January 2017 – We anchored just south of Fajardo in the small shelter of Isla Pineros. We spent a really rolly night waiting for our appointment with the travel lift at Puerto del Rey Marina. We were certainly ready to leave once it was time.
We headed out early to make the three short miles to the marina. There was “mucho viento” (lots of wind) and some pretty sporty waves, but we had an appointment to keep. Of course, as we turned the corner at the seawall of the marina, the waves went quiet. Alan still had a lot of wind to contend with, but he did an admirable job driving the boat into the travel lift. Once we were off the boat, we had a talk with the operator about our concerns with the travel lift, and together we decided we should be in the larger one. (Not sure why we were worried about the travel lift? Read about our dismasting here.) So, back on board, out of the lift and into the one next to it. Still blowing like crazy. Once again, no problem.
The operators rigged the boat to lift, and up she came. The bigger lift made for a very comfortable fit, and they drove her around to the work yard. Let me tell you, that looks weird! Once the boat was settled in on stands on terra firma, Island Marine didn’t let a moment go to waste. They did a beautiful job of prepping the boat for paint and applied it quickly and well. They took exceptional measures to ensure they protected the environment. And, best of all, they finished on time, and charged exactly what they quoted. Our only regret is that we wish we had waited one day longer to splash the boat, as the lifting straps made impressions in the paint. These impressions are the only place we have seen any algae growth under the water on Consort since the paint job. Altogether, that’s pretty awesome, I’d say.
As it seems to go everywhere, we met some lovely people while we were there. We were in the marina deli, trying to figure out how to get around town to run some errands, when we met Kristy from S/V Gitana. They are prepping to get cruising. She and her husband Andy immediately offered to help us get around town, and we ended up spending some great times with them. They showed us a couple of their favorite restaurants, and took us to West Marine. I am really looking forward to seeing them out cruising.
The paint we used, for those interested, was International Interspeed 640 Ablative We also had the prop and shaft coated with Prop Speed, which so far has shown no growth or barnacles; we’ll try to remember to give a condition report sometime in the future when we’ve had some warm summer months to assess its effectiveness. Again, just in case anyone is interested.
Once the boat was back in the water, we were more than ready to head for our next destination: Vieques!
Update June 2017: We continue to see very little growth on the boat. Even though we had to leave her sitting for seven weeks while we went to the states, and at the end of that time the anchor chain was practically its own ecosystem, the bottom and prop looked great. We’re impressed.