Hope's and Howard's Sailing Adventures

We arrived in Nanny Cay Marina on Sunday afternoon and were hauled on Monday morning so the surveyor could check for any possible issues below the waterline associated with the internal changes we were concerned about.  Nothing of significance was noted so the overall diagnosis remained unchanged; there is no evidence of any damage to the main stringer, only a cracked partial bulkhead. However, we still seem to have some electrolysis issues because the anti fouling paint has bubbled off around a couple of the through hulls.  Fortunately the zinc anodes are doing their job so there is no sign of any damage to any metal. Having chatted to Miles Poor, who is also a Tayana owner and runs a business of refitting boats, the most likely culprit is our Xantrex inverter/charger which likely has a stuck neutral to ground relay…… that was not formerly on our horizon of items to replace. Ah well, hence the definition of boat – break out another thousand (or more). I suppose it’s the same as house maintenance.

The rest of the week Marcelo and his helper, Evan, worked methodically to raise the cabin sole near the mast, back to where it should be and repair the cracked bulkhead. In order to help the boat return to her natural lines, we loosened off the rigging, which significantly improved the ability to close the forward head door.  We are impressed by the professional job they did. The floors have secure support and no longer squeak when we walk on them and the repairs to the bulkhead appear to be very strong.  While the head door is still a bit tight, after retensioning the rigging, we plan to let the boat settle and then maybe shave a little off the top when we are in Trinadad.

Meanwhile, Howard and I have managed to repair the base of the autopilot linear drive unit and tend to a few other little tasks.  So, our plan now is to hopefully meet up with our former crew Ed who is chartering a catamaran this week, then head to St Thomas to pick up our mail and then wait for a weather window to head East to St Martin……. finally.