2023-07-19 Final Anse la Roche day

Today is going to be my final day at Anse la Roche. I’m going to have to relocate to Tyrell Bay so that I have access to all the amenities ashore that I need in order to prepare Zanshin for storage. The laundry and the chandlery are foremost on my list.

Night

I’ve discovered that there’s a definite rhythm to the rolling. There’s one phase during the night and at dawn where conditions conspire to get Zanshin rolling for a while. This changes abruptly and it is once again calm aboard.  Depending up the winds and sea state, the rolling period can be mild or extreme.

Morning

I’m drinking my coffee and working in the office, but I must admit that my thoughts are on the water leak in the mast. I can’t, in good conscience, leave the boat unattended unless I get this solved.It has just rained heavily and I’ve only got a bit of water intrusion from the mast. That is a good sign, and I feel better about the situation.I wanted to “pickle” my watermaker and belatedly realized that I have no chemical solution. Even at the best of times, it is hard to find things on Carriacou and my chances of finding the sodium metabisulfite or food-grade propylene glycol are quite small.  What these chemicals do is to prevent growth while the unit is not being used. Although the membrane is still working quite well, it is getting a bit long in the tooth at 10 years. So I might just flush the system several times, then hope for the best upon my return. If I have no luck, then I’ll replace the membrane.

Noon

The winds are promising to die down later. I’ll use that calm period to drop the genoa and stuff it into the sail locker/forward cabin. I haven’t done it yet because each period of calm was always preceded by heavy rainfall, and I don’t want to store a wet sail. But the bad news from NOAA is that there’s a wave heading this way and it is due to arrive just about at the same time that I’m departing.The winds returned, just as I’d finished setting up everything in preparation for lowering the genoa. I’m going to wait for a temporary lull before dropping that sail; but I’m optimistic I’ll find an appropriate slot today.

Afternoon

In a windstill moment I got the genoa down. Nothing went into the water and the sail came down just the manufacturer promised. After it was on deck and detached from the forestay I stuffed it into the sail locker. I didn’t flake or fold it, just stuffed it. I’ll have some fun getting it back out, but it is now safely stored and out of the sun. The “stuffing” process was easy, and the sail locker is now full.After getting advice on internet forums and from a watermaker pro, I’ve decided to leave my watermaker in storage with no chemicals. I’ll do a serious flush/purge before storing it. If the membrane takes damage, then I’ll use my spare one. But indications are good that the storage solution isn’t always necessary.