Let me set the scene for you - it is 34 to 37 deg, no wind
and very humid. We are now staying on the yacht which feels pretty odd as we are
not in the water, but on "stilts" in a boat yard! We have air-conditioning
on-board for our cabin, but no bathroom, which is proving to be a bit
of a challenge for me. The toilets & showers are further down the yard,
and although very basic, are at least fairly clean. Indigo is surrounded by a
lot of activity on other boats, including grinding, sanding, painting etc,
causing a lot of dust. With lots of washing, scrubbing and some help from
mother nature with a few thunderstorms, we are getting her clean again. Mike and
I are very happy to be back in the Caribbean despite the first tough week or
two.
While we had the use of Martelie's car we managed to do
quite bit of dry grocery provisioning and get a few other bits and pieces for
the boat. Driving here is easy if you come from SA - they drive on the
left, the taxi's behave in exactly the same way, traffic is hectic and potholes
are common! All fuel is cheap for locals about R5 a litre for petrol , but
diesel for foreign vessels now has a special price.. over R10 a
litre... which is a shame. The Trinidad dollar remains fixed at
TT$6 = US$1 ... so its a bit more expensive than a few months ago.
There has been great jubilation here with Obama winning the US election - with
high hopes for some stabilisation of the US economy.
Back to work ..We got someone to help sand down the bottom
paint, and then Mike & I spent the last 2 days re-applying two layers of new
paint. What a job! The stuff is fairly toxic, so we have been wearing masks and
gloves, but as an inexperienced painter, I have managed to get covered
from head to toe in blue splatters (Mike remains fairly clean) Exfoliating with
a kitchen scourer has become quite an 'exotic' experience. But we are done,
and it looks good!
Tomorrow we will work on polishing the boat (with some help)
and then we need to tidy up and pack away all the stuff lying around inside the
boat. For those of you that know Mike, you can well imagine how much stuff is
lying around! We hope to get put back into the water on Friday (fingers crossed)
or Monday latest. I cant wait to get back on the ocean!
For technical interest - Peakes has an enormous travel lift
(150 tons) which is manoeuvred around with remarkable skill - I have attached a
pic of a huge fishing boat being moved through the yard - note the
"clearance"!
Tonight we are heading down to "Sails" a restaurant
at the neighbouring boatyard for a good old braai - an ex South African runs the
place, and is very very popular.
Love to all, Lynn & Mike
