Ep 178 Some Of What We Do To Put The Boat Away | Kevin & Wendy

Picture this; Waking up at dawn to find the marina about as quiet as it ever gets. Water barely rippling and no wind at all. Dew on the decks and sun brightening the eastern horizon. Then fixing some coffee and taking sips between setting up fenders and trying to find the dockmaster and his helpers. Being first in line to haul at 7:00am is a rude awakening. Hauling is never something we (or any cruisers we know) take lightly. It’s stressful and always looks like the boat could slip out of the slings and crash to the concrete. You keep a close eye on the "lift here" decals along the toe rail, lest we end up with a bent prop shaft or damaged transducers. But none of this has ever happened to us, so we count our blessings. Once on dry land it’s a completely new way of life. We move into a “villa” for a week. These are small townhomes that are for rent, most of the time to British expats or other tourists. For us, it’s an opportunity to relax, get 24/7 air conditioning, and decide what needs to go back to the States. Moving around the marina complex now gets done in a golf cart. We put off most of whatever repairs or upgrades are on the list, and instead focus on hurricane-proofing the boat. This entails pulling off and storing all the canvas, stowing the grill, lifting the outboard to the rail, finding an outdoor home for gasoline fuel tanks. Fenders are stored, along with everything else we can fit below. The summer sun is brutal in the Caribbean, and does a number on anything that's left out. As Wendy does a lot of scrubbing and washing, I take the opportunity to slack off and walk the yard, giving some video commentary on boat hull design, rudder options, thoughts on production vs bluewater sailboats, saildrive systems, rigging, and bottom paint. Fun stuff to be sure. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, antigua, jolly harbour, jolly harbor