Everything tight!

The sound of the crane's engine rouses us from our restless sleep. The engine is brought up to speed. The pressure of the hydraulic system builds up. A black spot forms on one of the countless hoses slightly above the flange. Hydraulic oil oozes slightly from the crimp and drips to the ground. The crane is also getting on in years and preventive maintenance is a foreign word here that nobody knows. Machines are worked with until they no longer function. This also applies to the crane. Hydraulic oil is topped up as long as it is available. We are, as every time to a crane appointment, a bit nervous and have not slept very well. 

Craneday Tyrell Bay Marine

Today is Monday 03/21/2022, we get back in the water with our boat. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, are the regular crane days at Tyrell Bay Marina. If you need the crane on other days, it will be expensive. Two yachts come out of the water before us and after the lunch break it is finally our turn. Like a giant octopus, the crane is hoisted over our boat. The straps are positioned at the points marked with arrows on the hull. Now she floats and is transported to the water position. Katinka lowers and approaches the water surface. I am let on board to check the tightness of the ship's outlets. Everything is tight! The straps come off and we are moored in the box. We have two hydraulic drives powering our propellers. The system is powered by a 100hp Yanmar. During our shore stay I serviced the system, changed the hydraulic oil and replaced the oil seals. I have filled everything with oil so far, but there is certainly still air in the lines and I'm not sure how quickly we can get that out and get the drive working again. So we start the engine and let it warm up. The pressure of the hydraulic system builds up. I give a first push forward and backward. The oil level indicator drops below the minimum level and then disappears altogether. I swallow once and take a deep breath. With the flashlight, I check the hydraulic connections in the bilge. Everything is tight! We start refilling hydraulic oil. Six liters bring the oil level back to medium. Again, I give a short push forward and back. The oil level no longer changes. It's a load off my mind. I say to Gaby, "I think we can try it." We throw off the lines, and back out of the box. 

The Atlantic has us again

The Atlantic has us again. After exactly three months, we glide across the bay and find an anchorage in Tyrell Bay. Whether it is due to the tension and we are therefore doubly concentrated, or we have simply been lucky, the anchor maneuver succeeds perfectly, and we find good hold right away. On four meters we give enough chain, because we expect up to 30 knots of wind in the next days. The plotter is running and we take the opportunity to start our watermaker. The water in the marina comes as a brown broth from the hose and we did not want to mess up our tanks with the water. So, during the time ashore, we covered our water consumption with rainwater and additional purchases from the supermarket. Finally, we came with the last drop of water in the tank, back into the water. So far everything perfectly. Up to ..., yes up to the fact that I forgot to buy beer. Yawning emptiness, when I opened the refrigerator door. In shock, I immediately close it again, although the coolness that flows towards me is quite pleasant. I jump into the water and borrow two beers from Alex. He is right behind us with his catamaran and the swim does me good.

Anchorage Tyrell Bay

The next day Birgit comes to visit us. We have the experienced skipper - say and write 80,000 nautical miles on her salt hump - whereby I ask myself: Do they also say salt hump with female skippers? And what is the plural of hump? And is that 2x 40,000 nautical miles? Anyway, we have taken her to our hearts. On the island she is called "Brieschit" because nobody here can pronounce Birgit. She has the order to transfer a yacht to Grenada and comes after the first inspection of the same, on a coffee, with us around. By the way she mentions that she has to fight with some electrical problems on her yacht. We look at it together and find a solution. So everyone helps everyone here and I'm happy that I can share some of my knowledge.

Carriacou, Tyrell Bay

In the evening we meet Gerti and Horst from the Lady Blue. A beautiful Feltz Scorpion III built in aluminum. The two started in Lübeck and have been sailing since 2021. Since they have sailed from Martinique to Grenada and are now on their way back there, we can pick up some valuable tips. As so often, they have to kick us off the boat because we've been chatting away again. We wish both of them further exciting experiences and look forward to the next meeting. We wish everyone fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip. You can read about our experiences on the blog page at www.glenswelt.com, listen to them on the audio blog or watch them on our YouTube channel. Have fun with it.