Back on the Water Again!

We are so happy to be back on our boat again and out on the briny blue. We arrived back in St. Kitts at the boatyard on November 9th and quickly visited our boat to assess the condition after she was strapped down on the land all summer. This is where s/v Allergic to Cities spent her long, hot, dusty “summer vacation” dodging hurricanes and patiently awaiting our return. We spent the first few days staying in an AirBnB just up the road from the boatyard. It was a nice apartment with plenty of ocean breezes that we loved at night as the weather, overall, was very hot and humid. During the days, we were busy at the boatyard, preparing our boat for a launch date of “ASAP”. Before we could splash the boat, however, we needed to get some chores done which would make her happy all winter long and hopefully beyond. Likely, the most important job to be completed while still on land was to apply a couple of fresh coats of bottom paint. This biocide paint is VERY expensive ($250/gallon) and took several gallons of both primer and topcoat to cover both hulls up to the waterline. Because the old paint was deteriorated beyond usefulness, we had to sand all of it off prior to application of the primer coat. What a messy dirty job that was! Since we could only apply one coat a day, it took three days after the bottom was prepped and taped off for roller application of the paints. We hired the man of the house from our AirBnB to assist and his help was greatly appreciated.

While Rick was busy doing the bottom job, Suz spent her time cleaning, cleaning, and doing more cleaning of the inside the boat to get rid of the accumulated dirt and dust from the summer’s winds. Did I mention how HOT it was? Each night when we returned to our apartment, we each took our showers and sat exhausted but grateful for another successful day of moving closer to getting off the land and back in the water. While the boat was high and dry, we also took this opportunity to apply fresh stripping to the sides of the boat. Our sister-in-law, Donna Bear, has a very successful Etsy business that does a lot of vinyl cutting for custom signs so I asked her to make new “Manta” logo graphics as well for each side of the boat. They turned out terrific and now with a fresh bottom paint and new boat stripes and logo work, she looks great!

Our launch date came on Thursday, just under one week since arrival. We were both anxious to get our girl back in the water and were pleased at how much we had accomplished since our arrival. She dropped back into the water with ease from the giant Travel Lift and seemed happy to have the cool water on the new bottom paint. Everything was done with the exception of adding the new sacrificial zincs to each saildrive and propeller shaft. The ones we had ordered were not correct so we unfortunately had to wait until later to do that part of our seasonal preparation. After checking out with customs and immigration officials, we immediately left the territorial waters of St. Kitts and headed north to St. Eustatius known locally as Statia. Upon our arrival, we anchored and were enjoying the cool breezes when a dinghy came up to our boat telling us that the local authorities were trying to hail us on the VHF. We usually turn our VHF (short wave radio) off when we arrive somewhere since it usually just provides a noisy irritant as background noise. We turned our radio back on and hailed the port authorities to see what they wanted. Upon our arrival we dutifully had hoisted our yellow “Q” flag to indicate that we had not yet cleared customs. Our understanding was that a vessel had 24 hours to clear in with customs upon entering that island’s territorial waters. The first stop onshore must be to the customs office but since we intended upon leaving at first light the next morning to continue on to St. Martin, we had no intention of going ashore at all, nor clearing with customs. We had anchored in what we thought was the proper area, but were told we were likely in an area where a freighter would arrive later that night and would need our space to turn around. Additonally, they wondered when we were coming ashore to check in. We told them our early departure intentions and explained we did not intend to check in since we were not leaving our vessel. They said we were wrong, in that we had entered their territorial waters and MUST check in with their customs officers. Begrudgingly, Rick went in and hurriedly completed the check-in procedures, gave them their $35 in fees, and literally ran back to the boat to prepare to re-anchor prior to sunset. It is always a difficult and potentially dangerous procedure to anchor in darkness, so we were under the gun to get the hook back down out of the turn around zone. The whole situation left us with a less than savory taste in our mouths for the island. Likely will not return again. The following morning we were anxious to get underway for St. Martin and left around 8AM. We had to motor the entire distance to St. Martin as the winds were not favorable for sailing there but we arrived in good shape around 3PM. Since we knew we would be on St. Martin for a few weeks, to complete some boat upgrades, we proceeded into Simpson Bay, through a drawbridge, into the protected lagoon for a calm respite from the wavy outer waters where we had stayed in previous years. After finding a good anchoring spot, we returned to the customs office, checked in, then returned to the boat to enjoy some sundowners and prepare our evening meal. Our new sailing season finally felt underway. We have been on St. Martin, on the Dutch side, for three weeks so far and have had time to complete several upgrades and minor fixes to the boat. She is preforming well and we are happy to get these things completed. One of the things we had hoped to complete was to upgrade our tiller-steered dinghy into one with a center steering console. Suz has never been comfortable driving the dinghy with the tiller steering since it is counter intuitive to steer. (Push to the right to go left, and so forth.) We priced a system at the local chandlery and were all set to complete the sale but the set up was missing the most important ingredient, the fiberglass center steering console. To this piece, all of the other pieces of steering equipment are attached. Without the console, one cannot have a steering wheel, throttle controller, running lights, etc. Disappointed, we decided to forgo this upgrade. Then, a few days later, we went to a once-a-month flea market and lo and behold, found a used center console with an available backseat as well. Back in action! We purchased the console for much less than the chandlery wanted for a new one and Rick installed it. Today we dropped it off at the chandlery to have the other pieces installed and tonight we will pick it up ready for Suz to drive us back to the boat! We are both so excited to have this upgrade and know that now Suz will feel comfortable taking the dinghy anytime she wishes to go somewhere without having to ask Rick to her there. Additionally, our watermaker was run for the first time since re-launch and was underperforming by a long way. We decided that this piece of equipment was essential. We befriended another couple in the boatyard in St. Kitts who are now anchored behind us in Simpson Bay. Because he is very knowledgeable about watermakers, among other boat things, he helped me diagnose the problem to a certain part of the watermaker called the Clark pump. I removed that part, took it into a servicing facility last week and they found the problem, are finishing up a rebuild and we should be able to reinstall it tomorrow. One more system ready to go! Slowly our boat is getting back into proper running condition and we will be ready to leave this service friendly island. But where to go next. Our initial intent was to head back across the Anagada Passage to the Virgin Islands. Now, we are somewhat considering heading back south to a few of the closer islands including our beloved Antigua. We spent so much time there last year with our guests and know we enjoy the island immensely. However, we also thoroughly enjoy the Virgins. So the quandary is which way to go next. We will make that decision and head out within a week or two and will keep you posted. In the meanwhile, enjoy the holiday season and the loved ones in your lives. Having recently lost my 97 year old Mom, I wish to remind everyone to let your loved ones know how much they mean to you because when they pass over the rainbow to the other side, you will no longer have that chance.