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.
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| 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…..
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| Some Blue water |
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