1 July 2018 Chaguaramus, Trinidad
I screwed up today. The only thing that I needed to do was to get the dinghy onto the fore-deck and stow the outboard. It was a lovely morning, but very hot, so I decided to do some admin and catch up on my blog and photos, hoping that the cloud would build like it did yesterday and it would be cooler.
The cloud did build up, but it brought torrential rain and lightning. The rain kept going all afternoon, so at 15:00, I was forced to don my swimming shorts and work in the pouring rain. At least it cooled me down. We’re all ready for the haul-out tomorrow.
2 July 2018 Chaguaramus, Trinidad
It was a long wait until 11:00, when we were instructed to head for the haul-out bay at Peakes. They have a huge 200 tonne lift, so it’s a simple matter of motoring in to the dock with no messing about having to remove the forestay. The process is very efficient. They pressure washed us in the slings and the boat was then transferred onto a long truck with hydraulic arms. The truck then squeezed us into a small gap between two other yachts. About an hour later, another boat “Larus” was squeezed in front of us effectively blocking us in between three boats. It’s very quick and efficient on space to use the truck.
We were soon chocked up and left to our own devices. In the afternoon, I pottered about checking everything below the waterline. Everything looks fine, although the last coat of anti-foul that we put on in South Africa has come out a bit patchy after the pressure washing. Greg from Peakes Yacht Services is going to quote me for power sanding off that layer; applying the antifoul paint; fixing some dings in the gelcoat; and polishing the topsides.
I dropped the anchor chain down to the ground and draped it over a trestle. While we were in Mount Hartman Bay, we picked up an incredible amount of weed on the chain, so I had to spend an hour blasting the weed off using a water hose. The galvanising has been worn away from half of the chain and it’s starting to go rusty. Unfortunately, we can’t get chain galvanised in Trinidad, so tomorrow, I’m going to de-rust it with a product containing Phosphoric acid.
We rolled away all of the carpets and Glenys started work on varnishing the chart table top, the tray on the chart table and the washboard surround in the cockpit.
3 July 2018 Chaguaramus, Trinidad
We were kept awake during the night, while some painters were redecorating the restaurant above our room. They were working quietly most of the time, but would then drag furniture around making a terrible racket. Glenys went and complained in the morning and we were given a free meal voucher by the restaurant manager.
I did some running about and picked up some antifoul paint from Echotec. The best antifouling in Trinidad is Sea Hawk, but it contains a high level of tin, which is banned in the USA, so I’m going for the copper-based Jotun Seaforce 90 paint, which I’ve used before and like. Meanwhile, Glenys sanded down and varnished the companionway surround, the fiddle around the galley and the chart table top.
When we were in South Africa, I managed to damage the locking mechanism on our steering wheel, so I removed the steering wheel hub and I’m planning to take it back to UK to get it repaired. I’m worried about losing the part because it is now obsolete and will be a nightmare to try to replace. Without the steering wheel hub, we won’t be going anywhere. I think that it’s too risky to put it in our hold baggage, so I planning to carry it in my hand luggage. It weighs about 2 kg, but there no weight limit on British Airways, so it should be ok.
4 July 2018 Chaguaramus, Trinidad
I received the quote from Peakes for various work on the hull and it’s outrageous. They want $265US to repair a couple of dinks in the gelcoat on the bow; $525US to compound and wax the topsides; $525US to orbit sand off the existing anti-foul paint; and $335US to apply two coats of antifoul paint. They’re charging USA prices.
I now wish that I’d gone into Power Boats because Peakes have a monopoly and restrict the work that independent contractors can do in their yard. Power Boats only have independent contractors, so there is more competition and prices are lower. I finally negotiated that Peakes will do a light sand of the existing anti-foul and then apply two coats for $360US. It’s pricy, but it means that we’ll be able to go back into the water the day after we arrive back.
I spent the rest of the day pottering about doing a few last jobs and finishing off the varnishing. Glenys wiped down all of the vinyl surfaces with some white vinegar to prevent mildew. We left all of the cupboard doors open and the seat cushions stood on edge to help air flow. Our final act was to turn on several fans, so that the air will be moving about inside the boat. Mike will be coming on board at least once a week and can make sure that the fans are working okay. Our solar panels should produce enough electricity to power the fans without any external shore power.
I had to walk around to the Immigration and Customs with some forms that Peakes had given us. One is a Temporary Import document for the boat, which lists the value of the boat and has an inventory of the equipment on board. The form stamped by Immigration was a declaration that we had a yacht and would be leaving the country on the yacht. We’re to present these documents when we return to Trinidad, which should smooth our passage through the airport formalities.
After locking up the boat, we had a few drinks with Tim and Nancy from “Larus” and then a slap up meal on our gift vouchers. We splashed out on a bottle of wine that was horribly expensive, but it was happy hour, so we received two bottles for the price of one…
5 July 2018 Chaguaramus, Trinidad
I woke up early feeling paranoid about the steering wheel hub. Last night Tim told me that he’d been stopped at the airport security for having a zinc anode in his baggage and they’d made him run back to the check-in desk to check it into hold luggage. When the Steering wheel hub is wrapped up it looks like the warhead from a Rocket-Propelled Grenade, so I’m guessing that they’d throw a wobbly in airport security - it would be a disaster if they confiscated it.
After a quick breakfast, I refitted the steering hub and reconnected and tensioned the steering cables. It only took an hour to do the job, so I was back in the hotel room well before the taxi came to pick us up at 11:30. We were at the airport an hour before the checkout opened, which was a nuisance because there are very few seats in outer part of the airport, probably to prevent people “liming”.
However, we were soon checked in and took the opportunity to wander outside to the local eating place and have a sneaky Double. The flight was on time, but we had a one hour layover in St Lucia, while some passengers disembarked and others got on. We arrived in London Gatwick on time and quickly picked up a small hire car, which delivered us to our son Brett in time for lunch.
July to September 2018
The first thing that we did in the UK was to buy a car because we felt that it would be a lot cheaper than hiring one for three months. By the end of day 2, we were the proud owners of a ten year old Peugeot 207 Estate car. (I’m a bit of a BMW man, but I was impressed by the spec of this car which only cost £3,200 - air con, cruise control, automatic headlights, automatic windscreen wipers, etc .)
Over the next three weeks, we did our usual round of seeing family and friends. We stayed with Brett in Stevenage; Craig in Reading; Gareth in Lymington; and our friends Mike & Rona in Portsmouth. There was then a long car journey up to Accrington to see my Mum and most of my brothers and sisters.
At the end of July, our son Craig and Kristen flew off to Peru and Brazil for three weeks, so we were fortunate to be able to house-sit for them. It’s lovely to stay with family and friends, but it’s very wearing being entertained every day and night, so we were very grateful to be able to lounge about in Craig’s house.
We didn’t do a lot while staying at Craig’s, but we did see a few old friends. Tony Cummings fixed my front tooth which had fallen apart a few months earlier - he did the original repair which lasted 34 years, which is pretty good dentistry. We went to a Flash Trash reunion, seeing some of my best friends, with whom I skydived for seven years.
When Craig returned, we went on a mini UK Tour. As well as visiting more family and friends, our main aim was to visit areas of the country that we might want to live when we sell the boat. We visited The Peak District; Accrington; Hadrian’s Wall; Glencoe; Mallaig; Glen Affric; Northumberland; Harrogate; Yorkshire Dales; Sandbach; The Peak District; Bebington; North Wales; Shropshire; Herefordshire; Lincolnshire. Phew!
We camped for 9 nights in Scotland and Northumberland with gear that we mostly borrowed from family and friends. It was miserable. The UK had a heat wave from May until the end of July with tropical temperatures. Of course, as soon as we set off to go camping, the weather turned and it was cold, wet and windy in Scotland - we froze in our lightweight summer sleeping bags.
One of our problems when we return to the UK will be that we can’t afford to live where our sons live. Brett and Tash live in Stevenage, which is a London commuter town - Craig & Kristen live in Reading which is even more expensive. In both of those places, we’d only be able to buy a small house in a crowded residential area, which would drive us mad.
We would prefer a “character” detached house with about ½ acre of garden and some large out-buildings where I can have a workshop. It would be nice to be a little isolated in a rural setting, so I can make a lot of noise, but we’d like to be close to a village where we can get provisions and hopefully a nice pub. This would be a £1 million house in Reading - we need somewhere a lot cheaper.
There are three areas that look like possibilities - The Yorkshire Dales, The Peak District and Shropshire/Herefordshire. Unfortunately, all three areas would involve 3-5 hour journey to see our sons. At the moment, the Yorkshire Dales are coming out on top. The good thing is that it’s very rural and the house prices are relatively low, but the bad thing is that it would be a 4-5 hour journey to see Brett or Craig. We’ll just have to wait until we get back to the UK next year.
While we were on our UK tour, I spent a lot of time researching Family History. I find it a fascinating puzzle, almost like playing Cluedo - Great, Great, Great Grandad Kenyon lived in Ainsworth in 1820 and was a Cotton Weaver, where was he buried? Glenys and I visited many graveyards across the UK, uncovering the headstones of our ancestors - I know how to show a girl a good time...
Our UK Tour was terminated by the main event of the year - the birth of our first Grandchild. Piper Rose Howarth was born on the 14th September weighing in at just less than 7lbs. We drove down to see her the day after her birth and she’s a little cutie (of course, we would think that.) We spent our last three weeks staying in the south of England, so that we could drop in and see Brett, Tash and Piper.
Eventually, it was time to return to the Caribbean. We packed all our new acquisitions into three large cargo bags (teak grating, steering conduit and cables, engine parts, etc, etc). The car was returned to the dealer from who we bought it - obviously at a much reduced price. With insurance and tax, it cost us about £1,500 for the three months, which I think is much cheaper than an equivalent large rental car. We’d done 5,600 miles on it after all.
Our last night was spent with Brett, Tash and Piper - it was a great 3 months with many happy memories.
There are more photos in our Photo Album section.