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| Secret Harbour |
We were lucky to be able to borrow a mooring belonging to
the dive shop, since S/V Jester, a charter sailboat, was in the boat yard for
some maintenance and repairs. It was
quite rolly in there, but still a much needed improvement from Compass Point
Marina. There was abundant fresh air,
beautiful views, and it was finally enjoyable to be outside.
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| Open hatches for a fresh breeze |
We were able to keep the boat wide open, with
fresh air blowing through. No air
conditioner needed! It got cool enough
at night that we put on pants and hoodies! We had our dinner outside in the cockpit, and
enjoyed looking at the stars.
We both had a TERRIBLE night’s sleep, due to the
rolling. Also, we were on high alert,
paranoid about every sound we heard, imagining our boat breaking free of the
mooring and crashing into the rocks. Skeeter
did dive down to check the mooring right after we tied up, but never the less
we were still paranoid. We both got up
numerous times to walk around outside and check on everything. Plus, the boat was rolling side to side so
much that things were falling and slamming.
You’d be surprised how many different sounds you hear when you don’t
have the white noise of an air conditioner and your boat is bobbing around in
the water and blowing around in the wind.
The next morning we were exhausted, but still so happy to be
out of the marina. I installed a hook on
the head (bathroom) door so it wouldn't slam open and closed.
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| The hook I installed to prevent door from slamming open & shut |
I borrowed a tank from the dive shop to
scrape the two years’ worth of scum from the hull, and covered myself with a
long wetsuit and double hoods to protect myself from the stingy hydroids I’d
scrape loose and the tiny pincers of the shrimp who’s under the hull ecosystem
I was about to destroy. I didn't want a repeat of the time I got a full body rash from hydroids after swimming through saragassum sea weed!
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| I learned my lesson last time! |
It took me about
an hour and a half to scrape the entire hull, which was actually much less than I had imagined. Our bottom paint was doing its job,
preventing excessive growth. That was
great news! And I had minimal stings.
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| Our water-maker, compliments of Captain Ryan from S/V Sandy Shores |
The next couple of days Skeeter tested our water-maker (couldn’t try it out in the nasty marina water!) and changed over our propeller.
He struggled for hours trying to remove
the propeller with a gear puller. Bruce
at the Independent Boat Yard Machine Shop was kind enough to lend Skeeter his
prop puller, the right tool for removing a propeller. With the right tool it came right off.
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| Skeeter with the old propeller |
Putting the new one on was more of a
challenge than expected. It was slightly
bigger than the old one, so he ended up having to remove the flexible coupling
on the shaft to make it fit. Luckily that
is an optional part that doesn’t void our warranty. Then he had to realign the engine again.
While Skeeter was doing all of that I was busy waxing the
deck and sewing a helm cover to protect our gauges and electronics from sun,
salt, and thieves. It was a real
challenge trying to work with a gigantic roll of fabric on-board with very limited space, especially with the boat rocking and rolling.
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| Our helm station without the cover |
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| Momo chillin' outside |
Mid project I had a panic attack because I heard Momo jingle
and went to check on him and couldn’t find him anywhere. I looked around every nook and cranny on the
boat three times and called out his name over and over before banging on the
hull to call Skeeter up from underwater while he was changing the prop. I was in full on panic and ready to cry
saying, “He’s not on-board, he’s not on-board!” over and over. I had him swim around the boat to check the
water for Momo. Skeeter climbed aboard
and I jumped in the dinghy to search the surrounding water when Skeeter yelled
out to me, “I found him…little bastard!”
Momo managed to cram himself into a tiny hole in the cockpit that I didn’t
even realize existed until then. How the
heck did he squeeze into that hole??? We
were so relieved to have found him.
Little bastard, I wish he would learn to answer when I call out for
him! A meow or something! Is that too much to ask? I guess so... He is a cat, after all.
After a lot of frustration and an appropriate amount of
swearing, I completed the sewing project successfully. I’m member of a Facebook group called Sewing
on Boats (S.O.B. for short)…I can now see why they call it that! Sewing on a moving sailboat is no easy task! I’m sure it didn’t help that we had not been
sleeping very well in the unpleasant conditions in Secret Harbour. Maybe that’s why we were the only liveaboard
boat in the harbor!
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