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Larry's LogSunday I continued with the braces but found it very difficult to drill through the 7/8-inch tubing since the drill would slide over the surface and I couldn't drill a straight hole through the material. I decided that I needed to get a machine shop with a drill press to do it since I didn't want to struggle with it and then still not have it done correctly. So I stopped working on that and finished mounting the v berth storage area door. I also finally figured out the setup for the windvane that had just been sitting on the transom for 18 months. I had bought the 2 double blocks I needed and got the line cut to the proper lengths. Now I just needed to mount the cleat that held the control lines. Monday was again a busy day of shopping and getting work done. I brought the solar panel brace to the metal worker and they drilled the holes for me. The design was such that I had a 7/8-inch tube sliding inside 1 inch tubing and then being held at a certain length by slipping a pin through both tubes. After drilling the holes (straight and true) I went to do some more shopping, buying supplies I might need in Venezuela, since we had decided to haul the boat for another coat of bottom paint. Ralph came by in the afternoon and tried to help me get my laptop to control the radio frequencies while doing email. We hooked it up and installed the right software but it wouldn't work. This was just a convenience but I thought it would be nice if I could just use the laptop to change frequencies while searching for a free one to send email. Ralph thought that I should talk to Paul from Kiana, since his was working and we had similar setups. I would ask Paul tomorrow. Tuesday I went early to Chaguaramas Metal Works to get the second solar panel mount brace drilled. I went early so I could meet someone from a place called Marine Safety Equipment that would inspect and repack the liferaft. It was now 2 years old and due for its first inspection and this place was authorized by Avon (and a number of other companies) to inspect and repack their liferafts. They were supposed to come over at 10:30am to pick up the raft and me but finally showed up by 11:30. I got the raft out of the cockpit locker and onto his truck and we went to their facility about a mile from the marina complex. There were about a dozen liferafts, mostly commercial ones, in various stages of inspection. All were neatly arranged with the contents and packing materials next to the raft. As I watched the technician unpack my raft, I was impressed with the way he carefully looked over the contents and placed everything in logical order near the raft. As he gently removed the gas bottle, I noticed that everything seemed in very good order, except the knife that was supposed to be inside was missing. You used this to cut the painter line between the raft and the boat after the crew was in the raft. He said they could provide a knife when they repacked it. I was a bit annoyed at Avon for forgetting this potentially very important item, but other than notifying them, there wasn't much I could do at this point. He weighed the bottle and it hadn't leaked any gas, comprised of CO2 and Nitrogen. He inflated the raft with air from a compressor hose and it held air well. At that point he looked over the contents and said that the flares and water expired next year but everything looked OK. The procedure was to now wait a day or so and see if there were any air leaks so one of the staff drove me back to the boat. The office assistant said I could call Thursday to see when he would repack the raft and that they would pick me up to see that. After I got back, I did some work on the second solar panel mount and then went over to talk to Paul on Kiana to see how he got his laptop to control the SSB. He showed me how it worked and then we dug around inside the navigation station to look at the radio. It seemed to be a different plug than I was using but it was very hard to see everything. I thanked him and went back to Destiny to see how mine was setup. I also found the radio manual and it indicated I was using the right plug so I took out the crossover jumper that Ralph had loaned me and plugged everything in again and it worked. The Sailmail program was controlling the radio frequency perfectly. Now that I knew it worked, I would have to try to find a USB to serial port converter cable. Paul said these were available in Trinidad but were very expensive. That Wednesday was a public holiday in Trinidad, their Labor Day, so I couldn't get any supplies but after I did the net in the morning, I went to get some gas from Jim for the dinghy. They were leaving to go home for 6 months and the gas would go bad in that time, so he kindly gave it to me. After that, I did some miscellaneous things around the boat but mostly I helped Diane with the last cushion slipcover. It came out very well - it only took 8 tries!! Thursday I was the net controller again, standing in for Ralph from Black Cat since they went out to Chacachacare Island for a few days to test out all the boat's systems before going up on the hard for several months and going home. The island was only a few miles away but the mountains between there and Chaguaramas would prevent radio transmission so I did the net for him. Actually it was a busy one with several security issues raised; they were mostly dinghy thefts but Diane did report over the net that a small bar/gift shop in the CrewsInn complex was robbed at night by removing the front door hinges. After the net, I went to Peake's chandlery to get some bottom paint and find out what type of primer I should use on the lead keel. I had noticed that the bottom paint I put on last October had come off the lead in places and we were thinking about hauling the boat in Venezuela to redo the bottom. The salesman was very helpful and called the local Pettit Paint distributor to see what they would say was needed. He had originally said that an etch primer followed by an epoxy primer was the correct way to get the antifouling paint to adhere properly and the distributor confirmed this. The only problem was the cost of the epoxy primer. A gallon was over $200 US and since I didn't need that much, I asked if they had it available in quarts. The salesman called their warehouse and said they did and it would be delivered the next day. I bought the bottom paint and said I would come back tomorrow. After I got back, Diane and I went with Tom and Steph and several other cruisers to the movies. We hired Jesse James' Maxi Taxi to drive us there and then to TGI Friday's for dinner. We saw "The Bourne Identity" and "The Sum of All Fears", and enjoyed both. |