Leaving our boat (and home) for five weeks

A little routine rigging work.

We had been in vacation mode with our Swedish family for over two weeks in Hope Town and while we did spend a few days here and there doing regular boat maintenance, we definitely had a little catch-up work to do on PW. Not only that, but we were leaving PW for five weeks so we had to get the boat cleaned and ship-shape for our absence. Contrary to all logic and reason, we were leaving PW in Hope Town to join Hans in Wisconsin for some skiing and cold weather.

Freja and Matilda were very, very excited and kept telling everyone they met, “in just 2 days I’m going to Wisconsin. I can’t wait! I’m so excited!” After quite a few quizzical looks (you’re leaving the Bahamas to go to Wisconsin? Voluntarily??), the running joke became: “I’m so excited to leave the Bahamas to go to Wisconsin—said no one ever.” But our kids have only lived in hot climates: Florida, Texas, the Caribbean so they were understandably very excited to spend an extended time in the cold. Hans and I: not so much. It was painful to leave the Bahamas where the average temperature was 75 and go to Wisconsin with an average temp of 25. But such are the sacrifices of parents. (And, minor detail, someone needs to earn money to buy our groceries!)

Getting the boat closed up is no easy feat. Our chore list was long. Some of the jobs were basic/obvious: clean the interior, wash all the sheets and clothes, empty the fridge and freezer, wipe all surfaces clean, etc. Nothing technical, but very time consuming. The boat work jobs were more involved: pickle the watermaker, some engine maintenance, stow anything on deck to prevent theft, empty and clean the water tanks. At the last minute we decided to drop our sails off with a sailmaker on Man-o-War Cay to repair a few tears in the UV strip and to restitch some loose threads. Man-o-War Cay is a renowned boat building and sailmaking island in the Bahamas; and since the Abacos are still recovering from Hurricane Dorian that hit in 2019, we were happy to send a little business to a local sailmaker when possible. Jay, the resident sailmaker, had also repaired our genoa on Whisper over 16 years ago, so we were happy to leave our sails in his skilled hands.

Life isn't all online in the Abacos.
I had to make a few phone calls before I found the sailmaker on Man-o-War Cay.
He definitely wasn't google-able.

One of Hans's jobs: cleaning the engine's exhaust elbow.

As we were dropping the genoa off the forestay, it got stuck halfway down. It looked like one of the set screws that holds the furler foil together had come unscrewed and was sticking out, preventing the sail from fully dropping. This had happened to us once before when we were in Sweden so we knew the only solution is to go up the mast and screw them back in. Hans hoisted me up the mast, I threw a line around the forestay to keep me pulled in close to the forestay, and I worked my way down, checking every set screw. Some were completely missing, some were half unscrewed, and some were fine. I added loctite to all the screws that needed attention and finally made it to the deck after an hour. Working aloft is not my favorite activity. While it’s not aerobic exercise, I find that I tense my entire body the whole time, even if I tell myself to relax. It’s a funny thing, relaxing isn’t particularly easy when you’re suspended 60 feet above the hard aluminum deck of a sailboat!

Working aloft: tightening all the set screws. They're tiny and we have a limited supply. Don't drop any!

After checking off all the jobs on our to-do lists, we started packing. First we had to find all our winter clothes from the last time we were in winter, January 2021. Then the kids had to try them on to see what fit. Then we had to stuff them into compression bags and suck the air out in order to cram them into the fewest duffel bags as possible. You have to bring a lot of stuff for four people spending five weeks in winter. It’s a heck of a lot easier to pack for warm climates!

Moon rise over Hope Town harbor.

Our friend Brad came over for dinner on our last night in Hope Town to help us eat our leftover food and to take any leftovers with him. Another boater in the harbor offered to take our trash for us on the next trash day. Our bags were packed, the boat was ship-shape, the passports were in a handy spot, and the ferry was scheduled to pick us up at PW the next morning. We were ready to go!

Our last couple sunsets in Hope Town.