September 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month. 3 more months till the end of my extended contract in Singapore and I'll be back in Trinidad next January. Will Raptor be ready by then? Alex still has a long list of boat projects to go.. here are just some still on the list: Make bimini windshield Make new engine leg cover Sand and paint deck lockers Sand and paint interior Fit new smart regulator for alternator Repair bar fridge Re-bed the starboard stanchions Reinforce deck with ribs from inside To my surprise, he stripped...

Read More »

August 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month. Alex continued working on the deck lockers. It's been several months now, and he's still working on them.. 😓 On 21st August, a magnitude of 7.3 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Venezuela, west of Trinidad. This is said to be the strongest earthquake within the last 50 years, as the last 7.0 earthquake recorded by the UWI Seismic Centre was in 1968. So strong that the wall and road in front of Dockside Mart cracked and some small power boats fell.  I am reminded...

Read More »

A Short Story | Adapting To Something New

  Written by Mabel Wong                  Mindy was wide awake, past her bedtime. Her parents’ bedroom lights were still on. Mindy’s curiosity got the best of her. She silently creaked open her door and walked out being so cautious not to make any noise. She placed an ear onto the door and listened. “Wow! Thank you, I’ll be there!” said Mindy’s mum and hung up the phone. “What did she mean by I’ll be there?” whispered Mindy under her voice. She heard her mother’s...

Read More »

July 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month. Great news! We hit 16,000 page views! Thank you for reading our blog :) This month, Alex made the door where it accesses the fuel tank filter in the queen cabin, made a gadget to hold sandpaper in place to sand narrow areas, fibreglassed the slight dip that ran along the right edge of the locker floor where the water always sat, made 2 new chainplates for the inner jib stay, made and attached 2 extra fiberglass steps that the new chainplates will sit on as well as fiberglassed...

Read More »

May 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month. So end of last month, Alex hired a guy to spray the deck with gelcoat. We normally try to do everything ourselves, as labour cost is expensive and we normally do a better job than hired help (of course, by "we", I mean he). But since we don't own a spray gun ourselves, we didn't have much choice... check out the post to see the outcome of the job! Alex also worked on the locker lids. And yes, it's not top priority on the boat projects list, but since we had a bit of gelcoat left.....

Read More »

Boat Locker Lids

Our boat locker lids. Probably the least of our worries, but since we had a bit of gelcoat left. Alex decided to fix em' up! We have 4 large and 2 small ones on the front deck, 3 in the cockpit and another 2 on the lazarettes. Larger ones on the deck. Before - this one actually doesn't look too bad Removing the foam strip - leaves a very stubborn sticky residue After cleaning the sticky stuff off After sanding The two smaller deck locker lids Fiberglass cut out Polyester resin applied (Alex hates using polyester resin normally,...

Read More »

Spray Painting Our Deck

Finally getting the smooth sections of our deck (those without non-skid on them) spray painted with gelcoat. The gelcoat on the entire boat is still the original from when the boat as built 20 years ago, and we had a lot of sections on the deck where the gelcoat had worn off so badly that the fiberglass was exposed. With all the repairs that Alex completed such as the jib sail track, the steps, the bow and the forestay chain plate area in the last few months, it made sense to finally get the deck spray painted with a fresh coat of gelcoat. We'd...

Read More »

April 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month. Alex was busy with more boat projects as usual. It doesn't seem to end, does it? But he found some time to make me a surprise gift! 💗 This month he attached a wooden strip onto the saloon roof, where he plans to attach the new bimini windscreen. The old screen was made of soft vinyl, but always had problems with the zips, or the snaps where it connected to the roof ... or the vinyl itself getting hard in the sun & becoming less & less transparent. The plan is to make the...

Read More »