Yacht type: Admiral 40 catamaran
06/06/2009, Peakes Yacht Services

We've owned Oceans Dream for just over 6 months and have spent more than half of that time out of the water!

It's the end of week 15 since we were lifted here in Chaguaramas and sadly the pace at which the warranty work is being completed has slowed dramatically. We have been waiting for a response from Admiral for over three weeks now on the solution to the keel issue and to the cracking and break-up of the non-slip on the decks. Work on completing the other approved warranty work is progressing, albeit at a pace that sometimes is agonisingly slow. Jobs get 95% completed and then for the want of a final spare or commitment to finishing a job off, it remains on the 'In Progress' list. To try and speed things along, Adrian has taken on an Apprenticeship, unpaid, and has added an extra pair of hands in an attempt to complete some of the tasks.

So what next? Well firstly we desperately need the go ahead from Admiral on the keels and decks as we estimate both of these will take 6 weeks or more to complete.

In the meantime we have been invited to join some friends aboard their yacht Lady Liv in Martinique and we will sail with them down through the islands to Trinidad where they are being hauled for the hurricane season. We are both looking forward to this hugely so that we can get away from the dust and noise of the yard and do some sailing again. It will also remind us of what we have been missing since February.

The yard is rapidly filling up with yachts and catamarans of all shapes and sizes from less that 30ft to well over 100ft in length - there must be well in excess of 400 here already. Each day, as more arrive, the travel lift crew lift, power wash and then squeeze the yachts in to the gaps remaining. There is very often less than a couple of inches between the hulls. The picture at the head of this blog gives an indication of the number of masts.

This week Jackie has spent time updating the Oceans Dream website, in particular the map of our route, re-designing all the photo albums and putting a link to one of the hurricane warning sites. It looks fab - take a look for yourselves ... www.oceansdream.co.uk.

We will next update you when we return from our sail through the islands with some photos but also hopefully some encouraging news from our boat builders Admiral Yachts in South Africa.

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The Crew /34 deg C, and rising.
21/05/2009, Peakes Yacht Services

Wednesday evening saw us setting off on a trip to the north-east coast of the island in search of leatherback turtles. Jesse James (yes, that really is his name) owner of the local tour company, Members Only was our driver and guide for the evening - his regular trips between March and June to Matura Beach to see the nesting turtles is quite a hit with the yachites out here.

Upon arrival at Matura, we were welcomed by a Nature Seekers Guide. Nature Seekers are a group of conservationists who work with more than 50 members of the local community to patrol Matura Beach. Each year, they protect 3,000 nests on the beach, improving the chance for survival of tens of thousands of hatchlings. The tour guiding helps to prevent illegal harvesting of eggs and the selling of turtle meat.

Having been briefed by our Guide, we made our way to the beach. There was no daylight as it was 22:00 but our eyes quickly adjusted as we scrambled onto the sand and saw in front of us an ENORMOUS female leatherback. Looking further up the beach, there were a number of other leatherbacks either making their way up to nest or heading back into the sea, looking absolutely exhausted. The guide took us to see a female making her nest. Using her rear flippers, she digs with such precision about 2 feet deep and amazingly creates a wider base than the opening of the nest. Next into the laying trance where approximately 80 eggs would be produced (at this point we could take photos, touch her, the guide tagged and chipped her). She then covered the nest by slowly compacting sand over the top of the eggs making sure not to break any - each of the eggs was just a bit bigger than a ping-pong ball. The final act is to camouflage the nest site by flicking loose sand over the whole area before the struggle back to the sea ... we felt worn out just watching her! We watched this cycle again and again - really quite something.

In a couple of months, the eggs will hatch and the newborns (the size of the palm of your hand) will scurry across the sand into the sea. When they come to producing their own eggs, after about 25 years at sea they will return 'home' to the beach where they were born to nest. They will lay five or six times in the season a total of approximately 500 eggs. They lay every two or three years. The largest ones we saw were estimated to be over 80 years old.

Some facts about leatherbacks: it is the largest of all living sea turtles. They don't have a shell, their back is leather-looking and if cut, would bleed. They are the reptile world's deepest-divers. Individuals have been discovered to be able to descend almost as deep as 4,000 feet. The leatherbacks are also the fastest reptiles on record, with a speed of 35 kph in the water! The turtles we saw ranged from 5.0ft - 5.8ft in length and weighed approx 1 ton. Their diet is jellyfish and they eat the equivalent of their own weight in jellyfish each day.

Warranty work on Admiral 40
We're now nearing the end of week 13 out of the water and even Peakes (the boatyard) are surprised at the length of our stay. In fact, we had to move last week so as a regular customer can have his usual spot for the hurricane season! Oh well, a change of scenery is always good!

There is steady progress on the warranty work such as the leak in the port locker, securing the diesel tanks and repairing the davits. The big issues for which we still seek a solution from Admiral Yachts are the keels and the repairs to the decking. These are clearly big projects that we're keen to get started as soon as possible in order that we can get back in the water.

Butterfly and Barnacle
A while ago we came across an interesting blog set up by an English couple who seemed to be living a parallel life to us having purchased Butterfly, an African Fastcat 445 catamaran.

Karen and Dick share their challenging experiences in a blog written with flair and humour (despite frustrations). It is an essential read should you be considering signing on the dotted line ....

That's it from the Crew of two for this week.
Wishing our readers in the UK a fab Bank Holiday weekend ... hope the sun shines for you!

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The Crew /34 deg C, Brilliant Sunshine but Very High Humidity
10/05/2009, Peakes Yacht Services

Today has been Mothering Sunday here in the Caribbean and all the restaurants have been full with Mums being treated to splendid meals. To reflect this we have prepared Callaloo which is presented either as a soup or as a side dish. The ingredients are, dasheen leaves, four okra and pimento boiled in coconut milk and then mashed. It closely resembles mashed spinach but has a unique blend of flavours and is yummee!

As we can't write much about sailing (as Oceans Dream continues to stay on dry land), perhaps we will start an on line Trini cookery course - next up Buss up Shut!!

From a Happy and Well Fed crew of Oceans Dream

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The Crew /32 deg C, Brilliant Sunshine
09/05/2009, Peakes Yacht Services

Rum punch has become quite a favourite - this bottle of 'Chairman's Reserve' was a very generous gift from Jackie's parents who have been staying in St Lucia (I'll send her away more often!). All too quickly the level is falling but one needs to drink a lot to avoid dehydration here!

On the boat front it hasn't been celebration time. The evaluation of the fitting of additional webs to Oceans Dream to strengthen the keels was not a success. We have reported this back to Admiral Yachts and the designer and we await their response. In the meantime there are lots of other projects to be getting on with but progress this week has been slower than expected. There is a tendency to get 80% of the way through a job and then move on to the next. We have printed off a list of projects to be completed next week and posted this outside the saloon door in the hope that this will remind us all of what to focus on. Let's hope it works.

Sadly we didn't get away on the 'turtle-watch' either but last night was a full moon and so if there is a trip early next week the light from the moon should still be very good.

Life here at Peake Yacht Services changes little. The number of boats being laid up on the hard for the hurricane season increases everyday and we are glad that we have reserved our slot. There are yachts from all over the world. Once lifted most crew stay for only a couple of days to sort out their yacht and then head of back home. The restaurant Loggerheads has recently revamped their menu which is a really good thing as we had pretty much worked our way through it. We have been here so long that our 'tipples' are well known. As we walk into the bar the refreshing draft Carib beer is being poured and Jackie's Smirnoff Ice is being opened. That's what comes from being long-term residents!

Well that's about all the news from an ever increasingly hot and humid Trinidad.

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