My Bottom Has Never Looked Better!
May 20, 2009
Wednesday
Happy Birthday Bob!!!
Well......we made it!! We were pulled out of the water at Spice Island Marine in Grenada, as scheduled and on time, at 1100 on Friday, May 15th.
Jim really did alot of prep work....trying to find the best yard for us, ordering 4 gallons of paint (after researching different brands sold in the Caribbean), nearly trying out a new prop paint from Sea Hawk (but it's not on the market yet).
We chose Spice Island Marine due to the good reputation and they were able to give us an estimate of the cost (which was right on at the end!!) without any surprises. Plus another huge advantage is that they are right next to Budget Marine (which we consider probably the best chandelry in the Caribbean). The marine yard is located in Prickly Bay on the South coast of Grenada and they were sooooo busy the entire time we were there....pulling out boats and stacking them side by side for the hurricane season.
Our main reason for getting pulled out of the water was to paint the bottom of Bees Knees....our last haulout was in Marathon, FL, around Christmas of 2007.....right before we left the States bound for the Caribbean. The paint did great for the first 12 months.....then we started getting so much growth on the bottom. Jim spent about 4 hours cleaning the bottom while we were in Guadeloupe.....scraping what he called "maroon shag carpeting" from the bottom.
In the midst of all the growth were tiny shrimp and crabs! One crab, named "Rudder", hung out on the rudder (ergo the name) for miles....but was sadly gone when we hauled Bees Knees.
The whole event went smoothly.....they hoisted Bees Knees easily out of the water with only "Scootie" on board. Jim and I stood by watching our home hanging from straps!
They moved us into a working area and secured us with jack stands and wood blocks....and that's where we lived for the next 5 days. We spent Saturday and Sunday varnishing teak, cleaning the hull,
taping the bottom off for the painters, and sanding the prop and all underwater metal. On Monday, Nelson, one of the many yard workers, expertly put the first coat of black SeaHawk 77 on the bottom. Jim was a bit nervous......he has always done his own work....this was the first time we had the bottom painted by someone else!! But we were impressed with Nelson's work. On Tuesday he put on the second coat and pulled the tape off! It was beautiful!! Jim and I then painted the prop and the underwater metal with Prop Speed....a very expensive, two-part, paint that we've used a couple of other times and it really keeps the prop clean from barnacles and growth!
Now we were ready to be splashed the following day.
I've always kinda liked being in the boatyard. When I had MURPH....I usually hauled out at Cracker Boy Boatworks in Riviera Beach, FL, but once at Seminole Boat yard in Palm Beach Gardens. I loved the hard work, dirt, feeling of accomplishment, plus the comraderie of all the other boaters that are suffering in those conditions.....sharing local knowledge and stories. Jim and I spent some great times at Bock Marine in Beaufort, NC.....with his boat ESEMERAL, peeling off the bottom paint; and storing MURPH there for a season. We also really enjoyed Cobb's Marine in Norfolk, VA, where we took Bees Knees to paint the hull. But the major difference from those boatyards and Spice Island Marine in Grenada, West Indies......is the HEAT!!! We had to have all of our work done by 1100......then sit around until about 3 or 4pm to start working again. I have never been so HOT in my whole life! But....it was only 5 days. A big plus to having sooooo much heat......we didn't want to cook onboard....so we found several good, nearly cheap, restaurants. We visited the pizza joint at Prickly Bay Marina, the Mongolian Restaurant just up the street from the boatyard, NY Bagels (believe it or not) for breakfast, once went to True Blue Marina for brunch, a lunch and a dinner at Da Big Fish (right outside the boatyard gate!) and the best was joining Helen and Steve on DIGNITY on their catamaran for a wonderful dinner of curry (and more wine!!) So....that was nice! We just chalked all of the restaurant meals up to a boatyard expense!
So....today we paid our yard bill, got a couple of free Tshirts (great gesture)
, and splashed back in the water. 
We motored at 2200 rpm and 5.9K just about a quarter of a mile to the anchorage in Prickly Bay (amazing what a clean bottom will do!!!) It is soooo nice to be back on the water and facing into the tradewinds!! WhooooHoooo!!
Bye for now!
Wednesday
Happy Birthday Bob!!!
Well......we made it!! We were pulled out of the water at Spice Island Marine in Grenada, as scheduled and on time, at 1100 on Friday, May 15th.
Jim really did alot of prep work....trying to find the best yard for us, ordering 4 gallons of paint (after researching different brands sold in the Caribbean), nearly trying out a new prop paint from Sea Hawk (but it's not on the market yet).We chose Spice Island Marine due to the good reputation and they were able to give us an estimate of the cost (which was right on at the end!!) without any surprises. Plus another huge advantage is that they are right next to Budget Marine (which we consider probably the best chandelry in the Caribbean). The marine yard is located in Prickly Bay on the South coast of Grenada and they were sooooo busy the entire time we were there....pulling out boats and stacking them side by side for the hurricane season.
Our main reason for getting pulled out of the water was to paint the bottom of Bees Knees....our last haulout was in Marathon, FL, around Christmas of 2007.....right before we left the States bound for the Caribbean. The paint did great for the first 12 months.....then we started getting so much growth on the bottom. Jim spent about 4 hours cleaning the bottom while we were in Guadeloupe.....scraping what he called "maroon shag carpeting" from the bottom.
In the midst of all the growth were tiny shrimp and crabs! One crab, named "Rudder", hung out on the rudder (ergo the name) for miles....but was sadly gone when we hauled Bees Knees.The whole event went smoothly.....they hoisted Bees Knees easily out of the water with only "Scootie" on board. Jim and I stood by watching our home hanging from straps!
They moved us into a working area and secured us with jack stands and wood blocks....and that's where we lived for the next 5 days. We spent Saturday and Sunday varnishing teak, cleaning the hull, taping the bottom off for the painters, and sanding the prop and all underwater metal. On Monday, Nelson, one of the many yard workers, expertly put the first coat of black SeaHawk 77 on the bottom. Jim was a bit nervous......he has always done his own work....this was the first time we had the bottom painted by someone else!! But we were impressed with Nelson's work. On Tuesday he put on the second coat and pulled the tape off! It was beautiful!! Jim and I then painted the prop and the underwater metal with Prop Speed....a very expensive, two-part, paint that we've used a couple of other times and it really keeps the prop clean from barnacles and growth! Now we were ready to be splashed the following day.I've always kinda liked being in the boatyard. When I had MURPH....I usually hauled out at Cracker Boy Boatworks in Riviera Beach, FL, but once at Seminole Boat yard in Palm Beach Gardens. I loved the hard work, dirt, feeling of accomplishment, plus the comraderie of all the other boaters that are suffering in those conditions.....sharing local knowledge and stories. Jim and I spent some great times at Bock Marine in Beaufort, NC.....with his boat ESEMERAL, peeling off the bottom paint; and storing MURPH there for a season. We also really enjoyed Cobb's Marine in Norfolk, VA, where we took Bees Knees to paint the hull. But the major difference from those boatyards and Spice Island Marine in Grenada, West Indies......is the HEAT!!! We had to have all of our work done by 1100......then sit around until about 3 or 4pm to start working again. I have never been so HOT in my whole life! But....it was only 5 days. A big plus to having sooooo much heat......we didn't want to cook onboard....so we found several good, nearly cheap, restaurants. We visited the pizza joint at Prickly Bay Marina, the Mongolian Restaurant just up the street from the boatyard, NY Bagels (believe it or not) for breakfast, once went to True Blue Marina for brunch, a lunch and a dinner at Da Big Fish (right outside the boatyard gate!) and the best was joining Helen and Steve on DIGNITY on their catamaran for a wonderful dinner of curry (and more wine!!) So....that was nice! We just chalked all of the restaurant meals up to a boatyard expense!
So....today we paid our yard bill, got a couple of free Tshirts (great gesture)
, and splashed back in the water. We motored at 2200 rpm and 5.9K just about a quarter of a mile to the anchorage in Prickly Bay (amazing what a clean bottom will do!!!) It is soooo nice to be back on the water and facing into the tradewinds!! WhooooHoooo!!Bye for now!
Fascinating! There seems to be so much work involved with this, but I'm sure it's worth it.
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