Not a bad start!
On the day we were scheduled to leave Grenada, while on shore doing a few last-minute errands, a friend of ours who we were saying goodbye to introduced us to another cruising couple who happened to be there with him. Obviously apparent through our conversation with our friend that we were heading to Trinidad, the male half of that couple inquired why we were going there to have work done (as opposed to remaining in Grenada presumably). I told him that we had just recently been to Trinidad to have some other repairs completed, and that we were very happy with how we were treated. Will we have the same opinion this time around? Time will tell but things have certainly started off well.
My office for the next two weeks?
When we dropped in to Peake’s air-conditioned office on Saturday, we were professionally greeted, and it was confirmed that we’d be the first boat to haul on Monday. We also dropped by the service office to speak to the folks who would be looking after the bottom job that we wanted to have completed. We were surprised to be greeted by (boat) name as we came in! The process for completing the work was explained to us in detail, and we were told that after hauling on Monday, guys would be on site to begin work right away. Would you believe it? Knowing boat work as we do, we were skeptical.
As before, when we motored into the haul-out bay at 8:00 AM, guys were there to take our lines. Both those men, and everyone else that we came in contact with, seemed pleasant and professional. As Frost was being pressure washed, Graham from Dynamite showed up to touch base with us, and to make a plan for the work that his guys would be doing. After our boat was properly secured in its resting place, someone showed up to begin sanding the hull. By the time the work day was over, at least 1/5 of the hull had already been sanded, a pretty good start for only half a day!
Not a bad start!
With the issue of boats being boarded between Grenada and Trinidad (hopefully no longer a problem), I will admit that we certainly considered leaving the boat in Grenada and simply taking a plane to Trinidad to catch our flights to Panama. We had also been reading reports from some friends who talked about being stuck in a different Trinidad boatyard (not Peake’s) due to a contractor’s work not being completed on time. They referred to it as being stuck in purgatory, and this concerned me too! With yesterday’s positive start, my confidence that we made the right decision has been bolstered. Like I said, time will tell, but right now, we’re feeling good about the whole thing.
What bottom paint are you guys going to use?
Undecided at the moment.
I used VC Offshore on a client’s boat last year and was very impressed with final product. This was a 2-year-old 40′ cruiser on Lake Ontario and the client was not happy with the “orange peel” look of the cheap paint job from the boat dealer. Sanded down to epoxy and applied 2 coats of black VC Offshore with sanding in between. Looked great when he hauled in the fall…
That is a hard paint (non ablative), correct?
Correct Mike… hard, smooth and low-friction; can actually be burnished to a racing bottom if desired.
One thing you can find in Trinidad, or at least you used to be able to find, is TIN – tin additives and/or anti-fouling with tin in it. Although outlawed in North America and European markets, tin is highly effective at combatting bottom growth. This is comparable to buying and using a 2-stroke versus 4-stroke engine. Food for thought.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tributyltin
I thought I had read that certain types of paint weren’t allowed in the Galapagos but when I googled it, I couldn’t find any reference to that specifically.
Glad to hear things are off to a good start!
Hoping it continues.