with that. The good thing is that she listens to us with empathy … a rare thing in this part of the world.

To calm our frustration of not being able to launch, we launch the Parasailor instead. Well, sort of. We hoist it up in its sock to check length and play with the lines, testing how easy it is to lift the sock up and down. The snuffler comes down very easily and the tube doesn’t inflate like a ballon, like our current asymmetric does. Parasailor has been smart enough to make the tube from air-porous material..
The good news is that when fully hoisted the lower corners (tack and clue) are almost at a perfect height on deck. Glen was worried, given it is a slightly smaller Parasailor model than recommended, that it would be too small. Not so. And generally it looks in good condition.
The material is still crispy, like new spinnaker cloth, but sadly all the seams have mildew which spoils its appearance somewhat. And it smells like old-grannies cupboards. Still, at 1/4 the price of a new one, we cannot complain. What it needs is some serious quantity of air over it. Something like a downwind passage all the way to Panama should freshen it up!

At sunset, David, the heavy works specialist, returns the cockpit tent rear bar. It is better, but still not the right shape. So Glen takes it back to the workshop and later in the evening it is returned again. This time looks perfect.

The disappointment of not launching is soon behind us and we settle for another evening mosquito bound in the cabin.
Of slight concern are my legs. Both have become swollen, the left leg and ankle quite dramatically. Never had this before. Maybe it’s the heat, or a reaction to the man-eating mossies? Whatever the cause, need to get out of this yard and do some activities… we really don’t want to be hunting for doctors in Antigua.
Let’s hope a good night sleep helps.