IBY St Thomas USVI

Wandering Dream
Steve Litson
Mon 2 Mar 2015 13:28

18:19:2N 064:51:9W

Independent Boat Yard, Bennet Bay, St Thomas, USVI
Thursday 26th February 2015

Having been delayed by Pantaenious my insurance company, on advice from the BVI based assessor, they wanted me to go to Nanny Day Marina, Tortola, BVI. Coincidentally right where his office is. The next day after understanding this was a Rival that was damaged, rather than a modern bolt on keel yacht ( I even had to explain you can't see the keel structure when you lift the cabin sole), they agreed I could use IBY so long as it was a minor repair. They will only pay for one haul out, so if WD needed more extensive repair, I  would pay for her to be hauled here and they could pay for Nanny Cay.

We arrived at IBY yesterday and as we were hauled out Mike Sheen the fibreglass man, came to inspect the damage. He laughed and said it was so minor we could have not bothered hauling. He apologised that he wouldn't be doing the work as he had some college friends staying with him. As it was urgent he had arranged for Briese to do the job. He arrived and confirmed he would begin tomorrow at 0630. It took him six hours including resin curing time, which we were charged for.

Everyone at the yard were chatty and friendly, especially in the bar/restaurant. We went to see if they did food and practically had to fend off a lady who was determined we should hear all of a blues song on her phone. She was so drunk she even had sauce from her lunch all over one side of her face. They were open in the evening and the prices were the most reasonable we have seen in a long time.

Whilst the repair was made and we were out of the water, we removed, cleaned and greased the seacocks which drain the cockpit through the aft lockers. A really fiddly one handed only job. They were checked on relaunch for weeping...all dry.

Water Problems 4
We used our time well in Frenchtown. The water problem is now fixed, with a new pump style Jabsco pump and pressure sensor bought and fitted. Leaky hot water cylinder isolated and shower hose and shower head replaced.

Sea Plane
We were entertained by the regular sea plane flights. This took off amongst all the moored and anchored yachts, landing right next to us, at times no more than 50 metres away. Noisy, but exciting. We tried many times before successfully getting a photo or video. The plane would suddenly appear and land before we could get cameras ready, even when sitting on deck with camera at hand.