Nov 5 - Update

The cutlass bearing, shaft and transmission coupling are all in. I've learned that here in Trinidad, it's necessary to stay as close to the top of the work list as possible; if not, your place in the queue falls dramatically and your job, no matter how important it is to you, falls precipitously in importance to whatever contractor is doing the work. Not unlike other places we've hauled and had to have work done. I've walked my old pair of Crocs into repair going back and forth to the machine, welding and prop shops; they needed 5200 on the soles to hold together. I'll be looking for some beat-up bicycles to buy from another cruiser; it would save time and shoe leather. At any rate, the prop shaft and propellor were in fine shape, so the machine shop drilled a hole for the cotter, Chris from the prop shop (a prince of a guy) dropped everything off to the boat, and we were ready for install. The exhaust riser needed a new gasket and piece of vertical pipe. You'd think those parts would be easy to source; think again. Wazied, at the machine shop, had to drive across town for the pipe and then had to thread both ends; Falco, the mechanic, had to drive over to a supply shop downtown to source the exhaust gasket. There are several yacht boat supply shops locally, but they're more like a West Marine in the States; availability and selection is often lacking. The good news is that you really can source most, but not all, of everything you need here. If it's not available locally, you can have items shipped without too much hassle. The really good news I've saved for last. The Admiral flew in today and is now busy unpacking and reorganizing aboard. I had hoped to have all the major work done before her arrival, but things didn't quite turn out that way. Close, though! Weather permitting, it's possible that bottom paint will be applied next week.
Pic: A view from Infini's deck while on 'the hard'.