Admiralty Bay, Bequia

We left Trinidad on Saturday 15^th November around 0930 and sailed the 170M to Bequia. The passage was fast, 7.5 even 8kts up to Grenada where a pretty vicious squall hit us just as it was getting dark and our evening meal was ready. After some excitement we got back on track, motorsailing in the lee of Grenada (as one mostly has to in the lee of the islands) and then sailing again through the Grenadines, arriving in Bequia about 1230 on 16^th November. We were very pleased with Stargazer’s exceptionally clean hull, giving both speed when under sail and low fuel consumption when under engine. The mate is missing her doubles and rotis but we are both enjoying the milder temperatures and much lower humidity!

There are a few boats here that we recognise from Trinidad, most notably our friend Scott from Atlanta, Georgia. Scott was next to us in Power Boats and worked as hard as we did – that forms a bond out here in the sailing world and we are pleased to see him.

From here we aim to head to Le Marin, Martinique. This is a favourite of ours and, this time, we have some administrative stuff to deal with and a few routine things to do - such as life demands. Plus it will be Christmas and New Year and we both love the food (and wine! – Mate) availability in Martinique. We’ve said it before, but it is as good as mainland France for this (or very nearly).

So that’s our plan, which brings me back to our time in Trinidad. We know our blogs have been a bit lacking over the last few weeks. The work we did in Trinidad, in the heat, meant that we couldn’t keep up with blogs as well (we will now). A typical day was up at 0600 or earlier; start work on the boat asap; take a lunch-break by 1200 as it was so hot; back on the job about 1330. The heat down there was something else, all we could do over lunch was lounge around in our (thankfully) air conditioned apartment. Without that, we might have fainted… If ever you fancy some serious heat (and some seriously spicy food), Trinidad is the place to go.

We did so much work in the yard that, quite frankly, it would take me hours to write about it and all I want to do now is have a well-earned rest, as does the mate. I would also have to write so much that people would be bored reading the blog. So, instead, we’ll let the pictures do the talking. Suffice to say, we were faced with a challenge that had to be met or Stargazer would never have been the same and probably nor would we.

We hope the photos tell it as it was. Here goes…

Stargazer leaves the water for the first time in nearly two years. We thought we were just going to do an easy antifouling job…

After the initial sanding and drying out some bubbles started to appear in the old antifoul, oh dear. This was the result of solvent entrapment from using the wrong thinners the last time she was out of the water. So…

…it all had to come off!

Where has my boat gone??!

Naked Stargazer! Probably very like she left the Beneteau yard 38 years ago.

Keel preparation.

Painting the new boot top stripe.

Shiny, new boot top stripe complete (and a very sweaty Skip!).

Time for some new plumbing. Eek!

Hull polishing.

Check the shine!

Prep for gelcoat spraying the foredeck. A lot of prep for a small area of gelcoating!

Replacing the forward heads hatch – note makeshift sunshade!

Time to clean the hull before raising the waterline.

Time for a new exhaust elbow!

Et voila! Not an easy task at all.

The Mate channelling Mr Staypuff!

SG gets (many coats of) new varnish. The Mate was banned from the boat during this process to prevent any shedding of hair into the new varnish!

After a few weeks baking in the Trinidadian sun with the moisture meter recording virtually no moisture at all it was time to start the bottom job. Coat one (of four) of epoxy barrier coat Interlux Interprotect 2000E.

Boatyard chic! The barrier coat required careful measuring and mixing and then applying at speed before it cured.

The final coat of epoxy barrier coat.

SG with her goldfish orange epoxy tie coat. Another careful measuring and mixing and applying at speed product!

Hoorah – all five coats of epoxy products applied. Our brains were so hot doing this that we forgot to save some of the tie coat to paint the bits of hull currently under the stands – doh!

Coat one of black antifoul. Starting to look sharp again.

Time to repeat the process now the stands have been moved. Note the cocked masking tape to keep any rain off the paint!

Barrier coat on the squares.

Tie coat on the squares (after purchasing another pack!).

Final coat of antifoul.

Bottom job complete – whoopee!

Polished prop and shaft to deter any critters setting up home here!

Ready to get back in the water again. Our apartment neighbour Jim (L), Skip (centre) and contractor and friend Chris (R) admire the work.

Skip puts the final coat of antifoul under the keel.

Stargazer back in the water again after 11 weeks of pampering!

We did have time to join in the Diwali celebrations in the yard.

And celebrate Skip’s birthday.

It was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in Trinidad.

But then it was time to sail away. So long Trinidad and thanks for all the doubles!