2024-10-12 A week on the hard, and hard work

We did not have much excitement this week, just working on the boat.   

Kris finished all the engine work, so that is one item checked  off the list.  Our list is short, only about 26 items left to do.  Some are almost done - like bottom painting, but until it is 100% done, it stays on the list.

Each day we do a bit more.  Every day the humidity is high, and we sweat a lot.   

A big project was raising the waterline.   We did not need to, as we float higher than the current bottom paint line, but not by much, and with wave splashing, the boat was always dirty looking on the decorative vinyl striping that runs at the waterline.   In addition, the waterline was not level with how the boat floated, being higher in the bow and stern, and low in the middle.   So we tried to correct the uneven waterline, and raise the middle up 2 inches.    We won't know if we did a good job or not until we are floating again.

Part of raising the waterline is first marking it with tape.  We did several measurements while the boat was in the water, so used those, plus a laser level, to get the best line we could.   Then we had to sand the gel coat and apply the epoxy barrier coat, and then finally could put on the bottom paint.

Dean sanding the gel coat up to the line marked out by blue tape.  The electric sander died at 10%, so the rest was hand sanded 😖

Barrier coat done, now the bottom paint

Bottom is painted (except the bottom of the keel)

Once the bottom paint was on, then it was time to add the decorative striping.  It serves two purposes.  One is to make an easy to clean surface near the water.  The vinyl striping is easier to clean than the gel coat.  It also dresses up the boat a bit.

Kris working on putting on the blue vinyl striping.

After the 3" blue stripe is on, we were going to add a 1" green stripe that matched our sail covers, but the green was a bit too close in color to the blue, and we felt that from a distance would not really stand out, so we decided to add a somewhat white/gray stripe, as we had mistakenly ordered an extra roll of reflective tape, and decided to use it.   So now we have a reflective stripe at the water line, and will also add one on the rub rail, like we had before.

3" blue stripe, with 1" reflective white stripe - hope it looks OK.

Kris has been working on painting our props and hubs, getting them ready to go on.  We use a cold galvanizing paint that we have had good luck with.

Another project was to replace some above water thru hulls.   We had 15 above water thru hulls we removed before we left to visit back in the states.   It took almost a full day to put new ones in.  Each hole was cleaned, and then lots of sealant applied to ensure they were leakproof.  Dean was inside with the nut, and Kris was the sealant gooper outside.  Then all the hoses had to be put back on.  

New thru hulls 

Dean working on connecting the hoses back up.

There is a nice wood working shop here.  Love walking by it, such pretty wood waiting to be made into stuff for boats.   Dean had a great idea, we had one shelf fiddle rail bracket that had broken.  Dean suggested taking an unbroken one over, and see if we could get them to make a new one.   I walked over early in the morning, and they said they could make one.  It would be done in an hour.   Did not make it back until lunchtime, and they had completed it.   Asked the price, and they suggested a couple of beers.   

Off to the store, and bought 3 beers and 3 small bags of chips for the guys.  They were super happy, and we were super happy.  Custom piece of teak, made in one hour, and cost us less than $12 USD.

New shelf fiddle bracket on left, old on right.  Need to varathane it, but it looks great.

We did have a nice break on Friday, we took the bus to get groceries with Peter and Iris from IP, which is right next to us.  It is a Lagoon 42 catamaran.  They are a nice Swiss couple.  Had a good bus ride to the grocery store, and on the way back, a new experience.  In Trinidad to have Maxi taxi's, which are vans, with a yellow stripe, that run on a non-existent schedule, but frequently, and are about $7 TT per ride per person (about $1 USD).  Then there is the large normal bus, which is only $2 TT, but runs infrequently, but on schedule.  Then there are the honkers.  At least that is our name for them.  These are people just earning a bit of money, that when they see you walking or waiting for a bus, will honk, and if you wave them down, will pull over and give you a ride.  They charge a bit more than the Maxi taxi, but fewer stops.   

We took a honker back from the grocery store with all our stuff, and Peter and Iris's items in the trunk, and had a pleasant ride for only $10 TT each. (About $1.50 USD)  Our driver was a nice young man, who is a police officer.  He was off duty, but heading to work, so made some extra money giving us a ride.

It is interesting to compare our boat, to IP (Lagoon 42).  Even though they are the same length, the Lagoon looks soooo much larger.

IP on the left, and Charm on the right

So basically a week of long hot days and work - but that is boatyard life.  Look forward to the nice hot shower at the end of the day - except there is no hot water, so nice long cold shower - but not that cold, as the water is outside temperature - or slightly cooler, so mid 80s.

The shower/toilet facilities are pretty nice, and cleaned every day.

The shower/washrooms are not air-conditioned, and have funky swinging doors for the entrance, but clean and in decent shape.

Oh, and good news, looks like our poor plant is making a recovery.

Some new leaves sprouting.

Probably another week in the yard, have some more things to do.  Dean is going to wax the entire boat, the sail drives need painted, we have some rusty areas to work on, the props to put on, and Kris wants to paint some on the boom.  We still need to make some more grocery runs to fully provision the boat, as groceries are cheaper here than the rest of the Caribbean.