Going sailing again

Now we want to go sailing, even if we are not finished with everything. We will leave for Tobago tonight, getting advantage of less wind in the night. You will maybe say that you need wind to sail, but from here to Tobago it's upwind, and the current is also very strong, so motoring is the best option.

Our engine is now running again, after we had service on the injectors. We will buy new ones, but the old ones will help us out until then. Leaks around mast and in front hatch is sealed, we hope, and our instruments are now all working properly. The last things we will do in a idyllic bay in Tobago, and then we can take a long wanted vacation and relax in our "new" vessel. We have been working hard for three weeks now, and have not seen anything of Trinidad actually. But, maybe later, now it is Tobago, the island some of us have been dreaming about for years...

After Jon left, we are only three captains left. Sandra is our crew and her sister, Katharina, will join us for one more week. The 5th of February we will get visitors from Norway, Kari and Froystein, and they will join us for three weeks up to St.Maarten. There Lars and Kristin Marie will visit us for two weeks. Yeah yeah, we have a lot to look forward to.

New pictures today

New pictures published today, look under "Christmas" and "On the hard". This weekend not much has happened, but today a man will come and look at our engine. For a trained mechanic, it should not be a problem to find out what is wrong. Besides, some of us went to the movies yesterday, we all think it is nice to be back in the water, and we hope we can soon leave for Tobago.

Splashing after two weeks on the hard

Bonanza is back in it's right element after two weeks on land in Poweboats boatyard in Chaguaramas in Trinidad. It has been two weeks of hard work, but now Bonanza looks like a new boat outside. The waterline is raised above the water, and two red stripes are repainted in a ferrari-red color. We have applied new antifouling on the bottom, even if the old one was still fine. As a last touch we have buffed and waxed the hull. When we splashed yesterday, happily we could confirm that the waterline is correct. Thanks to helpful adivises from Kris, who works here in the yard, but that also has become our friend, we now know how to set a waterline with waterhose and fine line tape, so if anyone need a new waterline, just ask us.

We are back in the water, but we still have alot to do before we can leave. We bought and installed new instruments for the cockpit, but three out of four did not work, and had to be returned. We are also working with sealing leaks in windows and hatches, replacing a broken winsh, repairing sails and alternator, plaining doors that don't fit and welding the anchor roll. Our biggest consern right now is the engine. It has worked very well for six months now, but the saltwater episode during christmas has obviously made some trouble. Now it makes smoke like a campfire, the sound is not right and it runs uneven... The problem is probably the injectors, and we will get somebody to look at them on monday.

We will not leave here before the engine works and the boat is ship shape. This is the best place to fix things in the entire Carribean, and everything that has to be done we will do here. Now the plan is to stay until thursday before leaving for Tobago. Hopefully Sandra's sister, Katharina, will get some sailing before she has to leave. Even if we work every day(that's not naturally to us anymore, we have become very lazy),we really enjoy this place. Convenient with many facilities, and we have also made friends here.

Back on Trinidad

Now we are back in Chaguaramas bay on Trinidad after celebrating new years eve in Tobago Cays, an isolated group of small islands with nice beaches. The leg back to Trinidad was far more pleasant than the leg from Trinidad, but we were in a kind of hurry, we had to reach the immigations and customs before they closed yesterday, because Halvor and Oyvind were to leave today. We didn't make it, and had to pay alot of TT dollars due to overtime. Anyway, now they have left for Venezuela, where they will stay fo a couple of weeks. We are very happy that they wold come and celebrate christmas with us on Bonanza. We had a great time.

We spent about a week on Bequia, exploring the nice beaches, climbing coconut trees, picking lime and oranges, playing beachvolley, swimming and being with friends from other boats. Arild and Halvor took the ferry to St.Vincent and stayed there for one night. They walked the Suffriere volcano and ate bananas. On the way back to Bequia, the took the ferry "Bequia Express II", that was an old norwegian ferry called "Austratt", and on which Arild's uncle has been working for three years!

New years eve, we left for Tobago Cays, like many other norwegian and swedish boats. We were to race with "Animara", but the start were delayed because the engine would not start. Luckily, Oyvind is a diesel mechanic, and he soon found out we had got saltwater in the engine. This has never happened before, and is quite a serious problem. After two hours or so, we were ready to go, and for some miles, we were in the lead. After being passed by the boat of Dencil Washington, "Animara" hoisted three sails, but we had to continue with our two. The final result is obvious, but next time, we hope to race on even terms...

Tobago Cays was nice, a national park with nice beaches and no houses. The new year was celebrated in "Animara" together with friends. When we entered the new year, most of us took a bath. The bad thing about the Cays was the weather. To much wind made many boats drag, but happily we had no problems. But the engine gave us more grey hairs as we got saltwater in it two more times. With wind gusting 45 knots, and without a working engine, some of us got a bit uncomfortable. But Oyvind fixed the problem again, and now we close bot intake and exhaust from the engine every time we stop it.

Here in Chaguaramas we have alot to do on the boat before we can continue. We will haul out the boat tomorrow, and will say on land for at least one week.