Voyaging with Melika

	<< St. Lucia	Trinidad Home of the Greatest Show of Earth
Well now, how do we cover almost one year on one web page? By including lots of photos of course, and trying to be brief as to the things we've been up to! Firstly, we've spent almost a full year refitting Melika ready for more voyaging. We didn't actually intend to spend quite so long, but a combination of bad luck, poor judgment, unbridled enthusiasm and excessive heat led to us staying on land a wee bit longer than initially intended. Melika is now 23 years old. She needs a bit of TLC now and then.
		Firstly there was the engine (see left). It was seized after two years of inactivity and we stripped it down to investigate the problem. After rebuilding the cylinder head, stripping, cleaning and repainting the entire engine and reassembling and reinstalling the old girl, it started first time! We were mighty pleased. Alas, six months later, more problems occurred and, after 23 years of service, the engine was retired from active service and a new one now stands in it's place. Don't ask how much that little exercise cost!
Melika has now been in Trinidad for almost three years. It's a pleasant enough spot but being 600 miles north of the equator does mean it gets pretty hot, both summer, winter and the bits in between. Chaguaramas, our base for the past year, is a major yachting centre for the southern Caribbean and has every conceivable facility and service for refitting yachts. We have certainly taken advantage of that, judging by the size of our credit card bills!.

During our long sojourn out of water, we decided it was time we built a hard dinghy, something we'd been thinking of for over four years. Inflatable dinghies are the norm on most cruising boats but suffer in the sun, are easy to steal (you can roll them up and carry them away) and are prone to punctures. Plans were acquired and Steve launched into what turned out to be 300 hours of hard work in 40 degrees (C) heat. The results are shown below.

She's been named Brindy, and is 11 feet long, but when the two halves are nested, she sits on deck a shade over 5 foot 7 inches. You can sail her, row her or use an outboard. Steve was very chuffed with his first boat.

		We took the plunge during 2004 and decided to get Melika painted. The gelcoat overlaying the fibreglass had become porous and chalky and was stained and dull. We hired a local paint specialist and the result is amazing. It took over 5 days just to prepare the hull for spraying, but that effort shows in the flawless, smooth finish, and Melika's topsides now look better than new. The list of jobs we completed is very, very long, but included rewiring, replumbing, headlining, osmosis treatment of the hull, new solar panels and lots more.
Then, one fine day in early December 2004, we launched. It had been two years, seven months and a week since we had floated and, after all the work that had been done, we were nervous about whether we'd forgotten anything. A heart-breaking moment occurred as we floated for the first time - we were sinking! The stern gland, a water tight device that prevents water ingress where the propeller shaft passes through the hull was leaking. We were hauled out once more and we felt REALLY bad.

Four days later, a new stern gland fitted, we were launched once more, and this time there were no problems. We were over the moon to be back in the water.

Without planning to, we found ourselves in Trinidad at Carnival time. Trinidad invented the Carnival and claim theirs is the greatest show on earth. We had to go and see what all the fuss was about. Well, we have to conclude that if you haven't been, you really must go. It was more than we could possibly imagine. Steve spent hours photographing each band as it paraded in the streets of Port of Spain and reckons there must have been a few hundred thousand people on the streets that day. Here's a sample of the day.


		One of the highlights of our stay in Trinidad was to see leatherback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. We went to a beach late in the evening and watched in awe as 8ft turtles came ashore and started digging a hole to lay their eggs. Once they start laying, they go into a trance and are completely unaware of lights or people so you can actually touch them. Awesome.

There isn't room to cover all the things that we've seen and done in Trinidad. We've made some really special friends, worked harder than we ever did whilst working full-time, spent too much money and generally had a great time. Things wouldn't be complete without a few photos of our lovely daughter Katie who has taken to boat life in a big way. 18 months old as I type and getting more gorgeous every day. We'll leave you to be the judge of that.