Thursday 7 May, CY day 54: Ooh! Only 1 week to go before we would be entering into our 3rd month here. We had said we would be on our way to USA rather than extend for yet another month. We need to seriously start looking at weather windows to ensure we avoid wind against current in the Gulf Stream. Once around western tip of Cuba we are fully into the stream, which first runs east then turns north around Florida Cays. I’ll have to get my brain back into navigation mode. On the other hand, we don’t really want to leave the safety of Cayman until we are sure we can fly back into Bucharest. Because sitting and waiting in USA right now doesn’t seem a healthy idea, particularly as our health insurance does not cover us while in USA. I’m sure we are not the only ones with travel dilemmas these days.
Today’s job on the dinghy chaps project is gluing on the velcro strips, so no sewing today for a change. The morning I spend preparing with masking tape, acetone cleaning and gently sanding a key onto the rubber where the velcro will attach. Then, just before sunset, when it’s cooler, I set about the gluing. The 2-pack contact adhesive says temperature range for application is 12-25DegC. It’s about 29DegC here, so I know I’m going to have to work very quickly. In a slightly panicky frenzie, I manage to get the ahesive applied before it hardens and the velcro attached in the 5 minutes allocated time. With the masking tape removed it looks like a neat job. Instructions said to apply 2 layers of adhesive to each surface, but I only had tine to apply one. So let’s hope it secures the velcro OK. The last few bits of velcro I’ll have to do in the cool of the early morning tomorrow, because by 7pm everything is getting too damp.
During the day I also added a sealing strip around the stowage locker on the dinghy. I can’t quite understand Highfield’s logic on this one. It does have a rubber strip but it doesn’t cover the complete circumference of the lid, so spray and rain quite easily get in there! Well, now it won’t! I also add a simple in-line fuel filter to the fuel line. Something I’ve been meaning to do for a while.
Something else on the dinghy list is to add a pair of lifting wheels to the transom. But we can’t quite decide if we will ever use them. I’m not sure they’ll roll in a sandy beach and it’s rare that we would ever take it up a hard slipway. On the other hand, we have purchased them and they will be more useful on the dinghy than they will be kept in their box! But do we want to drill 8 holes in our new dinghy transom? Oh-hum, decisions decisions.
We have been getting a lot of swell today, and it doesn’t look to be improving any time soon. Poor Oana has to take sea-sickness tablets, again. She’s not a happy bunny when it’s like this. And wanting to be back home is weighing heavily now. This is the longest she’s ever been on Cloudy without a break. It’s been 8 months now. The original plan had been she would spend the month of April back at home before we set off across the Pacific. But that plan was changed long ago. So a recharge of her batteries is now very much over due.
Our evening is quiet contemplation and early to bed for a change. Let’s see how we manage to sleep with this boat motion. Wish us luck!
