Chapter 125: Karma Shift!

If you’ve actually been reading these blog posts, you have a pretty good feel for how things have gone for Kim and I since we moved aboard: not that great. There is no denying we’ve had some successes and have visited some really cool places. But overall, let’s face it, it’s kind of been a dumpster fire as far as Meraviglia is concerned: broken stuff, more broken stuff, MORE broken stuff, tons of repair work, piles of money shoveled in. It hasn’t been pretty. I will say again, we feel very blessed to be able to have this adventure. VERY blessed. But it has very often felt like there was some seriously bad karma following us around. That’s why it’s a little scary to say that, over the last few weeks, it seems like things are going…well! I even wrote that sentence without anything catching fire!

We splashed Meraviglia yesterday after 8 days on the hard to do some work and it went…smoothly. Creepy, I know! Task number one was to replace our propeller. There was nothing truly wrong with it, but we needed to replace it for a few reasons:

• It is undersized for our boat. Our top speed was about 6.5-7 knots rather than the 8 knots it should be. That means for every revolution, we’re not going as far as we should. Not only are we slower under power, but we’re using more fuel to go a given distance than we should. It also reduces our maneuverability in tight spaces.
• It is a fixed blade prop-the blades don’t fold. That means it creates a lot of drag under sail. It’s generally considered that a fixed blade prop is equivalent to dragging a 5 gallon bucket behind the boat while sailing. We’re hoping to be about half a knot faster with the new one.
• It’s noisy. Because we have a hydraulic transmission, the propellor shaft is always unlocked when the engine is off-whether the engine is in gear or not. As a result, when sailing our prop spins and that creates a lot of noise-not what one wants when sailing. With our new folding prop, the blades will fold while sailing and we should have more peaceful sailing without the noise of the shaft turning.

So, off came the old and on went the new. And it was easy! Took about 10 minutes! The company we bought the prop from provided the prop puller tool to get the old one off and the special socket to get the new one on and we are in business. We haven’t put Meraviglia through her paces with the new prop on yet, but even motoring from the lift to the dock after launch, she was noticeably more responsive.

We also had some hull damage to repair. While we were in Puerto Rico, we unknowingly anchored over an uncharted wreck. When the tide went out, we were aground on it. While getting Meraviglia off, we scratched the bottom of the keel to the extent that we lost both the CopperCoat anti-fouling and the barrier coat underneath. Oops! That was back when the karma was still bad. Anyway, another mission during haul-out was to repair this. In addition, after Meraviglia was out of the water, we discovered a patch of hull where the barrier coat had failed, resulting in about 6 osmotic blisters-that’s where water gets between the fiberglass and the barrier coat and causes “bubbles” in the finish. So we repaired those too. The process was pretty straightforward: I ground out the blisters, sanded that area and the scraped areas smooth. I used epoxy fairing compound to fill all the low spots and sanded it smooth. Then, I reapplied the barrier coat and the CopperCoat. After it was all dry, job done! Again, freakishly straightforward. That was it for the haul-out jobs, really. Most the time was spent waiting for the finishes to dry so we could proceed to the next step. Which is good, because let me tell you, a boat yard in Grenada is HOT!

Now, we are back in the water after an uneventful relaunch (I know, right??!!). Everything actually seems to be working (I know, right??!!)

Oh! I forgot! We also got our windlass repaired. It had been acting up for a couple of months and finally quit completely after we arrived in Grenada. Happily, Palm Tree Marine here at the yard was able to get the parts and repair it. It was a pricey repair but a SLIVER of the cost of a new windlass, which is what we were fearing! So, still good karma! Pro tip: remember to check the oil.

Today, I repaired the mainsail headboard attachment, which required a couple hours of hand sewing, but it looks great! (Hopefully it holds!)

Now, we’re gearing up to leave Grenada. We’re spending the next few days here at the Clarke’s Court Marina while we get the sails back on, get the yard dirt off, and get provisioned, then we’re off again!

If you remember a post from a while back, Grenada is a decision point for us. Do we head west towards Panama, the Canal, and the Pacific? Do we head back north through the Caribbean again and the US? Do we head east across the Atlantic?

Well, west we go. Kim is busily researching the Panama Canal-it’s fascinating and actually not straightforward. Adventure!! We intend to ride this good karma all the way to the next disaster.