More boat preparation

One important job was for us to carry out a comprehensive rig check (standing and running) at deck level and also up the mast. (For those none sailors reading this, that means the wire cables and fittings and all of the ‘ropes’). During a rig check, we are looking for any signs of wear/chafe and damaged or missing fittings. As I had done the last one, it was Martin’s turn this time. It is always good to have a different pair of eyes on the job. A quick hoist up to the top of the mast showed that all seemed to be in order.

One thing that we knew we needed to repair was a couple of small holes in the genoa (our big sail at the front of the boat). These holes had been caused by the sails chaffing against the mast shrouds. Our genoa is a very big sail, so it was crucial to have a light wind day to do these repairs. Early one morning, before the wind had chance to build, we dropped the genoa down to the deck, cleaned up the sail area and applied the patches. Thanks to sticky sail tape the job was soon done and the sail was pulled back up. We are now hoping that the sail will last us a little longer as new ones are very expensive.

During our preparation to leave the UK, we had spent much time ensuring that we had efficient safety systems (see ‘Safety first’). This equipment (that we hope we should never have to use) needs regular servicing. Unfortunately, this is not a job that we can do ourselves, so we headed off to Sea Safety Grenada. They were able to service our Jonbuoy and also our liferaft. For the liferaft, the team there have a comprehensive 62 point checklist. This includes ensuring that the inflation procedure works (very important) and that the raft stays inflated (also pretty crucial).  Other points are to check that the items in the emergency pack are all ok and that any out of date items are replaced. This time, we needed new flares.

Sea Safety Grenada were superb. We were able to see the liferaft and Jonbuoy inflated. They even included an excellent talk about the key features of our safety equipment and had some common sense advice for potential emergency situations. We would definitely recommend them.

We also made the most of time at anchor to carry out our most ambitious sewing project to date – new chaps for the dinghy. This was an important project to do as the Caribbean sun is not good for dinghies; chaps help to protect them.  We knew that this was going to be a long and challenging project as the dinghy has plenty of curves and fittings to work round. Luckily, Martin was able to utilise his engineering brain and, with regular trips to the beach for fittings, we slowly worked our way through. There was plenty of measuring and checking before sewing. Our team (Martin, me and our trusting sewing machine) did a pretty good job for a first attempt!! Not a job we want to do too often though!!

A second sewing job which was less challenging was sewing the courtesy flags for our journey into the Pacific. These are small flags that need to be flown when visiting a new country. All countries have their own and, at between £15 and £40 each, the bill can soon mount up. We had researched options before leaving the UK and had found some PDFs of the flags we needed. Having them printed meant that all we needed to do was cut them up, hem and add tape and signal cord. A much cheaper option! A massive thank you to Noforeignland for providing the PDFs and the advice for making them.

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