Back in Grenada! March 2009
Lowena
Michael & Amanda Dyer
Mon 23 Mar 2009 23:09
17 hours, customs took a further hour to clear. We arrived at Lowena
just as it was getting dark at 1800. It feels good to be back!
With trepidation I unlocked the boat to look inside....
She seemed ok, though, unbelievably hot for having been shut up for
nearly a year. The batteries seemed ok, well the lights came on, so far,
so good. We had been advised that the rainy season had been
unbelievably wet, so we were not surprised that some rain had driven in
through the mainhatch. The headlining will need replacing either side
of the main hatch as the maple veneer has gone rotten.
Luckily we have not had any critters move aboard while we've been away,
other than the dreaded mosquitos. They declared war on us straight
away. The heat takes some getting used to again. Several people have
commented on our white skin!
The outside of Lowena seems to have faired rather better with very
little rust showing. The cockpit is very dirty but altogether nothing
too bad. The solar panel has kept the domestic batteries topped up.
After connecting up to the mains our gas alarm kept going off. It seems
that the engine battery is overcharging and letting off a horrible
sulphur smell and getting very hot. We have disconnected it and all is
well. We will need to replace it.
We have been getting up at daybreak 0600 working hard until midday then
having a siesta in the very hot hours after lunch.
Mike has been preparing the hull for antifoul. I have been cleaning and
checking all the instruments work.
It is Wednesday 18th March today and we had a lot of rain in the night.
We are waiting for the hull to dry so we can apply the primer.