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| Larry getting ready to dive on the boat's bottom |
One of the tasks is to dive down on the boat's bottom, clearing away all of the growth that has made its home attached to our keel. We also need to check the zincs, protective sacrificial metal that protect our boat's metal parts (especially the engine and propeller shaft) from galvanic corrosion. A general view of what's going on down there is also in order - does anything look amiss?
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| Into the water, scraper in hand |
We also need to inspect the anchor and chain. These are just two of the dozens of tasks that are on our list of jobs to finish before we finally give Curacao the old "heave-ho".
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| Haul out the anchor and inspect the chain |
No less daunting is the psychological preparation we are adjusting to - it is a big ocean out there, and we have a small boat. There is no AAA on the water, so we must rely on our own problem-solving to fix all of the things that will break out there, buy all of the necessary stores we will need, and get ready for the rigors of 24/7 watch-keeping. One of the myths about long-distance sailing is that it is romantic and carefree. Larry and I rarely see much of each other in our double-handed boating - one of us is always on watch while the other sleeps. The sleep never seems to be enough before it is time to go back to being on watch. The list of potentially deadly things that can go wrong have been waking me up at night even now - we could be run down by a ship, a weather system could hit us unaware, we could run aground if our navigation is not spot on.
Fortunately we have enough experience to know what to watch out for, and the importance of keeping everything ship-shape on deck.
We hope to be ready to leave by Monday, January 11. It seems like we have been here on the island quite a while already, but it has only been three weeks so far!
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