I’m elbow deep in a muddle of cables, wedged sideways, half
under our saloon table, obeying the gruff instructions barked from outside at
the base of the mast.
“Pull red!” “Now blue” “Pull the thin grey one. Not THAT
thin grey one!” etc. It’s re-wiring 101 onboard today.
The men in hard hats and the massive crane came bright and
early this morning and our mast has just been re-erected. Shiloh is almost a
sailboat again!
A few weeks ago the reverse procedure happened.
It’s late October and we’re still awaiting the delayed
delivery of an inverter from Europe – of course we couldn’t source one here –
that would be too easy! It’s late October – just letting that sink in, just a
week over two months since Shiloh
was hauled out for lightning repairs.
“We’ll only be here a few days” we told the yard manager, infinitely
naïve and hopeful.
“Just put us near the lift. No need to take Shiloh to a back
corner as we’ll be here such a short time.”
And so they did. We’ve had a front row vantage point
watching all the other boats wheeled by and launched, day in, day out.
Until the morning came, about a week ago, when the familiar
noise of the lift came a bit too close and our hazy morning minds perked up
immediately. I jumped out of bed only to find the lift coming directly for us!
“It’s too soon! What are they doing?!” Convinced they’d lost
the plot and come for the wrong boat. Before I knew it, our trusty mast that
lay beside us was gone. Whisked away by three men with a wheelie contraption.
The slings of the huge travel-lift looming ever nearer.
Turns out the boat behind us needed moving and we were in
the way. Our ‘short term stay’ had run out, and without warning the yard master
decided it was time to send us for detention, to a dank corner, far far from
electricity, water supply, washrooms, showers, relative civilization. And that
is where we will stay until our inverter arrives, all the re-wiring is
complete, and testing of batteries and new equipment is completed. Only then
will we be allowed back into the water where we belong. This might be in a few
days. It might be in a few weeks. JW told me to pick out a Christmas tree here…
But there is another side to all this trauma and chaos. The
side where I lean on my Walmart cart and barrel forward, dodging Walmartians
who scowl. I, on the other hand am almost giddy. Halloween is coming up and
I’ve been focusing all efforts on getting JW to agree, and then put the
components together for his debut as a pink bunny. I’ve been riding the free
Cruiser Shuttle to Walmart every week for weeks and I spotted the full length adult
front zip one-zies ages ago. Apart from the usual super heros, there were
Minions and Cookie Monsters, but none compared to the pink bunny. It called out
to me and I knew it had to be. Today I bought it while JW managed the mast back
in the yard. I also bought a pink fluffy shower sponge – perfect tail. And
little ribbons to tie to his flip flops. I can hardly wait. Once I stop
laughing I know I’m gonna love him in this costume. I got a $10 space girl
costume and a pink gun, so I am going to town as a ‘bunny-chasing-galactic-space-goddess’.
That works right?
We’ve had our share of fun. No, really. We made it a Greek Fest, an underwhelming Oktoberfest, movies, yacht clubs, cruiser events, rooftop concerts at a winery and a free distillery tour - to name a few. And the circle of
cronies in our quest to make the best of our time here grows wider each week.
We’ve made new land lubber and cruising friends, met up with cruiser friends we
knew years ago in Grenada and Trinidad, and friends of friends of friends who
all know how to party. We know the deal of the day in this town – pick a day –
I’ll tell you where the happy hour is the best.
At the awesome Corazon Theater - drinks and a movie! |
At Ann O'Malleys |
Never grow up - it's a trap! |
The rugby armada |
Old friends from Sea Schell - saw them last in Grenada 2013! |
The GANG at White Lion |
One day soon that lift is gonna come back for us. It’s gonna
take us right over to the launch and Shiloh’s bottom is gonna be wet. We will
be excited and nervous and thankful on that day.
But in the meantime we are going to walk the half mile to
the dirty boatyard toilets with smiles or at least without too much grumbling.
We’ve learned as we so often do, it’s the people you surround yourself with, and
the perspective you have that make a can change the experiences you have.
The difference
between adventure and ordeal is attitude. And a pink bunny suit doesn’t
hurt.
hope the rewiring is going well, as well as purchase of new equipment. Only heard of one other catamaran with a lighting stike in a blog post, and they just sold the boat- they had had some problems before and lighting was the straw that broke the camels back. I'm sure you want to head south before snow flies. As way of prevention, anything being added to setup to prevent future problem like this?
ReplyDeleteDoug In VT - where the snow is flying