The Surveyor gave us the all clear this evening and all we could do is toast the decision with a can of beer. We’ve lost sleep and some weight getting the girl to the prom!
The floor boards were the easiest to paint, while we completed the steering and rudder checks.
That done, we were asked to stay off the boat while the experts did their job. So we gave the mast a shower, checked the fittings, sealed the scraped bits and moved on to the next job.
Flash, as my nephews call Antara’s dinghy, got a clean up too. We pumped him up, hosed him down and rolled him up again ready for use. Can’t wait to visit Jaigad, hop into Flash and go explore upriver!
Once Antara’s mast is up (which is the next evolution and best kept for the next newsletter), we will move her to Dona Paula and keep her on her moorings there. So in anticipations, we checked the mooring, it’s cable and the mooring lines. A quick online lesson and the ropes were spliced to make the soft ties that securely attached the shackles.
A lot of stuff we had offloaded for Antara’s hibernation were also serviced and replaced on board, including her galley, some basic food items and her safety equipment - EPIRB, SART, life jackets, life raft, lifelines, life buoys.
Painting done, she’s as good as new!
And finally, today, Oct 27th, she got through her exams, with the Surveyor’s signature on the dotted line!