Well, we are here at Peakes again, with Alcedo looking just as she did when we left her except for the very effective shrink wrap cover over the deck. We are not in such good order having had a major panic on discovering that our airline tickets, which we booked months ago, were not for Thur 5 Feb as we were fondly imagining, but for Wed 4 Feb. As this discovery was made at about 5.30 pm on Tuesday 3 Feb, it was major crisis management for several hours as we frantically rearranged taxi to the airport at 05.30 for Wed, Sara, the very kind owner of one of the horses to meet the farrier at 08.00 and dear Vicki to come in and empty the fridge and tidy up the house etc. Plus there were changes to be made at the Trinidad end, the packing to be finished and a stiff drink followed by supper with the Skipper's mother and other members of the family, without which a major sense of humour failure may have ensued. The packing definitely suffered with one or two vital components such as binoculars and sandals being omitted, which has caused stress in Trinidad, but thank God for wanting to check the baggage allowance, at least we caught the plane!
Now we have scrubbed the unbelievably dirty decks, had the topsides cleaned and polished and the below water hull prepared for patching and patched the copper anti-foul The interior of the boat was just as we left, with the air conditioning clearly earning it's keep and the boric acid and vinegar keeping cockroaches and mould at bay. What a relief.
Jane has just joined us and tomorrow is a busy day sorting out life raft service, sails, generator installation and, most time consuming of all, collecting the SSB radio from customs. Then we are going to Tobago for a few days R and R and bird watching at Cuffie, Jane having purchased a pair of binoculars at Gatwick.
Alcedo
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