The Full Cruiser Experience

[Kyle]Our chainplates have been leaking badly every time the deck gets wet, which over here is all the time. (Chainplates are the steel straps connecting the mast shrouds to the main bulkhead. On many boats, including Geminis, these run through holes in the deck.) One of the things we really wanted to get done in the marina is re-bedding them (for the 3rd time this year). For this, we needed calm water, since the shrouds have to be disconnected, and at least a few hours of dry weather for the sealant to cure. We also had a whole list of other routine maintenance items we needed to get doing as well. This meant poor Sarah, who was a really good sport about it, got to spend the day scraping old sealant off the chainplates and other various jobs. The weather was actually lovely all day. It seemed like such a shame to not be out sailing in it like everybody else in the marina seemed to be doing but were really backed up on our boring jobs list. By the end of the day, we were grubby and tired but Footprint was back shipshape again. The only things we had left were the shift cable and the coolant line. Parts were on the way and both of those should be easy fixes.

As I was changing the engine oil, I looked up at a couple of people walking by and was pleased to see that it was John and Dorothy! They had sailed Gadabout in the previous night and were berthed only two slips down. We had not even noticed that the only other Gemini in Ireland was only a few feet away when we came back from dinner the previous night. If they hadn’t been past us, we probably would have climbed on their boat instead. They had also seen us in Carlingford when they got in just a few hours before we left. Their last day up to Bangor was also very rough. After we got everything done and were cleaned up, they came over and the five of us spent a nice evening chatting away for hours. It was such a nice, unexpected surprise to see them.

John and Dorothy of Gadabout join us for drinks - parked just 2 slips away in Bangor Marina