Commissioning

The yard manager told me that Speakeasy would be put in (commissioned) tomorrow. I had to gulp. "Is it ready," he asked. He was looking for slacker sailors who weren't ready for their scheduled departure--I
didn't want to be one of them. I declared that Speakeasy was ready, but was she? I had a sudden fear. "What have I missed?"
I had just finished the bottom paint and was admiring my work--except for the blasted epoxy drips on the keel from last week that looked like a novice had done it, which was true. I climbed on deck and did a mental check. I went below and checked seacocks. I put the speed sensor in the through hull. I checked the head and galley seacocks. I think it's okay. I hope so. If not, she may sink.

Keel

Besides the Chicago weather, there is one thing keeping Speakeasy from her watery Summer home in lake Michigan--her blistered keel. The more I sanded blisters, the more area seemed to have blisters. Cracks on the coat led to more cracks.

I've gotten different advice from spot sealing with epoxy to stripping to bare lead. I attempted to sand, but my 9V cordless drill does not make a good enough sander to complete the job. After a few minutes, the battery would die. Friends have better equipment: I had three offers. Bruce turned up with an industrial-looking power sander and soon I was finished. "The correct tool for the job," I remember my shop teacher saying over-and-over again.

The hardest thing about epoxy is mixing it. The hardest thing about mixing it is choosing the correct pumps for the resin and hardener cans. After a couple of missteps, I was pumping and painting on epoxy. I'm nearly home on this project.

Doug

The life of a marine diesel mechanic may be lonely at times, but it
helps to be witty and have a lifetime of stories. I don't think there
was a diesel mechanic in the village I was raised in, but if there
were, he (surely would have been a man) would have been like Doug. I
would have thought the Doug was old. Now, of course, he's young. My
age. Doug has an easy way. Knows his stuff. Owned a boat. Knows all
the sailors that I know and knows their engines even better.

Doug went to work, ask a question, told a story, and repeated the
drill. In the end I was charged for 2 hours including the stories,
which were worth more. I also know how to change a filter, check the
fuel bowl, and bleed the low pressure system. Not bad.

Blew

Speakeasy's yard neighbor is names Blew--a fitting name for a
sailboat. Blews skipper, Bruce, is a clever man and a good person for
a novice boat owner to know. I was having difficulty finding the fuel
shutoff valve and watched Bruce hunt it down like a hound on the scent
of a great prize.

The fuel line appears to vanish just aft of the primary filter. At
first I thought the tank should be where the water tank is. Bruce
discovered this too, but didn't throw up his hands and quit as I did. Instead,
he deduced that the line must go aft even further. He went on deck and jump in the port quarter lazzerette, which is very deep. At the bottom, he found the fuel tank and nearby he found the shutoff.

Uncovered

Beth and I met Sterling of Sterling Sails at the yard so he could instruct us in the art of taking down the Winter cover. In the process we got to see Sterling's workmanship and care. Beth captured the seminar on video so that we might have a chance of getting the cover back on in the Fall.

I was impressed with the cover during the cold windy days of Winter. I could see why the cover held up. The superstructure was made of conduit twice the diameter I have seen on other boats. The cover had enough canvass to reach to the water line, protecting our waterboard from UV. Nicely done.

Oyster Pond

Beth, Dorothy, and Bob went to the Radison Resort to see the inner harbor and amenities. Afterward, Dorothy held a snorkling clinic just off the boat. Beth was her in-water student and the rest of us followed along in the dry.

We had a short motor sail to Oyster Pond. Sunsail's staff was at lunch when we arrived and didn't answer our radio or phone. Like last year. Ron piloted in following the red markers. Sunsail crew was spotted taking a boat out. Oops. He lost his dinghy and had to return to retrieve it. We did what we could to help. Then he came back to take our boat to the slip. He gave us a reverse clinic while docking.

We had one more night aboard, but no more sailing so we needed to enjoy St. Martins. We took a cab to Marigot, which we didn't get to by boat. Marigot has a beautiful and large harbor with a new circle breakwater with a modified star dock cluster. We climbed to the top of the hill where the old Fort was located where we had a 360 degree view of the harbor and Marigot.

After a well deserved round of drinks, we ate near the water at Grille de la Mer gorging on snapper and lobster.

Anse Marsel

We had a few hours in Gustavia before we had to be off, so Dorothy and Bob arranged for a scuba dive and Beth and I took a trip to town for a walk to Shell Beach and food shopping at Tom's Food. By mid-afternoon we set sail for Marigot--or as close as we could get.

In fact we only got to Anse Marcel. A Radison Resort in the inner harbor and a seemingly protected anchorage. However there were light swells from the North and variable winds in the bowl. The guide book mentioned that the winds might swirl in the bowl-like anchorage.

We dined on lamb chops from Tom's--succulent. We did eat very well aboard. Our most memorable meals were made ourselves. Good for us!

Anse Marcel was a bumpy anchorage. A small swell from the North hit our beam while the wind swirled from the Southeast making our anchor snap often. Fortunately, Bob set the anchor well so we were safe from dragging. However, the noise was tremendous during the night.