Oct. 28 - Projects

The shaft, stuffing box, transmission coupling and exhaust riser are now all out and off the boat. Our two fixed, 3-blade props will go for routine inspection and the shaft will have a cotter pin hole drilled in the end for the retaining nut to be secured. One of the weaknesses of the MaxProp, in my opinion, is in the design; several threads of the prop shaft have to be cut off to fit it, so if you ever want to change over to a fixed blade prop, you're unable to secure the nut with a cotter pin as you've just cut off that portion of the shaft thread with the cotter hole in it. Crazy. We've been very fortunate and never hit anything with our prop blades; we've met other cruisers who weren't so lucky. What would they do if they didn't carry an expensive set of spare blades for their folding, variable pitch prop? Our exhaust riser will go to the welder to repair a small crack that developed. I had patched it with JB Weld, which held for many thousands of miles, but a proper repair will be done at this time. The boat awnings, which haven't been used since they were made in Guatemala, have been up for the last 7 months and are off to the shop for modification and repair; also, two hatch covers are getting new clear vinyl sewn in. There's a choice of bottom paints here, and I'm in the final stages of decision making; Hemphill, Jotun Sea Force, Trinidad SR, or Sea Hawk; prices and color availability are all over the place. The wind vane is in the machine shop having a frozen SS bolt on the rudder blade removed and new bearings put in. For anyone coming this way, here in Chagauramas there's a cruisers information net at 0800 on VHF 68 daily; it's very informative with lots of participation. Lastly, this past week there have been thunderstorms every day, so if you're planning on painting or peeling your boat, better to get here way early in the dry season.

Oct. 26 - Back aboard in Chagauramas

I arrived a few days ago and spent the first two nights in the hotel located at Power Boats. That gave me the time to clean the deck and cockpit and recruit Clark from Two Amigos to help drag the heavy headsail and mainsail from the settee in the salon to the deck. We also brought the windvane topsides. Down below looked pretty good. A bit of dust, some dead flies, but no mold or dead roaches - yea! Overall, I'd say in very good shape, so I think our pre-departure efforts have paid off. The list of projects goes on. Since it's hot and humid here, I'm still getting acclimated. Oh, forgot: I said "I" and not "we" as Sue is still in Florida taking care of some business that needed attending to, and will be here in about two weeks. Let's see...all the halyards have been run; the furling blocks on the stanchions have been attached; the furling line has been run; Cold Keate put a small charge in the refrigerator compressor today; the box temperature is now down to where it should be; I changed the two water filters in the galley; the Maxprop propeller has been removed in anticipation of installing a new cutlass bearing; I've organized a bit down below (a never-ending process); done some provisioning for one; and installed a marine wifi system from island time pc. The internet is still very slow and sketchy, but I'm down below at the chart table writing this entry, so that's an improvement. All-in-all, not a bad few days. There are about a half-dozen boats around that we've met previously, so folks are coming back to start the new cruising season. I checked out the cruisers book exchange at the laundry here at Power Boats; 99% were in French or German.

Sept. 21 - Things are moving along

Well, there... Hello, again! We trust all of you are well, rested, and have enjoyed yourselves in our absence. It's been a very busy summer for us as well, visiting lots of family and friends, and taking care of a ton of stuff, mostly expected, but you know how that goes. Plane reservations have now been made to return to Trinidad late October, where we'll get Infini ready for next season's cruising in the eastern Caribbean. We're really excited about that! Meanwhile, just a note to say we attended this past weekend's SSCA gam in St. Petersburg, Fl. For those who don't know, a "gam" means a social visit or friendly interchange, especially between whalers or other seafarers. (Yes, I had to look that definition up...) We didn't spot any whalers, but the event was quite well attended, and we enjoyed seeing old friends and making some new ones. If you're not a member, consider the benefits of joining; the website is www.ssca.org. We'll be starting to make more regular blog entries in the very near future and, as always, look forward to your comments and suggestions.

June 1 - The official start of hurricane season

As we're not aboard, this will be our last blog entry until we return to Infini later in the year. We can be contacted at the email address found on the side bar and look forward to keeping in touch with many folks during our land travels. Have a great summer (or winter, for many of our friends in the other hemisphere)!

May 13 - Back in the USA

We arrived just after midnight to New Port Richey, and still wanted to unpack a bit before hitting the sack. There's a lot to catch up on, but having fast, unlimited internet is a huge help, and Sue's already planning on photo album updates and adding pictures to our blog entries.
Pic: Where Infini departed from 8 years ago.

May 12 - Preparation

As we head out by Maxi-taxi to the airport, I was thinking that some folks might find it useful to see a partial list of what we've done before departure. Here goes: 1. Spray Corrosion-X on electrical contacts and tools 2. Shut sea cocks except for cockpit drains 3. Disconnect SSB antennae at the tuner 4. Disconnect the VHF antennae 5. Shut the windlass breaker 6. Lock the lazarette 7. Shut the propane tank valve 8. Shut house battery switch and all breakers 9. Remove batteries from flashlights, head lamps, and any other items not needed during our absence. 10. Give boat key to marina office 11. Ensure inverter is off 12. Set solar panel array; we shut off our forward pair and leave the aft pair on, drawing current to trickle charge the batteries thru the solar charge controller 13. Lock up gas cans with bicycle chain 14. Fill FW tanks 15. Fill diesel tanks 16. Stuff deck openings to prevent bug entry 17. Wash down interior cabin walls, Formica, and teak with vinegar solution 18. Place Saran Wrap over toilet; this should prevent drying of internal seals 19. Winterize outboard engine 20. Put out moth balls and various bug deterrents. 21.Store all we can below; including fenders, cockpit cushions; anything that could 'walk'. Remember, this is a partial list; some folks do more; a few just lock their boats and head out! We've got four bags, each weighing 50 pounds, plus one carry-on, as well as two backpacks and one camera bag. Infini looks lighter already, even up on boat stands!

May 7 - Haul-out

We were hauled at Power Boats. Typical screw-up. At first, I was told, "Come in bow first. You won't have to drop the head stay." Not...we scrambled to take off the Profurl. Of course, the Allen screws refused to budge. We're in the slings; Michael, the travel-lift driver, is a laid back guy. "No problem, Captain. Take all the time you need." Yah, I could have been there until next month trying to back out the screws and taking off that Profurl..."Go ahead and call the rigger,I said, figuring it was way easier to have him worry about it. Gary, the rigger, showed up about 5 minutes later, took a few minutes to assess the situation, and proceeded to do what I should have done to begin with; he removed the clevis pin holding the Profurl up (after loosening the back stay. I had already removed the cotter pins...). Voila...let the haul-out continue. The rest went smooth as. Later, Brent, the yard manager came by and said "why didn't you back in? You wouldn't have had to remove the head stay." Thanks, buddy...a bit late for that. Next time, maybe say something beforehand? Well, it's all good. We've put up the full boat canvas we had made in Guatemala...we don't use it too much :). We then had a visit from Cold Keate, a guy who works on refrigeration and A/C systems, as well as watches peoples' boats when they're gone for the rainy season. We contracted with him at a fair price to make regular visits to the boat, and rented an A/C unit from him. He fabricated a ply enclosure to surround the unit in the companionway and allow us to lock up, and we now are way ahead in the prevention of mold which regularly occurs aboard stored boats here, especially during rainy season. So, the organization and clean-up continues. We fly out the 12th, so that deadline is coming up. Stay tuned!

May 1 - Update

We've had a busy week. Matt left for Florida a few days ago, leaving a void as well as an empty V-berth. He's on to new adventures of the land work kind, after 6 months and about 7000 miles of the boat work kind; an adjustment for everybody. We've been straightening up, getting ready for our haul-out May 7th. The engine's been cleansed with degreaser, and the deck and cockpit have been washed down, as well as the stainless polished; more halyards have been removed and replaced with runners, our sails are ready for inspection at the sailmaker, and the newly upholstered cockpit cushions look great. We've found time to have dinner aboard with Marion & Dave of sv Kilkea II, who are celebrating the completion of their circumnavigation, along with Gordon & Helen of sv Mantra. We've also been to the weekly Thursday night cruisers BBQ at Power Boats, doing our best to eat and share our food stores before we depart for the States. Since we have about a month's worth of food in the freezer and about two weeks to go before our flight, many folks are enjoying the fish Matt caught and the meats we bought in South Africa. I bought a used 6000 BTU A/C unit the other day, but the power post on the dock isn't wired properly, so we're unable to use our extension cord and A/C until that's addressed. More boats are arriving here daily, and we see our sister-ship, Native Dancer, just pulled in. We haven't met those folks, but it's not very often you see two Westsail 43's in one place!