GETTING BACK TO WORK .........

The last big blog was in June when we nearly overdosed on lobster ..... " Mon, wat a feast dat was " .... It took days to recover, but life goes on ... Saw these beautiful pink velvet flowers on a tree ..... More flowers than tree actually, and also this breadfuit tree that Captain Bligh had so much 'trouble' bringing to the Caribbean ........




One of the first projects we did after 'lobsterfestitis' was to install the watermaker ...... Watermaking is really incredibly simple ...... You pass saltwater through a tightly-wound fibrous membrane at a pressure of more or less 800 PSI and out of the inner core comes sweet fresh water, having left the salt behind ...... All you have to have are the components, hoses, and of course the pressure pump which is basically the same as a pressure washer used to clean your driveway ...... Having said that, we assembled the little bits and pieces on the bed and installed them in the white membrane housing ... Those housings are made of fibreglass and capable of taking the pressures ...... The bits and pieces are manufactured in 316-grade marine stainless steel and therefore cost the same as if made from space-age titanium ....




Getting the end-plates with their 'O' rings to fit tightly proved difficult as they kept spinning around ..... We solved the problem by making a special tool out of a piece of Brazilian hardwood called 'purple-heart' ...... It split eventually so we made one out of steel .....



The white connecting hoses are plastic 1/4" flexible hoses, straight off the shelf at HOME DEPOT and finally there's the electric motor driving the high-pressure CAT pump ..... The whole system produces 40 gallons of sweet water per hour and costs only $3000.00 ...... Forty gallons an hour means 'Hollywood' showers for the Queen who had been threatening to cut her long hair ...... Which now, of course, has been cleverly avoided ..... By turning that black knob to restrict the salt water flow we pressurize the whole system and 'Bob's your Uncle' as they say .........



With a 'to-die-for' aft cabin and 'Hollywood' showers the "Queen of Florida and the Bahamas" rides tall again .............. Even if the temperature is nearly a hundred degrees, the same number as the humidity percentage ......




Our 'Aussie' mate Paul on the yacht "KIANA" whose dodger canopy we ferried into town on the dinghy has started construction of his new upper deck 'emporium' and we have combined forces in the spirit of 'mateship' ..... Firstly we glued three sheets of 1/4" cedar plywood together to make the new cabin-top .....



"KIANA" is soon rafted up alongside "SOUTHERN COMFORT" so that her aft deck can be used for cutting the panels ....... A floating workshop with music ....... Mostly rock'n roll ...... More roll than rock when other powerboats go by ...... We all wave our arms wildly to slow them down, but they think we are dancing to the music ..... After all, that's what the Puerto Ricans all do .....



Not that we work so hard that we fail to smell the flowers or see the birds ...... Actually caught a humming bird sitting on a branch having a 'lunch-break' ....... And these female peacocks taking their 'young-uns' for a stroll in the undergrowth ...



These peacocks are free range on the resort near to where we are anchored, and to see them raising their young is really a wonderful treat ......... And of course there's another ferry trip to Fajardo on the mainland, to visit my "Dear Mother of God" dermatologist with the Bambi eyes, who does the usual skin-cancer burn-offs ........ Another visit next month .... I should catch up eventually ..... This is all good ...... Not complaining one bit ......



Then it's Paul's turn to give us a hand pulling out the anchor windlass that would not work properly ........ Discovered the problem and fixed it ....... Being a sailor is one thing, but while you are at it you might as well be an engineer, a plumber, a painter, an electrician, a fabricator, a carpenter and so the list goes on ......
Meanwhile back in CURACAO the unstoppable TIMO and his artist wife ANNEMIEKE, have made incredible progress on their new yacht " LAZY LIZ " ....... (You have to read the previous blog entries to see how all this began) ......



If you recall, TIMO got busy dragging an old lead keel underwater to the shore so that he could cut it up into small 'loaves' using a blow torch ...... The lead was used to fill his new keel ..... Well that all happened while we weren't watching and next thing you know, they are celebrating the birth of the new " LAZY LIZ " ....... Big party, lots of local well-wishers .... Wish we could have been there ..... Wish you could have been there ........




And as smooth as silk she slid into the water ..............



And so back to the houseboat went the "LAZY LIZ" ...... Meanwhile back in CULEBRA we are hard at work on SOUTHERN COMFORT but managed to take some time off to visit a yacht that I thought I recognized ......



She is a beautiful NEW ZEALAND built ketch "SHIBUMI" ..... A grand lady of the high seas, whose owners Chris and Jackie normally keep her in St. Thomas ...... We had a good look at her down below ...... What an awesome vessel and like "ARITA" she was built for the southern Ocean ..... Next morning they came to our anchorage before crossing the Caribbean Sea to CURACAO ..... Barely had we said "Goodbye" when the photos below arrived by email showing "SHIBUMI" using her mast and spinnaker pole to step the new mast on the "LAZY LIZ" ... Amazing .... Just goes to show how we are all connected ...... No easy job getting that mast into place ........






Incredible and all of it done in under a year ....... Less time to build than it has taken us to re-build ...... TIMO and ANNEMIEKE can fly those flags with pride ..... Congratulations on a magnificent achievement ..... Meantime we'll just get back to work ...... There's just so much more to do ..........