Staged for flight

After two days of swearing at stuck bolts, random sessions of beating on same stuck bolts, severe cases of tool abuse, a few blocks, chains, and a couple of beams- we actually managed to shuffle the old Detroit from it's engine bed (where it has been for 22 years) all the way back to it's pre-flight position under the pilothouse hatch. Actually- it was more like a series of small lifts, slide backs, turn 90 degrees, big lift, shuffle back, turn back 90 degrees, shuffle sideways and set down. Exactly as planned!

And nobody was killed!

Tomorrow I dive into a world of scraping, cleaning and a painting the engine bay while we wait for the new engine to become un-missing, and also a weather window to do the flights of the old-out and new-in.

Yes- the weather actually got a bit feisty today. It is quite gusty and predicted to be this way for a couple of days. A good time for inside work.

What do you DO all day?

One of the most common questions cruisers hear is "What do you do all day?" This was one of those days that just disappeared.

We made some major progress this week but we were approaching a point where we needed some materials and hardware to continue. Our main concern was having everything we need to keep working. Today was Friday and the town pretty much closes up for the weekend (at least the shops we needed) so we took a day off from working on the boat to scrounge up what we needed so we can work through the weekend.

This also gave me a chance to check out more of the city. It was a walking tour. We walked all over the place. What we needed proved to be quite tough to find. To make it even more complicated, none of it was found at the same place. It turned into an egg hunt that took several hours. Our list was very simple. Some lumber, chain, a chainfall, and a bottle-jack. Some stores were dead-ends but usually led us to another. It was pretty crazy but we got our stuff we needed. We got some interesting stares as we wheeled our overloaded hand cart down the sidewalk.

Our path took us down main street. I didn't think about taking pictures(we were on a mission) until we ran into these guys. I thought is was pretty clever. It might be difficult to tell from my rapidly snapped picture but the guy on the sidewalk is holding up a stick of wood and the guy on the top is holding onto the top of it. There is no other means of support. Neat trick. They were a little boring tho. That's all they did. It takes more than this to get stray coins from me!

On our quest for parts we walked all the way around to the other side of the rock. This is the more dramatic side you always see in pictures. The city is built right up to the base if it. I guess this rock is riddled with miles of tunnels carved into it by the Brits and you can easily see the various gunports and other holes even from the streets.

There will be more on this later. For now we have our cart full of hardware and had to get back. It was hot!

Some views

I only have a quick moment to upload some pics and hit the bunk. Days are very busy right now and much is going on. I had a brief moment to walk around the marina and take a few more pics of my immediate surrounds.

This is the backside of the rock. Watching closely during the day I can see vans heading up a tight twisty road and there is also a cablecar going up this side. That zigzag in this pic I thought were the steps, but might only be a wall. I'll go find out when I get time.

Another view of our quiet little marina. The keen eye might be able to find Astor's sticks.

The housing styles are quite a mix of new and old. Ancient military installations are still everywhere and part of the daily commute.

These things are placed right out on the seawall. A daring move that our coastal commission would probably have never let happen. They are actually quite functional as a wind break and protect the boats quite a bit.

    The tiny little marina entrance and we are a quick right turn once in. I guess it was a tricky move for an 85 ft schooner. Outside are scores of tankers and freighters waiting to offload somewhere around here.

But the view I have been actually summoned here for. This old beast has been in it's bed for about 20 years and will be wiggled out here shortly. THIS should be interesting...  The new one has yet to be delivered(supposed to be last week) and nobody seems to know where it is at the moment. Near as we know it is between here and Germany. I may have to call on some friends that know how to cuss in German for us.

Learning to duck... again.

11 hours on the first flight, about an hour on the second, a couple of hours waiting around in airports, and a two hour car ride after landing gets one to places like this. Day two and I'm still getting into a rythm and balance of the project but I thought I'd get in a crack at an update.

Either jetlag hasn't caught up with me yet, or somehow I managed to dodge the major effects of it. Maybe I got enough sleep on the plane on the way out? My internal clock is just a bit off but it is sorta because things are done at odd times here. Lunch is typically at 3 pm and dinner is not until 9pm. It doesn't even get dark till around 10.

The boat is tucked into a quiet marina in a quiet little part of the city. We are right off a boardwalk that has a bit of foot traffic, but not as much as one would think. Looking from the boat we see the backside of the "rock" but from this side it is not all that spectacular. When I get a chance I'll go run around and get a better picture. We are also surrounded by several builds of condos that are reportedly "winter homes" and appear vacant. For such a nice place one would think there would be people everywhere but it's not that way at all. It's kinda spooky.

I'd say the weather was great but that wouldn't do it justice. It's just downright awesome. The morning starts off very still and right when you think it's going to be a scorcher the breeze kicks in and makes things just on the warm side of perfect. Today it got hot enough that the sun exposed deck is a bit too hot to walk on so it has me taking every other step looking for shade. Most of the last couple of days I manage to get by without even donning flip-flops but today I dug them out to venture off the boat a bit. Nights are very comfortable wearing only shorts and light shirt (it's currently after midnight). Every now and then appears a gentle wisp of a breeze!

We dove right into the big project of "find the motor" yesterday and started unloading the pilot house of all the storage items tucked into the abyss down in there. Today was more of the same but we actually got out some of the major bulkhead and engine covers that surround the old motor. We are actually getting some dancing room in the pilot house now. Richard says it is going way faster than he thought it would. The main issue is that they developed a major exhaust leak the last time they were out and pretty much everything down in the pit is covered with black soot and it goes all the way back to the laz. Just carrying the items right off the boat gets us covered in the black mess. It's pretty ugly. I've been stationed on the dock cleaning everything and piling it all back up on deck as it dries. We look like a huge floating garage sale and I really could have made some extra cash several times today. The deck is a maze of gear, lines, parts and bags but we still have room for the deck chairs under the sun tents. Wandering around I haven't bashed my head yet but have knocked my hat off a couple of times on some close calls.

The neat part of my job has been that I am in direct line with all the other tenants on the dock as they pass. The range of nationalities is quite amazing and I'm working on matching the greetings in a handful of languages. It's kinda fun!

As always there are a few characters here on the dock that more than likely will get a page dedicated as the days go by.

Gotta go for now...

Going places...

Hey! Look at this! A new post! This must mean the travel blog is being dusted off once again.

As some of you might have picked up from other sources- Yes, I am on countdown to collect a few more stamps in the passport. This trip looks like I am going about +9 time zones forward from normal and once effects of this time travel wears off I will post back here and there with views, antics and a few details of my surroundings.

Technically this is a working trip so there is a chance reports will be spotty. That's what I'm selling it as, but I doubt people believe I actually work at all (Paula doesn't). Once a balance is worked out between the tasks at hand and the required lounging about I will attempt to seek out a reliable wifi connection and check back in.

You are warned. TIA for tuning in and I hope you enjoy the notes.

B

Just nutz...

 The constantly changing weather has been driving me batty. It has been truly difficult to get the masts done. Forecasts are only accurate out past the day and sometimes they change in an hour from sunny for the next two days to expect a half inch of rain by noon! Normally I would be much more easygoing about this sort of thing, but I said I would do the varnish on the masts and I am really feeling bad about not getting them done.

I finally had a good shiny day and had to go for it. I was really proud of one of the best varnishing jobs I had put down yet. Never mind that it was in winds gusting from 8 to 15. I had to really hang onto my brush up there. The waves were hopping the boat all over the place and I felt like a tether ball swinging around at times. But, I pulled it off and got down to the deck right before dark. It felt good.

It rained about 30 minutes later (fairly hard too). The next morning I got up hoping it had time to skin over, but instead found a surface with more craters than the moon. It was what it was. I had to give it a day to cure up a bit and sanded it all back down.

A few days later another lucky weather break came in and I managed to put down another semi-decent shiny coat. Best of all it didn't rain today. All should be good tomorrow!

Richard and Lani(owners of the boat) have since returned and I am winding up my stay down here. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to get the other mast even started. He will just have to hire that one out I guess, or I will have to fly back down here and do it. I'll wait till it gets a bit drier in the season.

The tour continued....

Our little tour group from the other day finished out the day seeing some of the major flavors of Grenada. One such stop was a Nutmeg weigh station. It was barely operational these days, but it was still used. This particular stop once employed about 150 people. Now, thanks to Ivan, there are only 15 and we saw about six of them sitting at a table playing cards. The farmers would drop off their product here and the nutmeg(and mace) is dried out for a while in long trays, eventually shelled, sorted, bagged and shipped of to the rest of the world. Grenada was one of two major suppliers of nutmeg to the world. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan (a cat 3 storm) wiped out about 90% of the nutmeg trees here on the island. Since it takes so long for the new trees to grow and produce, the crop has yet to come back.

Throughout the island are other reminders of Hurricane Ivan. Hundreds of houses like this are all over the place. Owners simply left and never came back. Our guide says someone still probably owns them, and in some cases the original occupants have died and the families do not want to bother with the house.

A spontaneous stop was a little roadside shack called Mark's. Mark must have been our guide's brother-in-law or something but he seemed to know everyone anyway. Mark makes his own Spiced Rum and really good rummy punch and serves it up right there on the street side bar. We all had a great time hanging out and tasting his samples. I think also he enjoyed the group because he gave us the bottle we were sampling from for the road. 

Next was a Cocoa Plantation of Belmont Estate. Hurricane Ivan also wiped out most of the cocoa crop on the island but this plantation still survives partly because it is one of the oldest and largest. The cocoa bean comes out of the fruit is actually white and kinda slimy. All these are tossed into bins and allowed to ferment for about a week getting turned every couple of days. The slimy coating comes off and the beans turn rich brown. This is when the cocoa develops most of it's rich flavor. 

Then the beans move outside to be dried in the sun on long carts for about another week. Workers frequently walk through the beans, shuffling their feet to break up beans stuck together and evenly dry the whole tray.   Everything is on rollers (even the huge roof) so it all is rolled under covers for a unexpected passing squalls. They process some of this cocoa into their own chocolate bars. Grenadian chocolate has a reputation of being some of the best in the world.

By some coincidence our tour started with a visit to a rum distillery (we sampled), stopped at a midpoint for some more samples (Marks), and pretty much ended with a tour of another distillery. River Antione Rum Distillery (est 1785) is the oldest on the island and still uses sugar cane from it's own fields to make it's rum. The key feature of this distillery is the huge water wheel that they still use to grind up the cane and press out the sugar water. They use some of the leftover dried cane to fire the boilers, but out guide said they are moving away from that because it just burns too fast. They use wood now and what bits of cane they don't burn is returned back to the fields as compost.

Yes- we sampled here too. Our tour van was indeed a very fun bus that day.