Keeping Our Cool in the Boatyard

Okay, the drought has ended on the blog and we are once again back in action on Mowzer.

We had a fantastic month away visiting family in Belgium and Canada but once again we are back on the boat and the last couple of weeks have seen a flurry of activity with our launch date set for the end of this week.

Believe it or not, we have actually stayed on the boat throughout our time at Clarke's Court with the one exception of a night spent in one of their rental rooms on the night we arrived back in Grenada after dark - opening up the boat that night after a month's sojourn was not on my list of fun things to do.

Some people opt for an apartment rental during their boatyard stay and we have certainly enjoyed visiting some nicely air conditioned places with them.  This is particularly a good idea if you can't run your fridge or freezer out of the water.  We are not in that situation so we decided to do it a bit more cheaply and stay on the boat in the yard.  Did I mention that September / October is the hottest time of year in Grenada and that the mosquitos can be quite brutal?

Here's how we handled the situation, managed to stay sane and married, and Zika free.

We bought one of those mosquito nets with magnets down the middle so every time we went through the doorway it automatically closed behind us.

Here's a better view of the screen at the door.

It might look like we're trying to repel aliens, but tinfoil on the windows immediately reduced the temperature inside the boat.  Add fans and screened, open hatches and we managed to get a little air circulation inside as well.

For our top hatch I just sewed a bit of light chain around a large circle of no-see'em mesh - stayed in place nicely and easy to close the hatch without having to remove the screen.

The item that made the most difference though was the A/C unit we rented - at $50US/week it kept our berth cool at night so we could get a good night's sleep.  We usually have to turn it off after a couple of hours so we don't end up feeling like we're sleeping in a meat locker.

The biggest issue now is making your way down the swim ladder for that needed visit to the toilet, usually in the dark of night - I'm happy to make do with a pickle-jar but sometimes you just gotta go!

And that's it - we've been sleeping well and getting work done but will be oh so happy to be back floating on the water.

Still can't sing the praises of Clarke's Court Boatyard loud enough.