Safely On The Hard

Up early again, waiting for the email to tell us where/what to expect that never came. We rounded the island from where we had grabbed a ball the previous night and with the ‘guessed’ gps coordinates spotted what looked like the right place. At least about what I had seen on google earth when i looked up the location before we left on this journey.

Our time was supposed to be 6:30am, we were there 10mins early and sort of spotted some folks opening gates etc, we dropped anchor and tried to check for the lost email and started cleaning and putting things away. Christine worked on the interio first thing in the AM and on the way over (packing, stowing valuables, int/ext cushions and cleaning. A little while later the tractor started down the runway pushing a trailer and we knew we were in the right place. It took a while but they were ready for us, motioned us in. Luckily it was a very very calm bay and only a little boat wake, but driving a fiberglass boat into a very sharp looking steel trailer that really only had a few inches on each side between the hulls was a little unnerving, but no one was hurt we just took it slow.

By 9am we were stacked in the yard and we started to clean and put stuff away. Drop the Jib, cover the sail cover, drop the dingy, put away the lines, etc. Phillipe is the nicest guy you will meet, he came out to meet us as we were taking pictures of the haul out action and watched his guys position the boat in the yard, etc. He took Christine to do laundry as Wayne and I did all the sweating we could muster, enjoying a beer every now and again. Christine came back from laundry, as today is Good Friday, everything is closed, but she managed to swindle her way into CrewsInn facility. We had done most things, including some of the cleaning Christine had not completed on her list, and then we waited for Phillipe to do a walk through. We waited quite a while but was definitely worth the wait.

Tractor pulls us out on a trailor

Stopping traffic everywhere we go

Stopping traffic everywhere we go

He knows Catana’s inside and out, flexes here, stresses there, all that needs attention. I sure wish he was our original surveyor as he gave us a lot of valuable insight: all very minor things, fixes and preventative items, but great suggestions on how to solve/fix problems and potential issues. We talked about the work we wanted to have done while there, and he is going to quote them with exact individual pricing. Sort of like a menu, with the exception of the cockpit table that might need more work than expected. The down side was that it was hot outside, we had run out of beer, and the water was running thin too. Oh and he suggested we remove the main sail. Okay we had spent an hour or more adding the sail cover over the lazy sail bag, now to undo that and somehow get that 300 lb main flaked, the battens removed, the reefs, lines, and sail bag down – so thats gonna have to wait till morning – too hot too tired.

Some more waiting as the Taxi’s were not running or wanting to run us around, so Phillipe offered us a ride to our hotel, but we had to wait till he was finished for the day, another 1 1/2 hours later. Oh well, more heat, more things to pickup around the boat, and started the main sail removal, but we finally made it to an airconditioned hotel with a shower.. I smell fabulous, exactly the opposite of how I was a few hours ago. Everyone is showered and off to dinner.

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2 thoughts on “Safely On The Hard

  1. Terry Loat

    Ahhh….so that is what I have to look forward to when I get afLOAT down to Peake’s Boat Yard in Trinidad. What is the name of the yard you are storing the Shack?
    Enjoyed meeting you guys and was pleased to read your blog of the “morning after the night before” that the crew of Sugar Shack was moving as slow as Brant and I following our previous evening together. The price one pays to have a great time!!! I’m now singlehanding again (Brant now back at work) and am presently in Carriacou enroute to Grenada. Let’s keep in touch!
    Kind regards to all,
    Terry
    s/v afLOAT

  2. Matt Post author

    We are on the hard @ Aikane Industries yard (or Catamaran Village), around the bump of land that CrewsInn is on. Peake’s and PowerBoats had plenty of boats already on the hard. So far we have had no issues in Trinidad except its a holiday weekend and not much was open. Safe voyages, and hope to meet up again.

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