Uproar on the hard
04 September 2017
On the hard is pretty descriptive. Cruisers dread the time when their boat will be hauled and they have to live on it....OTH! That's why I chose the weeks Lisa is visiting friends and family in Wisconsin to go OTH with Uproar. Sophie and I did this last year when our bottom paint was being redone under warrantee. It was not all that bad. We were OTH for three days and back in the water. That paint also failed and we are OTH for a do-over, again under warrantee. This time Seahawk is supplying a different paint, shipped specially for Uproar. The problem is that we are spending our 5th night OTH tonight and the paint has yet to arrive!
On the water, there is always a breeze. We tend to anchor at least ΒΌ mile from shore to keep mosquitos away and this mostly works. We have had a few unwanted visitors who love me and leave Lisa alone. Ouch! OTH there is very little breeze and lots of bugs. They don't bother me during the day but at dusk come out to play! The choice is breeze or bugs. If I close the boat up at dusk, it is hotter than hell inside. If I leave the ports open it cools off but I get eaten alive which makes sleeping difficult. We are in day 6 and I think I have the solution. Mosquito Coils. They are supposed to last 12 hours and kill Mosquitos within 2 minutes. If I don't wake up tomorrow, I hope you have enjoyed this, my last blog!
Uproar has an 8 foot keel. To brace the hull on land, we need a 12 foot ladder just to reach the back platform. I have gone up and down that ladder countless times. Many of them carrying Sophie to do her business. Oh, and can't use the heads which flush overboard. There is a bathroom with one toilet for me and all the other guys here.
One of the attractions to the Carriacou Marine Yard is that they repair fishing boats here. These fishing boats are about 50 feet, made out of wood and lovingly repaired here. I watched a very skilled craftsman shape a plank with a hatchet. It was carved perfectly. The fishermen are very nice. They are friendly, especially when I break out some beer at quitting time! This place as all of Carriacou just feels right.
OK, I have been busy fixing some pressing issues like our steering pedestal. The bearings are totally shot and the gears even slipped during the Carriacou Regatta. We had to steer very carefully for the rest of the race series (and still won all).
This was a very messy job. Dis assembly involved removing all wiring to our chart plotter, steering linkage, wheel and the pedestal itself. To fix the pedestal I imported stainless steel ball bearings from the US which arrived just in time. The fix involves sawing the stainless steel shaft, whacking out the rusted bearings and re-assembling. Manny is a skilled welder and welded the shaft back after I did the assembly work. Putting the pedestal, wiring and nav system back together took another whole day. But it now works perfectly!
I could have rented an air conditioned room with cable TV for $36/night. But staying OTH on Uproar is kind of a Zen thing for me. We are bonding like never before. Maybe it is also proof that I'm a tough guy, not a snowflake. Hope those Chinese know how to make really toxic mosquito coils!