Take off delayed.

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Sat 31 Dec 2011 01:59

26th, 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th Dec

 

Once again it is a little difficult to work out where all the days went.

 

We have finally completed all the repairs and maintenance jobs – we hope, but such is the way of these things there is always something lurking around the corner.

 

On the positive side we have finished installing our rather special courtesy light at the stern. This project started life as a simple need for a light to make it easier to get up the rear steps of the boat in the dark when returning from a trip ashore in the dinghy. The concept was easy enough and we just needed Sarah to agree to a light unit that she found aesthetically pleasing. This was achieved in the summer at a boat show finally and we brought the unit out with us – although the supplier kept us on tender hooks by not delivering it until 24 hours before we were due to fly! The next debate surrounded a switch, or to be more exact, where to position the switch. Clearly it needed to be somewhere we could reach on our return in the dinghy, but placing it near the sea level on the transom seemed pretty unwise as it would be submerged in a following sea. And so the debate continued until several people came up with the surprising simple solution of installing a remote switch along the lines of most electric garage doors. A suitable device was sourced as ever by Robert Forsdike and that too we brought with us. Then all we had to do was get a 12 or 24 volt supply to the light and the switch up on the gantry somewhere and all would be well.

 

Now as this plan unfolded we got to hear about a very neat new WiFi aerial system called Wirie AP and this we decided would also go up on the gantry and utilise the same power source. But when it came to the simple task of mousing the wires through the tubes it all went badly wrong as there were already too many wires blocking the tubes. It took us days literally, to succeed and although the solution is very neat, the route was very tortuous and at times depressing!   (And just where are you Steve, S-F, when we need you?!)

 

However the outcome is just brilliant and has already brought admiring comments – well, we have had to show everyone! We combined the light unit and the radio receiver into one unit thus minimising cables and water ingress issues and the completed project is even better than we had hoped.

 

We also completed the alterations to our dinghy whereby we modified the rather pointless open locker in the bow into a lockable store. This involved a new aluminium lid and stainless fittings, but the result has also brought complimentary remarks. It is a good job we have plenty of time on our hands right now as we do seem to have spent a lot of time doing all these things!

 

On the negative side though, we were informed the other day that the manufacturers of the mast (Selden) have issued a product warning and recall on a crucial fitting near the top of the mast where the forestay is attached. It seems that this fitting is prone to cracking and can fail altogether which is VERY bad news. The suspect fitting recall applies to a number of yacht manufacturers and only for masts supplied during a 3 year window, starting in 2007, the year Serafina was built of course. So I winched Sarah back up the mast (it was very windy which did not make this any easier for her) to check the serial numbers on our fitting and sure enough ours is one of the dodgy ones!  Selden will of course send a replacement and pay for the work to be done, but first you have to find yourself a good rigger and secondly it helps if you have an address they can send the unit to, which in our case is none to straightforward. We are waiting to hear from them, but as they have agents worldwide I am sure they will have a good solution for us.

 

Another reason for our decision to stay here a few more days is centred around the weather which has turned a bit breezy and with 30 to 35 knots of wind forecast, we did not feel the need to head off just yet. Plus there is the issue of New Year’s Eve to deal with.

 

We have met up with Robin and Sue who have a Najad 405 (Halsway Grace) which they sailed over here on the ARC this year. Their plans for the next couple of months seem to mirror ours and so we hope to see more of them as we head north. However before then we are all going out on New Year’s Eve together.

 

We had surprise visitors this morning when Brigitta and Bert presented themselves on the quay. Brigitta was one of the principle sales team in Sweden for Najad yachts and they were just killing some time between flights as they were making their way to Antigua where they are joining Iain and Jan Simpson on their Najad 570, Song of the Ocean. In fact we hope to meet up with Ko Ko and SotO in the next 7 days or so which will be fun – wherever this is!

 

The weather continues to confound everybody and it is hard not to feel for people who have come out for a week of sunshine only to discover that it can rain pretty impressively here too.

 

So our plan is to head down to Marigot Bay on Sunday and then as soon as the Customs people return to work after the holiday (Wednesday?) we will head north to Martinique.