Boatyard wrap-up
As regular followers have come to find, it is not too often that a day goes by without me posting on this blog. Yesterday was “one of those days” though. We started early, catching the bus from Port Louis Marina where we had stayed on our friends’ boat back to Grenada Marine. It was a busy day, detailed in the photos below. All went well and we are confident that ZTC will fair well on her vacation. We will have the opportunity to check on her again in six weeks time which is good. If anything is amiss at that time, we’ll be able to make adjustments.
Today and tomorrow, we’ll be taking advantage of our friend Kirk’s hospitality. As mentioned, his boat Ainulindale is berthed at Port Louis Marina, just a hop, skip and jump away from the awesome showers and swimming pool!
In 48 hours time we’ll be off to the US. Today though, we get to help Kirk with some engine maintenance. The fun never ends! 🙂
The deck received a thorough fresh-water bath and scrubbing.
The trampoline was taken to the sail loft to be cleaned and to receive some small repairs.
I was concerned that in a big blow the hooks from the tie-down straps
might flap around and chip the gelcoat so I secured them.
Holes in the boom were plugged to limit the spots where birds might take up residence.
Lines were coiled and hung in a way so that they could dry themselves after a rainstorm.
Hatches and port lights were covered on the inside with tinfoil
to prevent damage done to the interior by the sun.
Cushions, dodger and clothes all stored in a way to prevent (hopefully) mildew.
Every surface was wiped down with vinegar.
Improvised Damprid container.
One bucket with Damprid was placed in each hull.
The anchor, rode and chain are stored on a sawhorse to eliminate
the possibility of it rusting inside the boat.
The dinghy was stored on blocks, covered securely with a tarp and locked to the boat.
Our last act of preparation was to trip off two bug bombs in the boat. We each had one can, Rebecca was in the port hull and I was in the starboard. We counted to three, pressed the buttons simultaneously and both ran for the door. Beware any bugs who think you might like to visit ZTC in our absence. I would not recommend it!
Hee, hee, had to smile when I saw the one interior photo as I have a mini disco ball in my 21’ keelboat…..
We had a much larger one in our house. 🙂
ZTC has had I think the best storage preparation of any boat I know. I did not expect anything less from crew of ZTC. FYI, when deploying bombs it is advisable to follow it 10 days later,because cockroaches are known to lay their eggs as they are dying and the little ones that hatch need to be killed as well before they can reproduce.
Thanks, Diane. Fortunately we have had no stowaways so the bombs are merely preventative. Knock on wood!
I shall be very interested to see how your preparation succeeds in that environment. It looks good. For my experience, the bags will still get mildew, as will the books that will deteriorate. However you have done a better job than I did!
Please will you keep us informed when you see how it all goes. Particularly after a year or so. There is a lot that we/I can learn from the way you have done it.
I hope you enjoy USA again, the briefing with Michael and your trip to your family. It seems likely that you will be very busy as well! 🙂
Cheers.
Mike
The books and clothes will all be transferred to the new boat in approx. 6 weeks. They only need to survive until then.
I know we’ve apparently had our differences and there are no hard feelings from here, and hope the feeling is mutual. Good luck to you both in your endeavors and enjoy your time is the US. Will talk again at another time. Peace!
No hard feelings, Jon.
Good job. I know you guys are in a self imposed dry period, but if you don’t both deserve a beer then I never have.
Yeah, we decided to imbibe a bit last evening. We couldn’t let our friend Kirk drink alone.
Gees, I’m so impressed by your thorough cleaning and preparation of your boat that I am offering you an opportunity to help out with the winterizing of my chip truck! lol Just kidding of course but this reminds me of what I go through at the end of my season in November. It’s always a lot colder than what you have there so I try to speed things up a bit. I wish you and Rebecca the best in your new venture. Can’t wait to see the new posts from the Leopard…..
When we winterized ZTC back in Canada it was definitely cold!
You must be confident of the security at the marina to leave your Rocna anchor out in the open. That’s an expensive piece of equipment.
We’ll, yes and no. I considered cleaning the anchor up but I didn’t want to make it look too good. 🙂
Seriously though, the security is around all the time. If someone wanted to rob us they could steal a lot more than that.
I would say you guys have done way more than 99% of the folks storing their yachts for the summer! I’m glad you survived the ordeal! Safe travels!
Thanks, Wiley. No sense doing things half assed.
Hi Mike,
I was wondering how you were going to dehumidify ZTC while she is on the hard and you answered it. I wonder what dehumidification methods you compared and how you chose the one that you selected. I also am interested in learning how it works out.
I remember reading one owner’s blog who uses a cold plate on a timer to condense/freeze water out of the air and then to remove it from the boat as it accumulates (I think he dripped it into the bilge and out through the normal drain holes, but I can also imagine various ways to collect and eject the condensate). The timer is used to turn off the cold plate so any ice build-up will melt off the cold plate and drip into the collector.
I have a friend locally with a Gemini 105MC and I’m looking at various recommendations for him to keep humidity down on his boat (west Florida).
Dave W.
We really didn’t compare anything. When you’re shopping in the islands, your selection is limited. What I did do is “giant size” the container of the product that was available which I think will help over the long term. We’ll see in 6 weeks.
The cold plate idea sounds impractical to me. I have never heard of anyone on the hard in the tropics doing something like that. We left our batteries with no load on them and a trickle charge to keep them topped up.
It was Drew from Sail Delmarva that had the idea. http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/search?q=cold+plate .
I have no practical knowledge of boat solar systems and electronics, etc. I was thinking that even with the batteries disconnected, or with a small load (like a fan) instead of the batteries, it would be possible to run a cold-plate off of the solar array. Again, I have no knowledge of the details involved, so maybe I’m a bit off on that.
It may indeed be too complicated, and as you said, you’ll be back in just a few weeks.
Enjoy your trip. The corvette sounds fun.
Dave W.
That Drew knows nothing.
Just kidding. 😉