Chinook Arch

The heavy work is finally done.  I (Gerry) hired a local man (Tony) to repair the fiberglass crack that appeared in the hull just aft of the keel last year.  The crack was not all the way through the fiberglass and never caused a leak but it was just a matter of time before that would happen.  The problem originated with an oil leak due to a rusted oil pan in 2004 when we were in Tobago Cays (a pristine marine park).  Luckily we had manually turned off the bilge pump before this occurred and no oil was discharged into the sea.  At the time I had to lift the engine off its mounts in order to get under the pan to effect repairs.  Even after raising the engine there was still not enough room to work so I borrowed a cordless Sawsall from a friend and cut out a substantial piece of the crossover support that ties the 2 stringers that the engine sits on.  I believe that this weakened the structural integrity of the hull and that is why the crack showed up 3 years later.

At the end of last sailing season I had the crack ground out and the fiberglass exposed to dry over the summer months.  I asked Tony to repair this breach and to build it up with glass so that it would be stronger than before.  I also asked him to rebuild the damaged crossover beam inside the boat.  In order for him to do this I first had to lift the engine up so that he could work underneath.  This is quite a difficult job since you have to disconnect all hoses, cables, wiring and the shaft from the engine.  As a result I spent most of the first 12 days of our “holidays” working inside a compartment of about 3'’ x 3'’ x 4'’ wearing coveralls, goggles and a respirator (to protect against the fiberglass insulation in the engine compartment.  I called this my hotbox.  When I wasn't in the hotbox disconnecting or reconnecting the engine I was preparing the hull for painting (actual painting done by Dawn with the help of Bob) with antifouling paint (an annual  ritual), replacing a pump in the head and preparing the boat for our launch (splash).  We finally splashed on Jan 12 and I was relieved to finally see Chinook Arch off the hard (on land).  Bob and I sailed her over to the dock directly behind our marina so that Dawn & I could finish getting her ready to sail.

Today we are leaving the villa that we have been renting with Bob & Miriam for the past 2 weeks and the 4 of us will be living aboard Chinook Arch until B & M leave for home on Jan 28.  We plan on sailing around the island, anchoring in the many natural harbours and coves.  There are many beaches to explore on this island and we will also take B & M to see historic English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard (named after Admiral Nelson who was stationed here for 3 years in the 17^th century).  We will also go to some of the forts and gun emplacements that are left over from the days of the English empire and their naval control of the Caribbean.

So now that the heavy work is done (there are always minor repairs and alterations to do on a boat) it is finally time to start enjoying the beautiful beaches and sights of the island.  Since neither Bob nor Miriam have sailed before we will not leave Antigua until after they leave.  After that Dawn and I plan to sail south to Guadeloupe and its quaint little archipelago called Les Saintes.

A spectacular natural light show last night accompanied us to Dawn's birthday dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  The 15-minute ride in the dinghy across the harbour was a once in a lifetime extravaganza!  We saw a ‘moon rainbow’, a moon dog and then on the way home a falling star in the southern sky.  What's a ‘moon rainbow’, you may ask?  There was a short shower over the southern half of the harbour just before we left and as we progressed westward in the darkness around the peninsula in the middle of the harbour we saw a rainbow, the moon was so bright in the east (full last night I think) that it actually produced a rainbow and the moon had a ring, ‘moon dog’, around it as well.  Venus seems extra big down here as well, so the sky here is very beautiful anyway.

It's hard to believe we've been here for 11 days already.  Lots of hard work has been done on the boat by Dawn, Gerry and Bob, they seem to be able to take the heat of the sun better than I can, so I do stuff around the condo right now and walk lunch to them or they come back here in the dinghy for it. They have also hired some local workers to do the fiberglass repair work under the engine inside and at the back of the keel on the outside.  The waiting game until the fiberglass work was done has been difficult but it is finished now so Gerry can reseat the engine and the painting is progressing on the hull by Dawn and Bob. Somehow we have also overcharged the two marine batteries that we were recharging and will need to get two new ones before we can go sailing.  The boat is supposed to go into the water tomorrow at 2 pm, so the final touches are being done today.  The batteries keep the lights, fridge, radio, etc operating, so if the local marine store doesn't have any we will be connected to electricity at the marina and won't be going far until new ones can be ordered and delivered from St. Martin. 

We have enjoyed the ‘Northside Villa’, 409d, very much. It’s been great for Dawn and Gerry to have this to come home to at night and not be staying on the boat on the ‘hard’ like they usually are before they launch the boat every year. It’s very hot, noisy, dusty and dry on the ‘hard, an incentive to get away from it as quickly as possible.

Bob and I are looking forward to staying on the boat and hopefully doing some sailing before we leave.  We will keep you informed in the coming week.  Gerry has been so busy that he has designated me the blog writer for the present. 

Happy sailing to all. Miriam, Bob, Dawn and Gerry 

Blog entry – January 5, 2009

We arrived in Jolly Harbour, Antigua at 6 pm on Jan 1^st after a sleepless 36 hour trip.  Needless to say we had a good long sleep that night.

The harbour itself is a beautiful paradise for foreigners.  It is a gated community separate from the population at large.  It’s actually a reclaimed dredged marsh with a peninsula in the middle with properties for sale in the millions of dollars.

The cheapest land is about $395,000.00 US.  To build a place here costs about $795.000.00 US.  There are all-inclusive packages on the beach and lots of condo’s for rent by the canal.  A Paradise on Earth!

The neighbors have a bird feeder, so little birds come and go all day …. Humming birds, finches and junco look-alikes, doves, grackles.  The only birds that think they should be fed by us when we are on the deck are the little ‘junco’ type birds, very bold.

The canal that our condo is on provides the ‘road’ for us to travel back and forth in the dinghy to the ‘Chinook Arch’ which is on the hard at the moment.  The engine has been lifted by Gerry so that the repair to the hull can proceed inside and out.  A crack appeared at the top of the keel last year and needs repair before we can put it in the water.  Once the repair and painting is complete we will launch the boat and bring it to the pier at our condo.  Dawn spent two long days cleaning the boat of mold – top to bottom. It was not as clean as last year because the last hurricane didn’t bring wind here so much as lots of rain.  And a serge flooded some of the condos as well.  Gerry’s solar panel didn’t keep the batteries charged but they did recharge ok once we arrived.

We ate out the first night at Peter’s restaurant before we had a chance to buy groceries.  The food was good but the service very slow for 4 weary travelers.  We had a golf cart the first day to get around, now we use the dinghy from the boat. 

Lots of sunshine and gentle breezes, a few light showers, white beaches, good company and good rum!

Miriam McClymont