Ahh, back to the warm Virgin Islands again! We arrived back at Frolic on January 5th.
Friends of ours, Gordon and Suzanne on Oceanwings, had rented an apartment and
invited us to share it with them for a few days, which we did. It was nice to
come back after a hard day’s work and take a shower and sleep in air
conditioning. It was to be a long yard
period as we had some extra jobs to do this year. However, not as many as
Oceanwings, as they came back to termites in their boat! They luckily found an
exterminator who knew h is stuff and he got them some spray to get rid of them,
but it meant a week of tearing apart their boat and spraying all the tracks.
They found two big nests, one was in a cabinet 1 square foot by 3 feet. They
did get them all in the end. As for us, besides the checking the engines and
replacing the impellers, I also replaced the prop zincs. Because I had wrong
information about which way to turn the shaft cone, I had to wait for someone
to come take the props off. We also found the outboard engine frozen again. I
was able to get it turning by putting a wrench to the fly wheel, but it pulled
to slow to start. So it went to the mechanic to see what was wrong and fix it.
In the meantime I needed to replace 2 thru hulls the surveyor said last year
were corroding. After pulling the first thru hull I found the new Marlon ones I
was installing did not have thread down far enough to tighten on the hull as
the hull was only about ½” thick. So I had to get backing plates made for them.
I ended up replacing 4 of the 6 thru hulls on the boat.
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| Carl hooks up the hose to the new thru hull |
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| Carl spreads out on the boat |
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| Carl painting the bottom |
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| Leslie admires her good work |
We also had the hull sanded, but even though
we had asked for this job to be done several months ago, the work didn’t get
done until we had been back almost a week. We painted the bottom and I got the
little portable generator working. We had a day with no wind so we put on the
jib and furled it up. We had a waiting day so I went on a dive to the Rhone and
used Nitrox for the first time. I really didn’t find much difference from
regular air.
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| A big ray on the bottom |
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| Carl's dive partner |
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| The Plack for the Rhone |
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The dive master and his white
Scubapro Jet Fins |
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| The ship's ribs |
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| We swim past the ship's prop |
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| The lucky porthole |
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| A turtle at the stern |
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| Frolic is ready! |
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| last dinner party with all our boat yard friends |
We went in the water the 15th with
me biting my nails worried about leaks as I had replaced 6 thru hulls. The
launch went well, we had 1” clearance in the well on each side, and the engine
started right up so we headed to North Sound.
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| Frolic at the dock at Leverick Bay |
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| Michael Beans starts his show |
At North Sound we went on the dock and washed
down the boat and put up our deck lights and deck equipment. We were only on
the dock a couple of days before going on a mooring, but while we were there we
met friends of ours, Greg and Lizann on Lagniappe, and their son Connor. Timing
was good and we got to see the Happy Ahrrr Show with Michael Bean and enjoy the
pig roast and Jumbies show.
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| Lizzanne and Leslie Join Mr. Bean |
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He is one man band and plays
percussion with his feet on a box |
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| Connor got into the whole scene |
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| We all sail away |
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| Greg, Lizzanne, and Leslie are winners! |
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| Michael Bean's boat |
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| Lance and Karen start the hike to hog Haven |
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| We arrive at Hog Haven |
Our friends Gordon and Sue, on Oceanwings, showed
up with other friends we met in the boat yard, Lance and Karen on Bon Temps,
and we went and anchored off the Sand Box at Prickly Pear Island for a couple
of days.
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| The view from Hog Heaven |
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| Looking out at Trellis Bay |
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| The Full Moon Party begins with the Fire ball |
Then it was off to Trellis Bay for a few days
and the Full Moon Party.
We headed to Cane Garden Bay, but a big North
Swell made it a poor anchorage so we went over to Jost Van Dyke for a few days
to wait for the swell to die out. While there we of course went to White Bay
and had drinks at the Soggy Dollar as well as stopped to visit Foxy and have
lunch at his place.
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| The Jumbies were at the party |
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| The fire man. See his face? |
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| A fire ball in the water with all the dancers |
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| Myett's is ready for the party |
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| Sunset at Cane Garden Bay |
The Northern Swells subsided so we went to
Cane Garden Bay, one of our favorite beaches, and anchored in preparation for
the cruisers party put on by Myett and Bob Bitchin, a biker turned cruiser and
publisher of the old Latitudes and Attitudes magazine, now Cruising Outpost,
and Tradewinds Radio. It was a great party, made mostly by the cruisers
attending, and a farewell to our new friends Lance and Karen on Bon Temps as
they head to St. Eustatia and St. Martin. We still will be cruising on with our
friends Gordon and Sue on Oceanwings.
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| Bob Bitchin and Leslie |
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| The party is in full swing |
