Saturday 22 December 2018

Happy Holidays December 2018


Happy Holidays one and all.
I’m writing this from our first anchorage of the new sailing season. It’s a pleasant 28C with a cool breeze from the land and little puffs of cloud in an otherwise blue sky.
We arrived back aboard S/Y ‘Piano’ mid November with a deadline of a couple of weeks before hitting the water again. As we began putting items back together again and testing them they either needed new batteries or a new switch or a new ….. and the list goes on. The freezer was a rather major item requiring ‘Junior’ ( now into his late 60s) to come and take the compressor away to fix it. Fortunately the mundane life of shopping and washing kept me sane and I have yet to finish sorting out the library.  
Some Blue Fish having a conference...

The yards are evolving all the time and even though Don of Power Boats fame was partially retired earlier in the year he decided to go long term sailing in late November. His yard is still going strong and the workforce are just as helpful and hard working. This year a guy called Cow was overseeing the antifouling with his team. He was also doing the repainting of the french yacht next to ours and had thoughtfully put up a screen so as not to cover Piano with any flying paint mist. He also pointed out that the rudder seems to be dripping rather too much water. That will be a job top of the list for next season. He is probably the guy with most experience of what needs doing and showed us some work in progress not too far away.
Meanwhile we were invited to the Crews Inn Christmas Cocktail Party and had a truly enjoyable time while there. Of course the pot lucks at Power Boats were also a good excuse to catch up with people we only see twice a year or so. This year another first we also savored an American Thanks-giving dinner. All too soon we were due for launch and as the day drew near so Michael the crane driver came to look at the space he had to work in. On launch day he asked the weight of Piano and ummed and ahhed before telling us that she was too heavy for the small lift so he would have to move the huge Catamaran on the other side. This took about 3 hours all in but there were no problems once we were afloat. We motored around the bay for ½ an hour to check out various systems then proceeded to a birth at Crews Inn. (this would have made any other boats relaunching equally 3 hours further on)
Now away from the continuous dirt of the yard coming up the ladder I have managed to totally clean the boat below decks. The sails retrieved from the sailmaker and were laboriously rebattoned and put back on. The stock cupboards replenished and the wine cellar repacked. All too soon we were ready to leave. And would you believe it our friends Greg and Kathy (S/Y Indigo) got back just in time to say Hi and Bye before helping to slip our lines.
Three days later (bar ½ an hour) we arrived in Bonaire. Rather a rolly sail but hey if that is the price of a FAST passage I’m not complaining. The best thing was soo many shooting stars-- on all 3 nights.
Well, we are nicely settled having done a bit more food shopping at Van Den Tweels namely Croissants and mushrooms, and we have checked in at the Yellow submarine (which has had a major refurbishment), tonight is burger night at the Cafe de Paris so no cooking. Maybe tomorrow some diving…..
Some Blue water
All that is left is to wish you all a Healthy New Year wherever you are, thanks to the xmas emails I know many are far away , as always we raise our glasses to absent friends , hoping that you are as happy and satisfied as we are.