We arrived in Antigua November 26, 2014 to find More Mischief had no damage from hurricane Gonzalo. It sure is nice to be back in the sunny warm Caribbean.
The cupboards we had contracted for with a local carpenter were finished giving us much needed space and better organization of our clothes. George was also able to make us the teak hatch trim for 4 of the hatches which improved the cosmetic appearance of More Mischief. It was a much bigger job then he anticipated as it took almost a week to complete them.
While George was working inside the boat making a huge mess every day, we spent the next two weeks getting her ready for launch. The hull was waxed, painted the bottom, installed a new anode , re installed the wind generator, sanded the teak cockpit, put up the sails and the canvas, repaired the seams that it add split on the dinghy, serviced the out board with new gear oil new grease and new washers for the screws that fasten the motor to the dinghy, put up the SSB antenna , greased the through hull sea cocks and spent whole day cleaning up the dust left by George and finally we are back in the water. Bottom paint is so expensive in the islands at $350 to $400 a gallon we are trying a naval paint we bought last year in St. Martin boat yard for $165 a gallon. The paint is called ABC3 and has been given good reviews by folks we talked to in the yard. Time will tell if it holds up. We are also trying cold galvanizing primer on the prop to see if the old salts are right in saying it will allow for bottom paint and stay on the prop. If this works, it will be much cheaper than the prop speed sold for $300 a can. The cost is hardly worth it as a new prop only costing $450.
We spent three days at a dock in the marina finishing up the cleaning and provisioning for our trip north to St. Martin. The yard is always contains an interesting boats and people. While in Antigua we met two other couples Peter and Susan on Mistress of the Wind and Marty and Apple on Latest Caper. Both couples are also from Canada and were on the same flights with us from Toronto. We hope to catch up with them later in January as they make their way north.
The hard part of living on your boat on the hard is the lack of wind to keep the no-see-ums away. They are very tiny bugs that pack a nasty bit. One day I actually like I had chicken pox. Having the air conditioner on the boat makes for comfortable sleeping at night and keeps the bugs away.
The best find this year was the Jolly Dive shop where we got the tanks filled for $5 a tank and the regulator checked and cleaned for free. Friday December the 12th we checked out of Antigua and left for St. Martin at 5 am Saturday morning.