Projects After a Year of Cruising

We’ve now been cruising full time for over a year and have a little better idea of what things are important and what projects should be moved to the top of the to-do list. We got a few items done in the first month and a half here in Trinidad.

A new awning with sun shade sides. Since the prevailing winds came from the east as we moved through the Caribbean, the sun would beat into the back of the boat and heat up our salon to unbearable levels just when Kim was deciding what to fix the crew for dinner. After more than one “I’m not cooking in this heat!”, this problem moved to the top of the Captain’s list. The solution involved having a stainless tubing canopy made to extend the boat deck over the transom and dropping sunshade material down on the sides. The finished product is shown in the picture and it works really well. We can see through the screened sides but the mesh blocks the beating sun and gives us some added privacy for those outside showers. All of the sections can be rolled up individually when we want that panoramic view back. It really feels like a new room on the boat and we added a few hooks above for drip drying wet swim suits and towels.

Strengthened Stern Davit. The original stern davit was too weak for our heavy dingy and did not raise our dingy far enough out of the water. Since many of areas we will be visiting are third world and would consider our dingy quite a prize, raising it each night has become a priority. We could also raise the dingy up on the boat deck (which we do for all passages), but that is cumbersome and requires considerable battery amperage that is obviated with the hand-operated davits. We beefed up the stainless supports and added an attachment to our new canopy to have it follow the boat deck lines and provide additional support. Leaving the dingy in the nutrient-rich, 84 degree water also quickly fouls the bottom with algae and barnacles. Raising the boat each night has the added benefit of keeping the critters from getting a foot hold.

Haul-out for bottom work. As you can see from the before and after shots, our hull needed some new bottom paint. Down here in Trinidad, we have access to heavier duty Tin-based paints that are now outlawed in the US. We hope that the 2 ½ coats we had our Trinidad friend Shawndel put on will keep the bottom clean for another year or so. We also had some through-hull valves replaced and had our naiad stabilizer fin seals replaced and were back in the water in less than a week.

Sprucing up the car (dingy). We use our dingy at lot. The beating tropical sun is brutal and our Zodiac is made from a material that will slowly breakdown with extended UV exposure. We found some craftsmen here who will wrap the dingy up with a canvas material that will allow this dingy to survive our 5 year adventure. We replaced the cushions too and think she looks so good now that we are REALLY happy that we can raise her up every night! We also found several instances where it would be useful to explore some possible anchorages and check the available depths without endangering the mother ship. Therefore, we added a roll bar and mounted a removable depth/fish finder and a GPS to find our way home when we stray too far at night.

We did some normal maintenance items on all the engines and did some extra items like replacing all the injectors to get ready for a Pacific crossing. The last six weeks were a lot of work and we and our credit cards need a rest. We have moved into a more secluded anchorage now and are getting back into our normal cruising mode. We started fourth grade home schooling this week and Emily is still enjoying afternoon swims and visits with cruising friends anchored only 100 yards away.

We are enjoying watching the topical storms as they develop off the African coast, build strength as they head straight for us and then veer predictably to the North West long before they reach us. We sit calmly in this undeveloped cove and hear the squawks from the bright green red-winged parrots as they argue loudly who will get the highest branch. We have heard, but not yet seen the Howler monkeys that scamper through the trees. What they do not know is that we are a patient crew and are certain that we will see them before we leave this steamy land…

Tom