The photo above is of Ba, a town north of us that suffered the worst of the flooding during the storm. Roads were washed out and several people were killed. One entire family died when a landslide wiped out their house burying the home and family under the slide. Two more died trying to cross rain swollen streams that had become raging rivers. We got notice from the US State Department on Thursday morning about the floods(they had been over for a day or so) and to make sure we notify our friends and family back home about what was happening here. Consider yourself notified. I'm sure there was no mention of the flooding in the news back home. Heck, this wasn't even a cyclone, just a tropical depression. I'm in no hurry to see what a cyclone is like if this is just a "depression".

Well the rain finally stopped and forecasts were revised so we are actually starting to dry out for a change. The towels I used to soak up the water in the nav station are finally dry and ready for the next downpour. Roads are still out in some areas of the island and there was no buses running yesterday morning.

We took advantage of the lull in the down pour to get some jobs done. We filled our water tanks just in case the water system for the area fails in the next storm. It has in other sections of the island. Yesterday morning, while it was still some what cool, we hooked up the bosuns chair and up the mast I went. I had three jobs on the list.

First, change out the forestaysail halyard. That's the 3/8 inch line that was used to pull up the smaller sail at the bow of the boat. It had started to chaff during the crossing and since it was too small to fit the winch we use to raise the sail, I brought back 1/2 inch line from the US to replace it. That's the one I put the eye splice in a couple of weeks ago. I sewed the old line to the new and up it went, over the sheave wheel that is in the mast and out the base and into the cockpit. All nice and neat. I later cut the two apart and whipped the end of the line. Nice and nautical you know.

Next, up to the top spreaders to replace the "boots" that are out at the ends. For those of you non boaters, the spreaders are the rods of metal that come out horizontally from the mast that wires run through to keep the mast straight. They are normally fitted with covers so if the sails come in contact with them they won't get ripped. We had lost the one on the starboard side so since I'd brought new ones back from the US back in November, it was finally time to get up there and replace them. Easy job. Cut off the tape that was left up there. Fit the new ones in place and then use a product called "Rig Wrap" to bind them to the spreader. "Rig Wrap" is a tape that stretches and binds against itself and, in time, will become one big mass to tape. It has to be cut off as once it is on, it doesn't like to come off. So once I was at the right height, I swung off to the left side away from the mast and did the first one, then swung off the right side and did the second. All the while hanging on the wire rigging and wrapping my legs around the wires so I could stay in place. It's like being a tether ball in the end of the line.
Third, up to the top of the mast to remove the wind gauge so it can be sent back to the US for repair. It shows the direction of the wind but no longer reports the speed which is nice since it give a boat bragging rights as to how bad it gets out there. I was very careful taking it off and taping over the fitting where the electronics connect. We don't want water getting in there and corroding the connections while the gauge is off. I put it carefully in the bag I had making sure to not brake one of the small cups off the rod and slowly came back down the mast stopping repeatedly to inspect all the fittings and wires. About an hour after I started, I was back on deck, all safe and sound with a big job done.

Once I was down, we put up the tarps to keep the Sun off Zephyrs decks as well as some of the water that pour here regularly. It will help keep both off Zephyr.

After the tarps were up, we walked over to the local cafe and slugged down some drinks to replace all the water we had lost in perspiration during the jobs. Back at Zephyr, we had a nice salad for lunch and then sat around in the heat of the day and watched a movie(Swing Vote). After that, I took off for the showers as we were set to go to the "Boatshed Restaurant" here at the marina for drinks and dinner with friends. By the time everyone was there, we had 13 people so we made quite a group. Drinks and dinner and good company made for a very enjoyable evening. Most of us had suffered with cabin fever during the rains so it was nice to get out again. With the rain, the mosquitos were out in full force for the evening. All of us came away drained a bit of blood.