Decisions, Decisions
30 October 2014 | Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Susan / mostly cloudy, 86 degrees F
The next two decisions we need to make right away are on the anchor chain and trampolines since both require long lead-times for ocean freight, customs processing and delivery to the Rio.
Trampolines
We know of several Lagoon owners who have used Sunrise Yacht Products for replacement trampolines and are pleased. We check out their products on their website and almost decide on a purchase when we learn they are out of stock. Lead time is 7 weeks for what we want. 7 weeks plus 4+ for shipping & delivery is just too long; we have possible guests joining us for Christmas and/or New Years in Belize which is less than 8 weeks from now. We’ll make due with the current ones for this cruising season and order early for next year.
Anchor chain
Our current anchor chain, the original delivered with the boat, is pretty rusty. It is 210’ of 12mm BBB (lowest grade) @ 2.55 lbs / ft for a total weight of 536 lbs. Getting it re-galvanized is an option yet it may not give us much “bang for the buck”. Re-galvanizing cost is Q12 per lb or Q6,432 / US $857 plus freight to and from Guatemala City at a cost per pound. Call it US $1,000+ with an unknown turnaround time - I’d guess a month - and an unknown service life - many say just a year or two.
Rocna’s website recommends 7/16” G4 anchor chain for our anchor. At 2.05 lbs / ft it is lighter & stronger than what we have currently. After considerable research on Jerry’s part and getting several quotes from various sources ranging from a high of US $8.29 / ft (Mar Marine / Port Supply) to a low of $6.41 / ft (on-line). When we factor in the costs of ocean freight, customs cleaning, and delivery to the Rio Dulce, the total cost for 300’ using West Marine / Captain John’s ocean freight service is the best value at US $2,587 (plus $16 for wire transfer fees). At 615 lbs for 300’ it’ll be a heavier total weight than today however we’ll have the chain scope we need to comfortably anchor in the tides of the Pacific when we transition to that side.
As for our current windlass / gypsy, Jerry confirmed with Quick that it will work with the new chain, which is great news as a new gypsy is US $515.