Boat maintenance in Jacaré
Author: Shirlz
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Just got through the Easter weekend. On Saturday the astonishingly loud music carried on till 8 on Sunday morning. More than an hour after sunrise. I marvel at the energy and endurance of the crowd. From a distance, the music seems boringly repetitive, very loud and with an almost unvarying pounding rhythm. It mostly comes from an establishment called ‘Jacaré Pop’ which is an enclosed venue about one block back from the river. All the surrounding houses have hopeful For Sale signs on display.
I have been busily working away on Speedwell, taking full advantage of the convenience of our marina berth. A major effort has been made to get rid of all the unnecessary paraphernalia that I have been carrying around with me. It would have been great if someone had been organising a boat jumble, but I managed to hand on a few of the more usable items and placed the rest in big bags next to the rubbish bin where I hope they might have been salvaged by someone. Old clothes, books, magazines, interesting rocks and shells, unreadably blotchy xeroxed charts, an old camping mattress, etc. Strangely, I can hardly notice the difference.
When the chain and anchor were taken off I noticed that the nylon rollers that the chain runs on were badly worn. In a day or two Brian was able to have two beautiful new ones turned for me on the lathe in his workshop. Very impressive.
Theo has helped me with a computer problem and I’ve had a chance to fix a long list of nagging little inconveniences. Not to mention a major spring clean with the help of the super powerful vacuum cleaner I bought in Buenos Aires. It normally stays hidden in the fore peak, unusable without shore power. But now it has come triumphantly into its own for a while. The boat hums with activity. Sinbad watches with mild interest from his hammock.
I spent a full day putting together a new South African flag. The old one had finally given up and was beyond repair. It’s not the easiest flag to sew. All those tricky diagonal stripes and six different colours. Why couldn’t the powers that be have dreamed up something more cruiser-friendly like the French, Dutch or Italians? To my amazement it turned out quite well.
I have even succumbed to the lure of using ice to keep Sinbad’s meat cool enough to last for two days in my small portable icebox. A kiosk in the village sells recycled plastic bottles of ice. This works well as there is no awful mess as the ice melts. The spinoff is a cold can of beer in the evening.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Sunset on the river. Jurandy has finished playing his nightly rendition of the Bolero and the bands have taken over the responsibility of providing the non-stop background music. Just a gentle breeze to keep things cool. The water a darkly iridescent blue with rose reflections of the sky. Each evening two swallows arrive and perch companionably together on one of the mooring lines of the boat next door. They don’t seem to be looking out for food. Just sitting there enjoying the cool of the evening like everyone else. The weekend is over so there is no destructive powerboat traffic. In a small boat, three fishermen are working their usual evening fishing spot. Not trying too hard by the looks of it. It’s been a hot day.
I escaped the heat by taking a bus to the shopping district in Tambaú and cruising the air-conditioned malls. It was like being on a strangely chilly and glittering new planet. I had dressed for the part in my best shorts and snappy yellow top. The shopping was unexpectedly successful. I spotted a neat little Samsung tablet with GPS capabilities (not to mention wifi, camera, etc.) I can download the Navionics charts to it and it effectively becomes a very economical chartplotter. Very much more convenient than my attempt to use a laptop for the purpose.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
I had hoped to get the chain back yesterday but when Brian went to collect it he found that they had botched it up and a lot of the links had become fused together. It will have to be done again. So we will be in the marina for a bit longer. It might be an idea to repaint the deck which is looking seriously scruffy.
Monday, 7 May 2012
Nearly ready to set off once more. The chain was eventually returned and looks respectable again. So respectable in fact that it made the deck look quite disreputable in comparison. I made a trip through to João Pessoa and managed to locate some good polyurethane paint. A new coat of white on the deck plus repairs to the toe rail and repainted stripes. It’s not perfect but looks much better and will last till we get to Trinidad for the planned refit.