Trinidad and Grenada

We had a wonderful trip to England and thankfully it was very relaxing as well because on our return to Trinidad we had a lot of work ahead of us. The haul out was primarily for the boat but we had taken the opportunity of the safe haven to leave for 6 weeks as well. But alas it catches up to you and we came back to Moosetracks to do what we needed when she is out of the water. 

The list of jobs included some major work like bottom painting and raising the waterline an inch then replacing the boot stripe which separates the bottom paint from the hull and is a contrasting navy blue. 

Sanding & prep work

A break with Steve for doubles

Prep the new water line

First bottom coat

 As well as this we wanted to refinish all the teak on the hand rails, eyebrows, toe rails and cockpit combing. We added all this up and estimated 4 weeks work if the weather was reasonably quicker if it stayed dry every day.

Prep for varnish

Varnishing

Varnishing in the heat

We had a few other yard maintenance jobs done by the marina as well so they recovered our captains chair, in a nice new ultra leather which came out beautifully, as well as replacing our 17 year old engine mounts that had sagged and lots elasticity. The yard does excellent work and both were to our satisfaction and well priced. 

Out with the old - engine mounts

Recovered nav seat chair

As it turned out it was about perfect for 4 weeks and it did rain several afternoons which gave us a bit of downtime to recover from the 90+ Fahrenheit temperature which had a feels -like of over 100 due to the humidity. We were so glad of the temporary air-conditioning unit we had rented on returning as inside the cabin we had 80F (27C) or less most of the time and it was a huge relief when stopping for lunch or at the end of the day. 

Yes did it rain some days!

Even little Poop got a bottom job

We had a few jobs up the mast so Steve lent a hand to get Devin to the top and fit the new wind instruments.

Pre flight discussion

Up we go

We did of course take a few evenings to relax with friends for BBQ's and musical nights as well as a birthday party or two.

Liz & Devin relaxing

Birthday party at the Wheelhouse Pub

Prior to our haul out our refrigeration had failed and we had spent a month without it in Tabago so before going back in the water we started up our fridge. Unfortunately the replacement controller wasn't the only problem and we needed to call 'Cold' Keate back again. He found a small leak in the evaporator and made a quick repair with epoxy. After this it did cool but could get down to temperature, after another visit we concluded the keel cooler which is normally under water was too hot and the unit would overheat and stop. So after testing the theory with a hose on the cooler we resigned to no fridge while on the hard in 90F temperatures! Still we managed to buy ice for our cooler and keep some cold drinks when we wanted them.

Well Moosetracks looks fantastic with her new bottom paint and gleaming hull and varnish so it was time to go back in the water. 

All Done

Looking great

We again had an uneventful ride to the dock and returned to the water after a touch up on the areas where she was standing on the ground blocks.

Final touch up

Off we go again

Devin holding his breath

Back in the water

We had hope to stay on the dock overnight to get our fridge running in the cold water but unfortunately an emergency lift was needed for boat taking on water in the harbor so we had to move. We found a mooring in the harbor free and took it for the night. The next day Keate came and did final adjustments on the fridge now it was working with the colder water on the keel cooler and we were set to go. 

Devin & Cold Keate

We said final goodbyes to our dockyards friends and checked out of Trinidad. We had a welcome surprise, new this year, that you can now check out 24 hours ahead so we made use of that and moved to Scotland Bay for a 1am departure.

White Chocolate at the music Jam

Liz, Maureen, Devin and Bill

Our crossing was fabulous, winds on the beam almost all morning and afternoon becoming close hauled towards landfall. I guess we should have kept a little more east than the rhumb line. Well we arrived at 3pm in time to check in but our neighbors told us customs had gone home early so we checked in the following morning with no issues. 

Fresh Mahi Mahi - Crossings don't get much better!

We settled in at Calivigny cut in Woburn Bay with our friends s/v Pipe muh Bligh and s/v Nauti Dog it was great to be among fiends again.
Grenada is very familiar to us having been here for over 4 months last year and before we knew it we were back into the cruising community and activities. We started noodling straight away at Hog Island with friends from last year and started walking with Morgan on s/v Nirvana as well as our other anchorage friends. We soon met s/v Minx with Mike and Cynthia who were good friends of Harry & Melinda of s/v Sea Schell one of our SSCA commodore sponsors.

Calivigny Cut. Woburn Bay

Devin in the dinghy

So here we are enjoying the wonderful spice island of Grenada with lots of our cruising friends and being able to relax, well until we realized we still had a few jobs to finish up the mast. Those done and 2 more popped up as we noticed a crack in the stern arch and a leak in the sea water strainer. Well it is a boat and stuff just wears out or breaks due to the harsh slat environment. We fixed the leak in the strainer easily once we found the parts but the stern arch needs a aluminum weld so our friend Silvio on s/v Blue Breaker will fit us in hopefully while we are here.


We also had the first Full Moon party of our return and boy what a fabulous one with an eclipse of the moon by the earth. A great night on Bengy beach with local bands and cruiser bands.

Nearly half there

Nearly full eclipse

A Blood Moon

So that's back to waiting on the end of hurricane season and the first of November when our insurance allows us to go north. 

Morgan's birthday party

Mike and Devin

We are planning most of the year in the windward islands but we will possibly go to St Martin for the duty free spirits and some replacement spare parts that are much cheaper to ship there or buy there. 

We hope all our family and friends are had a wonderful summer and have exciting plans ahead too.