Before and After

Gretchen promised some photos to document the process of getting Callisto ready for launching, so here they are:

Just getting started at sorting things out:

And here's a shot after the dust had settled:

Quite a difference!

In the Water 2013

We completed nearly all of our pre-launch to-do list, and splashed on schedule on December 2.  It is awesome to see this 30,000 pound object moved around so gracefully by the boatyard.  Our engine started with no trouble, and we slowly motored off into the harbor.

The first few hundred meters are always a bit tense, because the water is quite shallow and we worry about running aground.  After making this journey several times, you would think we’d trust the depth a bit more – but we don’t.

Out in the harbor, the first task is to find a place to anchor.  You have to be out of the traffic lane, and preferably not too far from the dinghy docks.  And of course you can’t end up too close to other boats.  Naturally, there are already dozens of boats in the harbor, all with the same objective.  We usually end up prioritizing having enough room over minimizing the dinghy ride.

There are a few commissioning activities that can only really be done after we’re in the water.  For instance, to flush the watermaker we need a lot of seawater.  This year we had a further task, which was completing the repair of our refrigerator.  This unit uses seawater to cool the condenser, so the final check out and adjustment had to wait until we launched.

We are getting into the rhythm of life aboard.  It always takes a few days to adjust to the warm temperatures, and to get used to the boat rocking in the water.  Prickly Bay is one of the rollier anchorages we spend time in.

It seems as though we always end up spending more time in Prickly Bay than we planned.  This year is no different.  We had to order a new chartplotter, and it takes more than a week to come from St. Martin.  Our old chartplotter works fine, but the joystick button broke last year.  We were disappointed to find that, even though our model first came to the market in 2009, Raymarine can no longer supply parts to repair it.  Hopefully we can get the new unit on the island and installed by the middle of next week, so we can start the northward portion of our season.

Thanksgiving Day 2013

Thanksgiving Day, Prickly Bay Grenada

We hope that everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving has a good feast with friends and family.  We will enjoy a Thanksgiving meal at a local restaurant, along with other itinerant souls.

David has been working hard at getting all of our sun-worn teak window frames and companion way frame sanded and varnished.  This is a multi-step and multi-day process, with sticky surfaces that are hard to avoid as we try to continue other work on the boat while the varnish dries.  I have been working hard at showing him the spots he’s missed.

Today we hope to get our new battery bank installed, install new thermostats on the wind generator and perhaps put on the foresails (if the wind cooperates), and tidy up below decks.  All the cushions and mattresses are topsy turvy while we wait for the batteries, since they reside under one of the benches in the saloon and the hardware associated with them is on the bed in the foreward berth.   I hope to add a before and after photo to the blog…

Friday we will work on what we don’t get done today, plus make one of the big provisioning trips to the grocery store.  This will be the trip for everything that doesn’t need refrigeration…including things like garbage bags, TP, paper towels.  Pasta, rice, dried beans, onions, potatoes, squash, canned goods (mostly tomatoes), pickles, condiments, and of course, stocking the bar…

Our refrigeration works by using brass plates under the boat to transfer heat, so stocking the fridge and freezer has to wait until at least Monday afternoon or Tuesday next week. 

More later!

Soon!

It's less than two weeks before we leave for the season, and we are in the middle of our departure ritual.  Making lists - many lists.  What to pack? What work needs to be done on Callisto before we can launch?  Who to contact about our departure?  What to buy in the US before we head for Grenada?  Getting out the suitcases and starting to fill them up.  Printing out all the documents we need for travel arrangements, etc.

We will be spending a week in the Washington, DC, area before heading south, visiting our daughter Esther and her fiance, James Allred.  They will be married next June, and Gretchen wants to participate in some of the wedding preparations, e.g. choosing a wedding gown.  It should be a good visit.  Its also a chance for us to do some online shopping, to be delivered to her apartment so we can pick the goods up while we're there.

The weather in Switzerland has been a mix of a few sunny afternoons scattered among many gray, cold days.  At noon, the sun is so low in the sky it seems like late afternoon.  The longer days and the prospect of sun in the Caribbean seem ever more attractive.  Soon!

Thoughts Turning South

As we pass the Fall Equinox and the days are rapidly growing shorter, our thoughts are increasingly turning south.  We have decided to start our Caribbean cruising a bit earlier this year, to avoid some of the gloomy days in November and December.  That will also get Gretchen back home for an early start to the golf season next year.

This is likely to be a year of changes in our cruising pattern.  We have spent three seasons in the Eastern Caribbean now.  While we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and been lucky to meet some wonderful people, we think we will be finding fewer new things to discover.  Its a big world, and we think its a mistake to restrict our cruising to one region, no matter how nice.

So, while nothing is ever for sure, its likely that we will move Callisto to the ABC islands (Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire) at some point during this coming season.  We have good friends who spent last winter on Bonaire, and gave us rave reviews.  It is especially known for scuba diving, and our new scuba skills makes that particularly appealing. 

From that base, we will be positioned in future years to explore Columbia, Panama, and Guatemala.  The thought of the Panama Canal is lurking out there, but that is a very big step --  once in the Pacific, the only realistic direction to sail is East.

Home At Last

At the end of the sailing season, we spent nearly three weeks visiting family in the US.  Gretchen's mother, Lois, celebrated her 80th birthday in Bath, NY.  We were really happy to be able to join her for this milestone.

Our daughter, Esther, then celebrated her graduation from the Law School at the University of Virginia.  This is an exceptionally challenging program, and we are inordinately proud of her accomplishment.  She will be working for the Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, DC.  She will be providing legal advice on refugee resettlement.  We were honored to be present at her graduation ceremony.

Finally, a return to home in Switzerland.  After a 25+ hour journey, we arrived tired but very happy to be home.

End of the 2013 Sailing Season

The last week or 10 days of the sailing season is all about boat chores.  Consider the preparations that you would want to do before leaving your home unoccupied for six months.  You want the place clean when you get back, you don't want anything rotten in the pantry, you sure don't want any mildew.  So many of the chores involve cleaning.

But there are also boat-specific things to do:  putting away the sails, changing the oil in the outboard, emptying the water tanks, stowing the dinghy, putting preservative in the desalinator.  Probably the least pleasant of these is scraping/sanding/grinding off all the barnacles and other marine growth that always finds a home on the underwater metal parts - propeller, drive shaft, etc.

We start building a to-do list several weeks before we are scheduled to haul out.  We divide the list into three sections:  things that should or must be done before the boat is hauled, things better left until we are on the hard, and things that could be done any time.

Well, we finished all the pre-haul items last Thursday, just in time for our haul-out first thing Friday morning (May 3).  We've been working steadily since then, and are 80% through with the rest of the chores.

Tomorrow we will finish the list (hopefully), and then can relax for a day before heading off on Wednesday morning.

We will spend a couple of weeks with family in New York and Virginia, and then finally home to Switzerland.