We arrived back on Saturday evening and after a pretty manic Sunday of preparation, Tumi was launched on Monday morning and we were able to move back on board. That's about where the good news stops!
Little of the work we had asked to be done while we were at home has been completed and as I type at 1.30am, unable to sleep because of the slamming spindle inside the mast, I could quite merrily swing for the sail loft who in seven months failed to find a few hours to restitch the seams on our main sail. Hence the disturbed night's sleep: without the mainsail wrapped around the spindle, thereby cushioning it from hitting the mast, the spindle slams from side to side inside the mast, metal on metal, and reverberates through the entire boat as Tumi rocks from side to side with the small swell. We've been promised the sail back by Friday ... fingers crossed.
We also returned to find that the mousing line we bought in March wasn't UV resilient and had perished over the summer. So as soon as Paul tried to pull all the lines (halyards, sheets etc) back through the mast using the mousing lines he so carefully left in situ, they collapsed like tissue paper. So we need a rigger to go to the top of the mast to drop three halyards (ropes) down inside it and hopefully be able to hook them out at the bottom.
The electrical work we had requested also hasn't been done by the but conversations on Monday and Tuesday with a different marine engineer may bear fruit ... in about 3 or 4 weeks time. Looks like we'll be in Grenada for a while!
And finally, to cap it all, the rig survey we requested before embarking on our Pacific crossing yielded a lot of problems with rusted and pitted cabling and swages bringing the integrity of the standing rigging (the bit that holds the mast up) into question. We are not very impressed: most rigs last into double figures years, indeed insurers only demand a survey once a rig is 10 years old. Ours is 4.5 years old! We have taken it up with Jeanneau but aren't holding our breath.
So all in all not a great start but nothing that time and throwing money at it can't solve. Welcome to the world of yacht maintenance in the Caribbean!! On the upside, it's sunny and warm ☀
7 Nov 2018
29 Oct 2018
29th October, ready to depart ...
We have had the removals people in today packing our valuables ready for our departure. We will be renting our house out (hopefully) for the time that we are away, and we fully expect to be living out of a suitcase when we return to the UK next year.
The final bits of the propeller to fix the wobble are on their way to Grenada, as I write this, it is in transit with an expected delivery of the 1st November. We hope that it will be fitted by the time we arrive on the island on the 3rd November. We are crossing all fingers and toes!
Once we arrive in Grenada, basically we will have one full day to get Tumi ready to launch, then we will have a day in a slip fitting the sails before we head round to Prickly Bay to meet up with the people who will be stitching our existing, and making our new canvas bits and pieces. We fully expect to be in Grenada for a couple of weeks before heading northwards, and should be able to meet up with some friends in between times.
The next bulletin will come from Grenada!
The final bits of the propeller to fix the wobble are on their way to Grenada, as I write this, it is in transit with an expected delivery of the 1st November. We hope that it will be fitted by the time we arrive on the island on the 3rd November. We are crossing all fingers and toes!
Once we arrive in Grenada, basically we will have one full day to get Tumi ready to launch, then we will have a day in a slip fitting the sails before we head round to Prickly Bay to meet up with the people who will be stitching our existing, and making our new canvas bits and pieces. We fully expect to be in Grenada for a couple of weeks before heading northwards, and should be able to meet up with some friends in between times.
The next bulletin will come from Grenada!
17 Oct 2018
17 October 2018 Some last minute activity
We are really on the countdown now, getting ready to depart and rejoin the warm weather out in Grenada. We have had to have the rudder bearings replaced on Tumi as there was a bit of play from having achieved over 10,000 miles of sailing in her. That went OK, but when the boat guys were working on the rudder they noticed some significant play on the propellor (see below).
So we have had a flurry of emails between ourselves and the UK agents for Gori props and several spare parts were ordered and despatched on Monday. The stripped down prop had some worn bushes and these have hopefully been replaced.
As the day of our departure draws rapidly near, we are shocked to see just how much stuff we need to take back with us, not least of which is technology based. We have invested in a laser flare which gives us 8 hours of constant use instead of an average 30 seconds from an individual pyrotechnic flare. Not cheap, but very practical. I only hope that we never have to use it! Hopefully we can fit some of our clothes in the bags as well as the 'stuff'.
So we have had a flurry of emails between ourselves and the UK agents for Gori props and several spare parts were ordered and despatched on Monday. The stripped down prop had some worn bushes and these have hopefully been replaced.
As the day of our departure draws rapidly near, we are shocked to see just how much stuff we need to take back with us, not least of which is technology based. We have invested in a laser flare which gives us 8 hours of constant use instead of an average 30 seconds from an individual pyrotechnic flare. Not cheap, but very practical. I only hope that we never have to use it! Hopefully we can fit some of our clothes in the bags as well as the 'stuff'.
6 Sept 2018
6th September, Chagford - Tempus fugit!!
We are now down to 8 weeks before our departure and we are starting to realise that we still have much to do. I spent yesterday afternoon linking our Yellowbrick tracking device to my phone in readiness for our departure so that we have another means of communicating with the outside world when we are at sea.
We have a list of spares that we still need to purchase, but there is a boat jumble in Newton Abbot on Saturday the 15th so I will try to get most things that we need there and whatever is left on the list will mean a trip to a good chandlers.
I have been recovering from a shoulder injury I sustained earlier this year and yesterday's physiotherapy session confirmed that I need to delay intensive use of the joint for as long as possible. On the basis of this advice, we have decided not to do the Western Caribbean rally which gives me an extra 2 months recovery time before we set off on the World ARC from St Lucia on the 12th January. It also means that we can be a part of the rally from day 1 instead of trying to break into any already established relationships further down the line when we would have joined the rally in Panama. Also, we are intending to get some canvas work done and we will have more time to get the work completed before we have to head off.
Those of our readers who follow our progress will now have a new tool available on our blog. The Pacific crossing map page will show you our exact position at all times. It won't be updated until I activate the yellowbrick tracker, but thereafter the map will be updated every few minutes. Enjoy watching our progress!
Finally, our crew members for the trip have all been invited to register for the leg(s) they are joining us on and to enter their personal details for customs and immigration and cruising permit issuance purposes. This exercise will make their participation real, and no doubt a few people are somewhat excited too, we are!!
We have a list of spares that we still need to purchase, but there is a boat jumble in Newton Abbot on Saturday the 15th so I will try to get most things that we need there and whatever is left on the list will mean a trip to a good chandlers.
I have been recovering from a shoulder injury I sustained earlier this year and yesterday's physiotherapy session confirmed that I need to delay intensive use of the joint for as long as possible. On the basis of this advice, we have decided not to do the Western Caribbean rally which gives me an extra 2 months recovery time before we set off on the World ARC from St Lucia on the 12th January. It also means that we can be a part of the rally from day 1 instead of trying to break into any already established relationships further down the line when we would have joined the rally in Panama. Also, we are intending to get some canvas work done and we will have more time to get the work completed before we have to head off.
Those of our readers who follow our progress will now have a new tool available on our blog. The Pacific crossing map page will show you our exact position at all times. It won't be updated until I activate the yellowbrick tracker, but thereafter the map will be updated every few minutes. Enjoy watching our progress!
Finally, our crew members for the trip have all been invited to register for the leg(s) they are joining us on and to enter their personal details for customs and immigration and cruising permit issuance purposes. This exercise will make their participation real, and no doubt a few people are somewhat excited too, we are!!
14 Aug 2018
14/8/18 : Chagford
We had some frustrating news last week: The project management and guardinage service we had instructed to maintain and monitor Tumi let us know they were no longer in business. Well technically the sleeping partner in the business had reappeared to take over the reins and the people we had been dealing with resigned. Everything is now up in the air and so we are speaking to other companies to take over as it turns out none of the work we'd wanted doing on Tumi has been done, nor the maintenance. Fortunately we still have three months to go before we splash back in on 5 November so there should be time to get things done but we could have done without the aggravation. Long-distance boat ownership is not without it's challenges!
On a more positive note we have paid our deposit for the Pacific Islands Circuit rally which we will join in June in Fiji and leave in November in New Zealand. Exciting!
On a more positive note we have paid our deposit for the Pacific Islands Circuit rally which we will join in June in Fiji and leave in November in New Zealand. Exciting!
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