She is all ours now

22nd Jan 2006 - 29th Jan 2006
She is all ours now.

We flew to BVI in January; met up with Rich and Carol in Sopers Hole and sailed over to St. John, USVI, and concluded the purchase of the boat. After finding Connections and having all the transaction papers notarized and retrieving the boxes we had previously shipped down, then we motored over to Red Hook Bay on St. Thomas. Bill and I took a taxi to the other end of the island to find the Environmental Services office, where we registered the boat with hailing port of St. Thomas. All this was required because we want to have the boat US Coast Guard documented, and they require that the papers be notarized by a US notary. Then we had to register it USVI so that we could then bring the boat back to the BVI under our ownership. We want to leave the boat at the same marina until we move aboard May 1st. Once the USCG documentation is complete, then we can forget about registering again in USVI once the current registration expires. Once the boat is documented then she does not need to be registered any longer. Everything went smoothly and the boat is now back in the BVI at the marina in Sopers Hole.
Bill's job is causing many headaches for us because they have decided that they do not want to announce his retirement which is supposed to be effective April 28th. Seems like one year's notice should have been sufficient, but we do understand their reluctance to announce this at the current time because they are in the midst of a financing round and that news might make prospective investors leery. So the employer has asked that Bill stay on in his current CFO position for several more months. Bill has agreed to be available via satellite phone and email as long as they require his services, but insists that he must have the entire month of May off to handle getting the boat down to Trinidad for the hurricane season. We had been so looking forward to a leisurely two month trip down island, planning to stay in Grenada for month of July and then on to Trinidad in August. Now that leisurely trip is looking highly unlikely.

We fly to BVI on May 1st and the next day we will go over to St. John to pick up many boxes we have shipped down there and the spares that we have ordered from Amel in France and the Shade Tree Awnings that are also supposed to be shipped down there for us. On May 3rd we have a haulout scheduled at the Independent Boat Yard on St. Thomas. We want to have the boat acid-washed, waxed and bottom painted. Plus service the prop and the line cutter. We will also have the Zodiac liferaft serviced while the boat is hauled. Lucky for us, the only Zodiac authorized service center is in the same harbor as the boat yard we chose for this haulout. We are also having the fuel polished and the fuel tank cleaned, which should be done prior to our arrival. We were leery of heading out on open seas until the fuel tank was cleaned since the boat has sat idle for so long. Probably lots of little nasties growing in that diesel tank that would surely clog our filters or foul our engine once we get into a little wave action.

After all this prep and maintenance work is completed, we planned to head over to St. Martin around May 10th; and then begin our island-hopping down to Grenada. Now, with all his job turmoil, it appears that isn't going to happen as planned. We might have to make a direct sail from St. Thomas down to Grenada, and Bill might have to return to work for a month or more and leave me alone on the boat.

This is not how either of us envisioned starting our cruising life. We'll just have to see how this all pans out.

She is all ours now!!

22nd Jan 2006 - 29th Jan 2006
She is all ours now.

We flew to BVI in January; met up with Rich and Carol in Sopers Hole and sailed over to St. John, USVI, and concluded the purchase of the boat. After finding Connections and having all the transaction papers notarized and retrieving the boxes we had previously shipped down, then we motored over to Red Hook Bay on St. Thomas. Bill and I took a taxi to the other end of the island to find the Environmental Services office, where we registered the boat with hailing port of St. Thomas. All this was required because we want to have the boat US Coast Guard documented, and they require that the papers be notarized by a US notary. Then we had to register it USVI so that we could then bring the boat back to the BVI under our ownership. We want to leave the boat at the same marina until we move aboard May 1st. Once the USCG documentation is complete, then we can forget about registering again in USVI once the current registration expires. Once the boat is documented then she does not need to be registered any longer. Everything went smoothly and the boat is now back in the BVI at the marina in Sopers Hole.

Bill's job is causing many headaches for us because they have decided that they do not want to announce his retirement which is supposed to be effective April 28th. Seems like one year's notice should have been sufficient, but we do understand their reluctance to announce this at the current time because they are in the midst of a financing round and that news might make prospective investors leery. So the employer has asked that Bill stay on in his current CFO position for several more months. Bill has agreed to be available via satellite phone and email as long as they require his services, but insists that he must have the entire month of May off to handle getting the boat down to Trinidad for the hurricane season. We had been so looking forward to a leisurely two month trip down island, planning to stay in Grenada for month of July and then on to Trinidad in August. Now that leisurely trip is looking highly unlikely.

We fly to BVI on May 1st and the next day we will go over to St. John to pick up many boxes we have shipped down there and the spares that we have ordered from Amel in France and the Shade Tree Awnings that are also supposed to be shipped down there for us. On May 3rd we have a haulout scheduled at the Independent Boat Yard on St. Thomas. We want to have the boat acid-washed, waxed and bottom painted. Plus service the prop and the line cutter. We will also have the Zodiac liferaft serviced while the boat is hauled. Lucky for us, the only Zodiac authorized service center is in the same harbor as the boat yard we chose for this haulout. We are also having the fuel polished and the fuel tank cleaned, which should be done prior to our arrival. We were leery of heading out on open seas until the fuel tank was cleaned since the boat has sat idle for so long. Probably lots of little nasties growing in that diesel tank that would surely clog our filters or foul our engine once we get into a little wave action.

Closing date set

13th Dec 2005
Closing date set

We have set closing date on the boat purchase. Rich and Carol will finish their winter cruise on January 22; we will haul out one more time on January 23; then plan to go over to St. John, USVI, on January 24 or 25th and close on the sale. We will register the boat in USVI while awaiting documentation paperwork and then return her to the BVI until we move aboard May 1st. We want to keep her in the same marina because there is a good caretaker there.

Bill had an emergency stay in the hospital last week. Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. But we are not letting this stop our plans to cruise. We will just keep a supply of the appropriate meds on board and hope for the best. Leaving his stressful job and going to live on the beautiful Caribbean waters should be the best medicine. We are having an extensive medical kit prepared. And I will also be attending the Emergency Offshore Medical Training class to be held in Stamford, CT, in April.

Judy

Almost done

13th Dec 2005
Closing date set

We have set closing date on the boat purchase. Rich and Carol will finish their winter cruise on January 22; we will haul out one more time on January 23; then plan to go over to St. John, USVI, on January 24 or 25th and close on the sale. We will register the boat in USVI and then return her to the BVI until we move aboard May 1st. We want to keep her in the same marina because there is a good caretaker there.

Bill had an emergency stay in the hospital last week. Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. But we are not letting this stop our plans to cruise. We will just keep a supply of the appropriate meds on board and hope for the best. Leaving his stressfull job and going to live on the beautiful Caribbean waters should be the best medicine. We are having an extensive medical kit prepared. And I will also be attending the Emergency Offshore Medical Training class to be held in Stamford, CT, in April.

Judy

New UV panel on genoa

10th Dec 2005
New solar shield panel on genoa

We experienced a tropical wave with gusting 50 mph winds while we were on the boat in October, and the luff tape edge separated on UV shield panel on the genoa. We had planned to replace that UV panel next spring anyway; so rather than have the sailmaker repair the luff tape edge, we opted to replace the panel now. The original panel was white (as shown in the photo on our main page). But white and lighter colors do not hold up to UV damage as well as darker colors. The boat is a slightly creamy color has black bottom and also has a dark brown stripe around the tow rail. So we opted to replace the UV shield panel in a dark brown color. Hopefully the dark brown will last longer than the less-than-three years that the original white panel held up. I have also purchased dark brown Sunbrella fabric to make hatch covers to use when the boat is sitting in the tropic sun for the next several months. The tropical UV causes the hatch lenses to craze, so we want to protect them from the sun as much as possible.

Judy

Later note:  The sail loft in the BVI did not use UV resistant thread when replacing the UV shield panel on the genoa.  It lasted less than a year and had to be re-stitched.  Before finally replacing the sails in Turkey in 2013 with tri-radial hydranet sails, we had to re-stitch that UV panel on the Dacron genoa a total of 4 times.  We found that the genoa required more repairs and re-stitching than any of the other sails.