Up the mast I go.
23 April 2016 | Grand Fond Bay, Trinidad
Bill/sunny to partly cloudy
We were up in time for the morning net. It's a VHF radio net at 0800 covering a multiple of cruiser needs. From who just came in to who is leaving. Thing you want to give away to "treasures of the bilge"(things you might want to sell or trade). Social events(no where near as many as in Grenada) to shopping trips and tours. It covers a wide range of topics. Lasts about twenty minutes with people getting on the radio afterwards to get info and trade things. Many ports have them and some are good and some down right boring. Once the net was over, it was time to go up the mast. As I wrote earlier, the deck light had stopped working a while ago and it needed checking or replacing. When we had it installed in Port Townsend back in 2008 I made sure to purchase a spare bulb. Lights, heck, any thing electrical on a boat dies quicker than on land. I pulled it out of its box and took it up the mast with me along with a volt meter, screwdriver, pliers, my copper based grease for better contact plusWD-40 to lube the sail track and all the sheaves in the mast. I strapped on the bosuns chair after Tracy hooked it to the main halyard and as she ran the halyard through to big winch using our big Milwaukee drill to run the line, I slowly climbed the mast pulling out the steps I installed back in Mexico in 2010. With the drill to run the winch and the steps, it's an easy trip up. I've gotten used to going up though the first few times, I was scared to death. Now it's no big deal to be suspended 62 feet above the water swinging on a line attached to a nylon webbed plastic seat. Once I got to the light, I had to figure out how it was put together so I could get it apart. Several screws and brackets later, I had it apart only to find that the electrician that installed it had made the wires to short to get the old bulb out and the new one in. I was lucky though to figure out that the bulb wasn't bad, just the electrical connection. I pulled it apart(finding they had not used marine fittings), cleaned the contacts, applied a nice coating of my copper based grease and hooked them back together. Tracy hit the switch and on it came. Problem solved and I still have my replacement bulb should I ever really need it. In the eight years we have owned Zephyr, I doubt that light has been on for thirty minutes. Once that job was done and the fixture put back together, I had Tracy pull me up to the top of the mast so I could check everything out. Having just finished a 6,000 mile journey, it pays to check everything before and after that kind of a trip. I'm pleased to report that all appeared well at the top of the mast. I sprayed WD-40 an every thing that moved up there just to make sure it keeps moving in this salt filled environment. Once that was done and everything was checked, I slowly came back down to the deck. A job that needs doing was done. Earlier this evening, I had Tracy hit the switches for the lights I worked on and they lit up just fine.
Today's lunch was Orange chicken stir fry! Tracy keeps out doing herself in our galley.
By this afternoon, three of the boats that had been in the anchorage had departed and we were joined by five or six more. One was a big party boat with probably fifty people on board. Not the normal party boat we see here but a nice looking yacht called "Zorro". Lots of kids and adults with many in the water and more on deck drinking and having a barbecue. Luckily, the were on the far side of the cove so there wasn't a problem with the noise. Another large yacht came in just after they did and anchored a bit farther out in the cove. Add in the occasional fisherman as well as the idiots on boats that are either stopped or going as fast as they can, and that was the rest of the day. It could have been much worse. As I type this, there is another partyboat clear across the harbor (about three miles)with neon lights flashing and music so loud that I can sing along if I wanted to. I can't imagine how loud it is on board. I wouldn't go near that boat without ear plugs. O K, I'm of the age where music doesn't have to be loud to be good, but I cherish what I have left of my hearing. We have two other sailboats anchored with us and a couple of camp sites full of people on shore. The loudest thing I can hear, other than the party boat across the harbor, is the waves hitting the shoreline. Not a bad way to spend a late night. Tomorrow, we will be pulling up the anchor and heading for the main harbor three miles away to drop the hook and play some "Mexican Train" dominoes. One of the big things out here in the cruising community. We played several time while in Grenada and will do it here as well. We've played all over the world. Once we finish that, it's off to the local market for food and then back to Zephyr, pull up the anchor and come back here for the night. Tuesday is the big shopping trip to town where a bunch of us get in vans and head to the big mall in town. That should be an interesting trip.