Our originally scheduled splash day was Oct 19th. But when JACE went in on that day, she was making significant water. It turned out that one of the new through hulls had been poorly done and was leaking. So the yard crew pulled her back out and on her crate for this mistake to be remedied.

What we didn’t know at the time is how hard it is to get on the yard’s schedule to get her lifted back in the water. When Karin arrived on the the 26th there was no date. And when I got in on the 29th the best date we were promised was November 3rd – almost a week away. Oh no! So we took it slowly and tried to use the extra time as best we could. But it seemed long.

So imagine how excited we are when on Mon morning, the 30th, we get the call from Brad that the yard is able to “squeeze us in”. We are out shopping at the time and hustle back as fast we can. When we arrive JACE is already hoisted on a trailer and being slowly maneuvered toward the slipway for splashing. We yank out our cameras and take pics and a time lapse video of her going in.

Thankfully, this time all goes well, no issues, and within a hour we are in and motoring over to Benji Bay to tie her up to a mooring ball. The yard has no available dockside space so we’ll have to come back in a few days for that.

JACE is now moored just a few hundred yards away from our Airbnb and for the next couple of days we ride the dinghy back and forth between the two, sleep at night on land while we work during the day to get her ready for us to move aboard. It is hot and humid and we are still getting used to the tropical climate. So it is hard work and we get up at sunrise when it is much cooler for the hardest physical work and sweat profusely during the day as we work away at getting everything ready.

If you think a boat is like a car that “just works”, you are wrong. After a 6 month break and being out of the water, there are a ton of systems that have to be tested and many issues fixed to get her back operational. Plus we did a lot of refitting as described in a prior post. So a lot of systems were touched and upgraded and all of that has to be tested and tuned and also had the potential to throw things out of balance.

After three days, by Wednesday night, we get most systems working and we are halfway moved onboard. The new solar panels and lithium ion batteries work beautifully. We can now run the AC off the solar panels all day long and the panels are so powerful they still charge the batteries. And our electric cooker works wonderfully straight off of battery power. Amazing.

All the canvas work I did back home in Menlo Park, solely based on measurements I took or Brad gave me, turned out great and we now have a huge sun awning covering all the way from the mast to the back of the boat. So much shade makes such a difference.

Both AC units work, most of the electrical systems are up and running, we did a lot of reorganizing and cleaning, getting rid of mildew and verdigris, and making her our own.

The remaining issues we need to resolve are the fridge/freezer, which is barely cooling. We think it just needs more refrigerant but we have the local HVAC expert visiting us tomorrow to validate and get our unit running. Obviously, cooling on a boat in the tropics is key.

We also have to put the two foresails back on her which we are planning to do early tomorrow when it is cooler and light wind. And there are a few more things to test like the davits (where the dinghy is pulled up to), the water maker, and the autopilot. So still a few things before we can cast off.

Our tentative plan is to leave Saturday for a week or so to the Grenadines to test all systems “in the wild” and our sea legs too. We will see if that date will work out and how we do. More to come in the next few days.