Getting Haul Out

July 8th -- Haul Out Day

We’re thoroughly enjoying the AC during these hot days in Trinidad. Tied up to the dock in front of Peakes Boatyard, we have free water and electricity to run the AC unit on the boat.  The boat AC and refrigeration are both water cooled and only work when the boat is in the water, so we’ll lose them when we haul out. Naturally we’ve been trying to eat all the meat and other frozen stuff over the last two weeks so we don’t have to throw it away, making total pigs of ourselves in the process.

Flying Cloud is dwarfed by the huge Travelift.

There goes $1000 of bottom paint.

The boat is transferred from the Travelift to the hydraulic boat mover tractor.

 The water surrounding the dock is very shallow so we enlist the help of Ragnor, a native Trinidadian who I originally though was from South Africa with his British accent and blonde corn rows. He maneuvered our bow using his dingy as a mini tug boat and soon we were around the corner getting lined up for the massive Travelift they use to lift the boats out.  This was our second time doing this so the process went fairly smoothly. Once out of the water they pressure wash the bottom. It’s a little disconcerting to see a $1000 of bottom paint get washed into the sea. They then lowered the boat onto a massive hydraulic boat mover that slowly towed Flying Cloud through the huge boatyard and back to the exact spot in the back corner where we were last year. I wonder if the green iguana still walks past every morning to get his breakfast from the nearby mango tree?

Albert and Josie were hauling out at the same time at Power Boats, the yard just south of Peakes.  We arranged to meet for dinner at the excellent Zanzibar Restaurant at Peakes and enjoyed drinks and great hamburgers. So fun to be able to talk with Europeans about their home countries, customs, and lifestyle. We had no idea Belgium was divided by the Flemish-speaking population that sides with Holland and the French-speaking people who have ties to France. Albert doesn’t think they will ever split into two countries like Scotland (which is voting on the issue), but he says it does cause issues in business dealings and other aspects of life.