MEDIC ALERT!

Friday

After successfully tackling the water pump job, I was on a roll and decided to get going with the 'toilet job'.

After re-drilling the new hole for the 50mm pipe and filling in the old one with epoxy, it was time to sand down and neaten everything up. Enter the Stanley Knife (box cutter for the Yanks ;-). 

Well, it slipped and I managed to stab myself in the forearm. Fortunately the blade was fairly clean, with no rust. I did not realise that it was so deep, anyway I called my trusty side-kick, Kieran to get the medical kit and made my way into the saloon. I wiped the wound and opened it up for Kieran to squeeze in some Bactroban. I then realised how deep the wound was and put some big plasters on and a bandage and made my way to the marina office. A cab was called and we got to the hospital in 40 mins.

After all that drama, the doc only gave me two stitches and a dose of antibiotics and said I was very lucky that I didn't damage any tendons. 

A great excuse for being handicapped, is that you are off cooking duty...and everything else, albeit only for the rest of the day... I decided to get a takeaway from the ladies that sell their street food outside. On the menu was BUSSUP!

I think it's supposed to mean BUST UP. The bussup part is a Roti skin (deep fried pancake dough) which is broken up into pieces or bust up!

Served with a chicken curry and mango pickle, YUM!!!

PUMPS SUCK!

A few nights ago the Whale freshwater pressure pump decided to give up on us. The following  morning it was taken apart and cleaned. Unfortunately it still did not want to prime, I think the diaphragm became too hard from all the chlorine in the water. Another good reason to fit a water maker!

All in all, I have had to replace three Whale pumps now, both shower Gulpers and the Freshwater Pump. This, despite the fact that the boat is only two years old, is rather annoying. It was a relief to find the Jabsco freshwater version at the chandlery here, so I decided to go for that one.

Next obstacle is that the Whale pump used quick connect fittings....obviously!?!...and the Jabsco has normal size pipe hose fittings. Now to replace and re-plumb everything so it seals and fits. Back to the drawing board!

I have to say that all this climbing in and out of my little cave is giving me quite a workout, who needs gym here, ha ha

This is what the final job looks like after measuring and drilling and re-drilling. I couldn't have done it without the help of Kieran, who continually fetched tools etc while doing his schoolwork!

BACK IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

TRINIDAD, NOVEMBER 2012

After a fantastic three months back in South Africa, visiting family and friends, taking part in various sailing events, enjoying all the parties and sights we could cram in, it was time to head back to our other    home.

We arrived in Trinidad and have started working on the boat. Kieran is catching up frantically on his school work. Mark will be arriving sometime in December, so we are trying to get most of the work and modifications done before he gets here.

Last week we had our entire house battery bank replaced with six Trojan 6v batteries. Our previous batteries got fried, because the previous 'certified installer' entered the wrong charging settings into the solar chargers. Ah, well we live and we learn! On the bright side, now I'm also an 'expert' on batteries and their charging regimes.

I also managed to fix the seized tap in the galley, with Kieran's help of course. Next on the agenda is the toilet. A 50mm hole has to be re-drilled to accommodate the large hose. Obviously it can't be easy and NO, there are no universal toilet parts out there. Therefore, a simple 30 minute job takes 3 days.

Fortunately, I managed to source a hole-saw from some friends, over some Bake 'n Shark, at the Wheel House Pub.

BAKE 'n SHARK
is a local delicacy here in Trinni. It's basically deep fried bread dough or vetkoek, cut in half, filled with deep fried crispy crumbed shark meat. All served with condiments of your choice.