At 0800 we moved Osprey to the lift out dock with a little
help from David and his brother in law Sherman. David proved adept on the
anchor and we reached the dock with no difficulty. The engine was a little
smoky to start with, however when the boat was lifted we realised why –
the propeller was very fouled and regardless of the need to replace the
transducer it was a good thing we decided to haul Osprey. We used slightly
different lifting points this time with the after straps for’d of the
Brewer Bite. This worked well and enabled the lift to take place without the
need to release the forestay. The after cross beam of the travel lift was even
then close up against the forestay but without applying any pressure. Clearance
between the keel and the concrete sill of the lifting dock was minimal at about
3 inches but nevertheless we were able transport the boat clear of the lift
area and put her down. We would probably not have been able to transport her
into the yard with such a small clearance but it was sufficient for our
purposes. The boat was pressure washed and Sherman set to cleaning and polishing the
Prop. The antifouling paint was in good order. Paddy’s law applied
when we looked for the transducer – we had placed the for’d lifting
straps right on top of it. A pair of boat stands and some judicial
repositioning of the straps solved this in short order. Removing the transponder
proved simple and as we had already removed the cable runs was a short job.
Fitting the new one was another matter as it was difficult to apply the sealant
and hold the transducer body from the inside whilst tightening the securing
nut. It took two attempts to get this right and then only with some experienced
help from Brian – the travel lift operator. There was some minor panic
when we realised that we would not get the first attempt correct because we had
got sealant on the thread of the transducer which prevented the nut spinning
down. The whole unit had to be removed and cleaned before the sealant went off
in preparation for the second attempt. By 1300 we had the transducer in place
and then had a couple of hours to sit around whilst the sealant cured. In a
perfect world the transducer should be installed with only the sealant which
should be allowed to fully cure before the nut is fully tightened down however
with the pressure of the yard to use the lift for other boats this was not
possible. By 1500 we had the boat back in the water, thankfully with no leaks, only
to find we were trapped in the dock by another yacht having its boom removed.
So, it was another hour before we finally motored out of the dock and
temporarily parked Osprey on the T end of the Cat Club Jetty. Apart from the
fact that David (Skill) was in danger of missing his bus home to St John, the wind was
quite boisterous and it was prudent not to attempt the berthing in our
designated berth until it dropped. Whilst waiting for the wind to drop the
transducer was tested and thankfully everything worked so we reinstalled all
the cabling runs and replaced the headlining. By 1530 the boat was completely
reassembled and our friendly Naval Commander in the form of James assisted on
the anchor and in short order we were back on our berth. Unfortunately, later
that evening Johns heart did what it has done several times in the past ten
years and dropped out of synch so attendance at Helen’s party was
abandoned. After consultations with the UK
the following morning it was decided to delay our program and for John to
return to the UK
Saturday night for a check up. Paddy’s Law again applied as just before
departure John’s heart reverted to normal however it was decided the
check up was a good idea anyway. So the boat was secured and John was taken to
the airport by Neville and was back in the UK for 0800 on Sunday. We will
re-evaluate our program later this week.