Heading back to Trinidad?
09 September 2016 | Secret Harbour Marina, Grenada
Bill/ Sunny and hot
For those of you that have been following us for a while, you'll remember when we were launched down in Trinidad and the problem we had with the straps not being low enough under the boat when Michael told us to go forward. That it threw us forward and then back gouging a deep divot in the teak on the starboard side as well as stopping the engine when the stern lifting strap came up and jammed itself in our prop. Today, I strapped on our scuba gear and went down to A: clean the prop and inspect it for damage and B: see if there was any other damage to the paint and hull from the forward strap.
What I found was that the prop was fine though covered in marine growth and there was a long scrap on the leading edge of the hull where the lifting strap had scrapped it when we went forward. It took the paint off clear down to the bare fiberglass. Now we have a problem of getting it fixed by Power Boats yard in Trinidad, that is if they acknowledge that they even did it in the first place. I'll be contacting them in the next day or so sending along photos of the teak damage as well as the hull damage and see what they say. We can't leave it that way as it's not good for the hull and lots of critters will start growing there though I'm thrilled to say that there isn't a single barnacle on the hull anywhere. Some normal slime but thats as I said, normal.
We started the day earlier by bringing out our water filter assembly and filling the water tanks. Tracy had filled them while I was gone but they have run down will all the dishes we have been washing since we don't eat out much any more. It's nice to have full tanks again. It makes us ride lower in the water but it's always better to have as much water on board as we can just incase we have to take off unexpectedly.
If we have to go back to Trinidad for repairs and I figure we will, we will head for Tobago and then head over to Trinidad. It's a bit longer but we haven't been to Tobago yet. Our biggest problem is that we have paid for our slip here but that ends in a week or so so that's really not a problem. It's more getting Power Boats in Trinidad to acknowledge the damage and hopefully they are willing to make the necessary repairs. Guess we will see after I send them the email tomorrow. Lets hope they stand behind their statement that "When you leave here, we guarantee that you will have a smile on your face."