On the Hard
Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou
12.27.165N
61.29.246W

When we sprang up early this morning to close all of the hatches because of rain, I asked Dale if there was any rain contingency plan. He said no but since we had 5 days on the hard for free, there should be plenty of time to get the job done.

By 9:00, when everyone showed up for work, the rain had quit and the sanding and priming began.

After making my run for ice, I busied myself disassembling 2 of our 4 winches to clean and grease while Dale tore the toilet pump apart to fix a sticky joker valve (don’t ask!) When he was done, he took all of the mess he’d made out to the dumpster.

Bob & Zan off Cheers, a Hunter 420 heading to Venezuela, dropped by to say hi. I popped my head up just in time to hear Dale not only inviting them on board but below to see the cabinetry we added to the salon! I’m hot, sweaty, up to my elbows in grease with gears, bolts and tiny springs all over the cockpit, trying to remember if I had made the bed or not. I stole a quick peek below to see that although Dale had put the bench back down in the salon where he had been working on the pump, the table was askew and the seat cushions were everywhere but where they belonged. I’d forgotten that I left the front state room a mess by pulling out our manuals on the boat looking for the one on winch disassembly. Too late now!

I didn’t see the back end of the boat until I walked to the ladder to welcome them aboard. To my horror, there was a fine dusting of black and blue residue from all of the sanding on everything which left our pristine white boat looking like it had just washed up from 10 years in the Bermuda Triangle. I smiled, wiped my hands and pretended I didn’t have black fingernails or smell like a men’s locker room. When we stepped below, the scent of a freshly revived toilet pump filled the air. I’m sure we left a lasting impression on them in spite of our smiles and friendly banter.

About 3pm, the locals called it a day and so did we. It was too hot and humid in the heat of the day to do much more.

We took a couple of quick showers (we’ve gotten so that we can each take a shower in about 2 gallons of water) and then headed to the local pizzeria for dinner (so we didn’t have to do dishes). There are a couple of hidden advantages to being “on the hard.”

Tomorrow the painting should start in earnest.