Blogs

A cat belongs in the water. And, Irie is a cat! For the first time in years, she rested on the hard for three months. Mark, our dog Darwin and I were called to the United States for such a long period, because the family needed us. It was tough for us to just leave everything behind: boat (= home), privacy, Caribbean weather, all our belongings, friends and freedom. During the height of hurricane season! This meant that we had to totally strip Irie down to the bones, so nothing could break or fly off, just in case... She was so naked, she barely looked like a boat anymore…

Once Mark and I returned to Grenada, we worked full time for over a week to get her back in shape and lookin’ good. On the outside. Her bottom - normally under the water surface – looks sparkling blue. A delight when we snorkel around. Hopefully the critters will stay away for a while. We also worked on a few other immediate problems, taking advantage of her being out of the water. One of our successes was to install a keel cooler for our refrigerator.  Now we are done with cleaning the filter every other week and having to replace the hoses and fix the pump every so often, because the salt water that went through it (our fridge was water cooled before) attracted barnacles.

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Streams of sweat roll down my face. The sun is burning on my neck, shoulders and back. My head starts hurting. My feet are ankle deep in muddy water, tainted with chemicals. It has been raining. Hard. How can one work when it rains so much and nothing is dry? How can one work in this hot and humid weather? How can one work when every singly muscle in the body hurts? This is the Caribbean, but a less attractive part of it. This is a boat yard in Grenada.

Boat owners have to go through this “being-in-the-yard- process” about once a year or every two years if they are lucky. On the hard, out of the water, is where you fix problems on your hulls or prep and paint the bottom of your boat. A meticulous procedure if done right.

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