On the Hard
Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou
12.27.165N
61.29.246W

Dale contacted Roy, the haul out’s manager, to make sure we were a go for being hauled today. Roy confirmed that the boat currently on jack stands in the yard (on the hard) next to the water would be returned by lunchtime and that we would take their place right after lunch. About a quarter to noon, we saw the travel lift ease the boat back into the water.

The rest of the morning Dale paced. He got lines out and attached them at various places around the boat. He arranged and rearranged fenders. He put a bungee on our wind generator and then both of us took down the SSB’s 23’ whip antenna and laid it along the deck. He tried to sit for awhile, then he got up and paced some more. Finally at about a quarter after 1, he asked if I thought he should call and advise them that we were ready. I asked him what arrangements had been made; he said that they were to call us when they returned from lunch. I suggested that we wait until 1:30, then call them; remember: island time.

At 1:30, practically on the dot, we were hailed on the radio and told to make our way to the haul out slip.

We wore our radio head sets to keep the shouting to a minimum and with Dale on the bow, we made our way around the reef protecting the slip (there are reefs everywhere!!). I read out the depth as we approached the slip. Ten feet, 9’, 8’, 7’, 6.5’ (we draw 5.5’) we gingerly edged our way in and came along the pier on our port side (per their instructions).

Roy and Edwin, the senior worker, grabbed our dock lines and then carefully pivoted us around our bow until we were starboard side to and then walked us back into the travel lift. They have obviously done this before.

The straps to the lift were carefully paced underneath Gypsy Palace’s belly and slowly she was lifted and backed out of the water to an area where her bottom was pressure washed. What few barnacles were still attached were scraped off (remember, we scrub down on the 1st of each month) and then she was moved to the outside section and placed on jack stands. Actually, the only place there was much growth, was on the very bottom of the winged keel. Roy was tickled to see our back and blue patchwork hull and teased Dale that he had only ordered black for our new paint.

We had previously told Roy and Susan that we wanted to stay aboard the Palace during the haul out time and they suggested waiting until the outside slot was available so that we would have the full benefit of the sun (for our solar power) and the wind (for air flow).

We closed off all overboard seacocks and I put bowls in each of the sinks and buckets in front on the floor to remind us not to send water overboard. The only thing we had to do differently, was buy block ice each day for the refrigerator and freezer. With holding tanks, solar and wind generation, and a 10 foot ladder, we’re a self contained unit. Tomorrow we’ll start the painting process.

Later, we dinghied to the Twilight Restaurant for a chicken dinner. We met George, Natalie and Antonia, their 7 year old daughter, a German family making their way to Venezuela for hurricane season. George is fluent in Spanish, English, French as well as his native German. Natalie spoke excellent English as did their daughter, who spoke without a trace of an accent and often back and forth between both languages in the same sentence. I would have liked spending more time with them but they are leaving first thing in the morning and most likely, will continue their journey around to Panama and over to the Pacific.

We watched bats fill the air at nightfall as we headed back to the Palace; a few minutes later, they were gone. It was really quite impressive. I made a mental note to make sure all of the screens were in place before we turned in for the night in case one got lost on his way back to the cave in the morning.