Morning
This morning, I’ll finish up some cleaning and storage preparation work. From noon onwards, it is Dockyard Day here at Nelson’s, and there will be all sorts of events happening ashore.
My second cup of coffee gave me enough energy to start preparing belowdecks for storage. I’ve got all 3 heads disinfected with bleach, although the bottle that I had was already losing its potency (it had been opened for over a month, and the bottle was old before I bought it). Luckily, I still had some nitrile gloves; the bleach smell takes a long time to dissipate from skin.
I used some masking tape and garbage bags around the mast boot to prevent water ingress during storage. I need to reattach the mast boot, but that means loosening all the rigging, and even then, several people are needed to force it back in. That means I need a rigger, and there’s none here that I can use. So, it will have to wait for my return after the hurricane season. Unfortunately, the water damage has already been done and cannot be reversed.
Noon
Dockyard Day has begun, with the crowds slowly trickling in as the day progresses. The events began with model sailboat racing in the harbor, featuring a real Race Committee and color commentary.
Then various events started, such as a hula-hoop contest and, somewhat later, a beer-drinking contest (which I missed…), and then on to the popular greasy-pole contest.
Later came the tug-of-war, the police Beating of the Retreat ceremony with cannon and rifle fire, and the steel drum competition.
Sunset and almost-full Moon
I set up my gear for night photography again, and this time the cloud cover wasn’t complete, so I did get some good shots from the end of the dock. I had to wait quite a while, as I’d forgotten that the moon rises later as the phase progresses. But a cold beer helped me while away the time…