Canadian Yachting June 2017 - 37

The Boatyard Life
The author recently spent eight weeks in the boatyard of
Curacao Marine, Dutch Antilles, to have the rigging on his
1983 Beneteau First 38 DR FLUE replaced.
Life in the boatyard is hard and dangerous. It is also a
great preparation for my future stay in a nursing home,
where I will move in as soon as I have the parking issues
involving my Porsche Carrera Convertible and my cigarsmoking habit sorted out.
My partner Pam and I are the lucky ones. We are able to
stay on our boat in the water at the dock, while the rigging
is fabricated and it is almost like living in a marina, but just
a little bit more dusty and dirty than we would like it. From
time to time we have to move the boat, for instance to the
mast crane. However, most tradespeople will happily come
to us on the dock to pick up the sails for repair, or to remove
the floor and ceiling in the salon to access the diverse rigging components or to rewire all electrical connections like
the VHF, radar, anchor, steaming and foredeck lights.
We get up before sunrise and at 7 a.m. Pam goes to her
yoga class from 7 to 8 o'clock while I make a nice pot of fresh
Venezuelan coffee and enjoy my first cup while watching the
sunrise and observe our part of the harbour and the boatyard
come to life. From 8 to 9 o'clock we enjoy breakfast together
in the shade of our cockpit, and the temperature is already 29
degrees Celsius. Then from 9 to 10 o'clock I enjoy my morning cigar while watching the daily activities unfold.

Every second or third day I have to cut this part of my
morning short, because we have to scramble to catch the
free grocery bus to the supermarket to stock up on fresh supplies. We wait for the bus together with a group of other old
people, and it will arrive anytime between 9:15 and 9:45 a.m.
Everybody has one thing in common, they are all retired and
live on a boat in the boatyard. There is the nice septagenerian
couple from Germany, he is barely able to walk, because he
fell down the ladder from his boat while being "on the hard"
and suffered a complicated fracture to his leg. There is the
little French guy with a big bandage covering his right leg,
he fell down from the companionway into his bilge after the
floorboards had been removed for keelbolt repairs. We all enjoy the opportunity to catch up on the latest boatyard news.
The bus is airconditioned, thank heavens, because by
now it is well over 30 degrees. So is the supermarket, so it
is a welcome refuge from the merciless heat. We have one
hour to buy our supplies, spending an average of about
$100 US, and if we hurry, we have enough time left to
enjoy a free cup of coffee in the airconditioned cafeteria!
Then, everybody is piling back into the bus with their
treasures and we travel back to the boatyard. We arrive just
before noon, in time to prepare a fresh lunch and enjoy it
while the yard is temporarily quiet to do the same from
Continued on page 39
www.canadianyachting.ca

THE PORT HOLE

P/D/C Martin P. Hederich AP
Barrie Power and Sail Squadron

http://www.canadianyachting.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting June 2017