The next drama in the lives of the crew of Calypso was to haul out in an emergency to fix a broken cockpit drain through-hull fitting. Paul had managed to plug it then wrap underwater putty around it so the emergency downgraded to a "must-do very soon" situation rather than immediate but it was still something to add to the already frazzled nerves and ever increasing financial costs.
The yard, Taylor Smith here at Port Louis, lifted us at noon on the Friday and allowed us to stay in the sling for the weekend which allowed Paul the time to replace the fitting and change the prop blades. The through-hulls proved to be a very time-consuming task as the connections are right at the bottom of the hull underneath the engine which is so confined at the best of times.
The staff at the yard were all so helpful and accomodating which was wonderful. What wasn't so great was that they obviously don't cater for liveaboards. There are very few facilities for customers in the way of toilets, showers, water and electrical connections. They did their best under the circumstances but if they are hoping to attract many boats from the ARC rally, they need to offer far better amenities. At the end of each day, Paul had to shower in the dark using a hose from the yard as the water in the ablution block wasn't working. It's cold here at night so a hot shower would have been nice but......
We were to splash again on Monday morning then proceed to the Caudan Basin to have our forestay etc installed but this is where the next problem arose. There was obviously a major misunderstanding as to who was ordering what and, in the end, the forestay hadn't been ordered. We were of the understanding that the rigger wanted to only deal with France for the manufacturing of the forestay so we left that to him while we ordered the sail and Profurl parts from SA. He understood differently. So now we continue to wait! Is there ever going to be an end to all this?
Meanwhile, every other boat we know have moved on; tail-end Charlies again.
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