Into the Atlantic
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Oh Shit Moment A moment where one is inclined to say "Oh Shit"; this could be traumatic, frightening or a hilarious. While a friend on the dock was shooting the sailor breeze with us and others, he put a hand on the bow sprit for support as people often do while shooting the sailor breeze. He caually reached over to examine a spot of the bow sprit. He waited foe a pause in the conversation and then said to Dois "Does that look like wood rot?". Dois calmly reached up to examine the intrusion for himself and quash my concerns then quietly, under his breath, had a moment. "Oh Shit". That afternoon, Dois started digging out the wet and rotted wood. Now if we were home, we would start plans to replace that sprit. But we are not home, we are somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 miles from home and not in a good place to stay for any extended time. But, luckily for us, there is a guy on the dock (remember the pirate and the Presa Caniaria? His name is Nicholas) who knows another guy in the marina who is a terrific boat woodworker. Yay? So we are put in touch and as it goes on boats with a lot of wood we found a few other maybe we should do that turn into O.S. moments and added them to the "Can you do this by next week? " list. Tackling the Beast.I was worried. Dois was too, he just wasn't saying that part out loud. But Mario came up with a solid plan. He will sister in wood pieces to strengthen the repair. Then epoxy and fiberglass to finish. We will do the painting when he's finished. Broken Rail BoatsWe have had leaks at the toe rails for years. The builder caulking in the hull to deck joint is all but gone after 45 years so we have managed the leaks by heavy doses of Sikaflex or any kind of goo we could locate in third world countries. We would seal the junction between the toe rail and the hull and deck and we were good for awhile. On our voyage across the Med, it seemed the leaks were getting worse right at the gates (mid sections) on both sides. And the sealant that I put on in Gibraltar was all but gone by the time we got to the Canaries. Dois found several broken bolts roughly 18 inches apart that were supposed to be holding the toe rail down. There were a few on both starboard and port and in heavy seas, water would find its way into cupboards and closets in those locations. Mario and Dois dug, pounded and wrestled them out and then checked the hull to deck joints. They looked good, solid and every 6 inches. The Other BeastSkipper has really adjusted to sleeping at night and helping us during the day. You can't imagine how helpful a cat can be. He sits right in the middle of everything. He cries like he's dying so we'll play with him. Joins us at each meal to sniff and turn his nose up at the gross food we eat. He also cries every time he uses the litter box so I will immediately do something about the mess he left. But at night he has really turned into a cuddle. Seems happy to be alive, so I made him a rope ladder just in case he decides to go swimming again. So the good news is we aren't going to sea with a compromised bow sprit or hull to deck joint. Hopefully the bow sprit won't be as complicated and time consuming as the rails. But in our minds, we cannot leave here yet and that's maybe not a cause to celebrate yet. Here's to believing in miracles. peaCe
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Dois Brock and I, Lauri Hamilton Brock, splashed our boat Ashika into the Pacific April 2017. Our around the world tour paused in Indonesia for a Covid Vacay in March 2020. We successfully left Indonesia January 2022 and splashed into the Med from the Suez Canal/ Egypt July 2022. The plan WAS to get to the Canary Islands by December...nope. 🤔 uh, January, definitely January for an Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean, nope. We were late and made it to Lanzarote, Canaries on February 5th 2023! We are evaluating our final requirements for our transAtlantic crossing. See you on the other side. Lauri Categories |