Jessie goading the weaker stomached with boiled chicken feet (souse ie. a soup). We tried 56 foods on this trip thanks to Jessie's enthusiasm. We started with doubles around 9.30am and finished with homemade icecream at 8pm. In between we ate:

Imagine a caravan sitting at roof height in a caravan park. The ladder below the railing is your only entry and exit. The toilets and showers are 50 metres away; more of a hike for others. The yard is busy with workmen sanding, drilling, painting, epoxying, and the giant travel lift carries boats back and forth to the slip as they come out onto "the hard" for cleaning/repair and then "splash" into the water and sail away. Its either dusty or its muddy. Hot sunny mornings give way to black sky and pouring rain in the afternoon - contractors sigh and customers droop as work stops and will now take another day to complete.

We can cook on the hard and wash-up but we can't run the fridge, the airconditioner, or use the heads (toilets) or have a shower (in theory yes but we would have a lake below the boat). Every day we buy a bag of ice for the fridge and one for the beer - the norm for many boats so we're lucky. There is an evening rush to the showers since everyone finishes around 5.50-6 when the sun goes down and most are off to bed a couple of hours later because they are exhausted. One of the mens toilet/shower blocks is being renovated and so sometimes there is a line up. There are also line ups for washing clothes and with it come nocturnal trips to secure a couple of machines in peace.

The "hard" is a social place although sometimes an occupational hazard as you crane your neck to talk to a neighbour. Impromptu chats with passersby are common as we discuss boat shapes, their age, make, design, the new arch, or the colour of paint, the quality of work, the progress of work, and other useful info. New friends are made in the shelter from rain showers, over the washing, and in the workshed. As boats head north and the yard thins out those of us remaining and those who work in the yard and surrounding businesses become more familiar with one another.

We will be pleased to be off the hard and back in the water - boats should bob around and the bed is too hard when the boat is solid - but we will also miss the village of the hard and its bustling life.

You will need the volume up for this one.

At Power Boats the yachts stand in rows faced to the East and to the weather. During the day they appear as horses, stationary in the heat except for an occasional stream of fluid from sinks and hand basins.

At night they become columns of giant Centaurs, the wind whistling through their rigging.

Image from Tropicalfishes.co.uk

Not the best photo, but these bones are from a Moonfish (Opah) and we were curious about the bony nodes growing from the spine - are they common or is it unusual?

The photo shows a typical morning on Iolea - from left to right - David the plumber, Brandon - who is Mitch's (at the top of his arch) offsider, Paul , and Gerald who has fibre-glassed and sprayed the transom.

The arch is the biggest project but the list is long and you can see why we are wilting a bit at this stage. The trouble with being on the hard is that you can always see something else that needs doing. The only way around it is just to draw a line. Some cruisers spend years getting their boat ready in a yard. Here is an incomplete list of work we have undertaken either ourselves or with others:

Almost 100 feet of forward and aft head and holding tank hoses replaced; not a job you'd want to do again anytime soon. Aft Holding tank's inspection plexiglass window was replaced. Watermaker modified by Echotech to produce 95 lph, for easy DIY pickling, and to harden the water. Engine injectors cleaned and calibrated. Generator rebuilt to repair saltwater damage to the head and valves, wet exhaust re-routed via port cockpit drain, replaced fuel lines inside unit, replaced raw water hoses, reconditioned raw water pump, and replaced the injectors. Freezer top door seal replaced. Rusting steel water heater inlet/outlet fittings replaced with plastic to stop corrosion. Repaired the freshwater hand pump on the sink. Salon cushions cleaned inhouse. Floor coverings/rugs cleaned externally. Cleaned out the two forward jets on the stove cook top. Anchor locker reglassed to bring floor up to drainholes and replair gelcoat cracking, anchor locker shelving also repainted. Removed, cleaned and regreased the anchor chain roller on the bow. Both furlex furlers were inspected and regreased. Previous anti-fouling removed down to original epoxy primer and replaced with new anti-fouling paint with Propspeed applied to prop, shaft and skegs. Hull polished, and gelcoat nicks and cracks in deck repaired. Prop was disassembled and regreased. Corroded spurs line cutter ring, dry-bearing and zinc replaced. Stuffing box material replaced. Both cutless bearings were replaced and the shaft alignment tested with a slight adjustment made to re-straighten the shaft. Shaft realigned to engine gearbox once back in the water. The radar pole was removed with its hole re-fibreglassed and transom resprayed. An arch with davits was built and fitted with a teak seat added to the port side, the starboard side will house the liferaft externally (previously it was kept inside a lazarette). All electrics have been refitted to the new arch, along with two D400 wind turbines and three Kyocera 135s. New deck shades to cover entire boat were made, along with new covers for cockpit cushions, and minor repairs to the dive bag on the pushpit. Finally, we also fixed a leak from the gearbox on the Honda outboard. Yes we have been busy. Not that this is normal, rather this was clearing a backlog and many one-off improvements that will set us up for our future cruising plans.

Back in Trini and to new old friends. Bob and Vicky on Fox Sea settled us in with a day with Caribbean Hikers and a cruise around the Bocas islands of north Trinidad (between Venezuela and Trinidad). Pictured are Bob and Kate on the hike to the leper colony hospital and administration on Chacachacare. This was originally a cotton growing island but was taken over in 1924 to house Trinidad's growing leper population. It was closed in 1984 and is falling into disrepair which is a shame because it is a beautiful area and the buildings would make a stunning restaurant/guesthouse or just a beautiful museum for all Trinidadians.

Peter and Bridget on White Rose had arrived back from their cruise to Tobago and were preparing for the hard again. Unfortunately for us they have to go home for a while so we will have to wait until later in the year to catch up with them. Meanwhile, Mahaler's family has arrived and Jayco, Merlin and Shona are causing the yard endless amusement with their antics.

In a month nothing much changes. The curfew was still in force when we arrived and so the evenings were quiet. We received sad news of a young sailing companion who had drowned while we were away - such a waste. Dengue has become a problem and there seems to be a cluster at Power Boats. By the end of November 12 people had contracted the fever - among them 3 friends of ours. Still more are falling ill as I write this in mid December. So far we are fine.

The curfew was lifted on Nov 7. The nights have brightened and there are more people around. As always with Trini though, there is a downside. Four outboards 15hp or higher have been stolen - cut (thru chain in some cases) from the stern of boats in the harbour. Everyone is looking for safe anchorage either in marinas or at another anchorage or just by sailing north. Those remaining in the harbour have sleepless nights, move their outboards below if possible, or buy outboards under 15hp. There have also been thefts on yachts on the hard. These seem to be by rogue cruisers. The thefts are a shame. They mar an otherwise ideal cruising destination for yachties seeking to have work done on their boat, or just out for fun and adventure.