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There are those that yawn and those that eat it up. This page is for the latter group . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every year hundreds of boats come to Trinidad for several months at a time. In summer, they come south dodge the hurricane risk above 12N, and in winter to take part in Carnival - the third largest in the Eastern Hemisphere. Regardless of the time of year, they come to take advantage of Trinidad's boatyard center (seven haul-out facilities and eight marinas) its eager and reasonable labor, well-stocked chandleries, and prompt shipping connections from the States. We came for all these reasons. As most of you know, we spent five months at Independent Boatyard in St. Thomas last year working on the boat. What you may not have realized was that that was just Phase I. (See Engine Room - Archives). Originally we'd thought we would sail Tackless II to Trinidad for the whole refit, but we split our "To Do List" in two in order to stay in St. Thomas to oversee the sale of Whisper. So, after a great summer of NO PROJECTS, in we sailed to Trinidad in September 1999.
Well, it's ten years later now, and I can tell you two things for sure, 1) after you read the next few paragraphs you will see that I am over that fear of any drilling, cutting or changing of the "way it was" and 2) we moved those gauges?.and, just as I feared, I have six unfilled holes in the forward bulkhead of the main salon. With that said, I will try to fill you in on all the changes as they've happened on our 2nd half of the refit here in Trinidad.
The next major addition is the new stainless steel stern arch. We hesitate to call it a radar arch, since we have left our radar on the backstay. However, all the other toys WILL be mounted on there. We designed the new arch to be built into the existing stern rail. This required, of course, for the old rail to be removed, not an easy task in itself since there were five though-deck bolts to free up and bedding almost 20 years old to break loose. Then a template had to make for the welder and many measurements of the camber of the deck and of the variations in the toe-rail thickness across the stern. This is probably why most people just mount their arch inside the existing stern pulpit. However the end result is much cleaner. The only real mounting problems came from the new feet and the angles and lengths they needed to be. If there were one thing I would do differently "next time," it would be to make a much more accurate three-dimensional template of the mounting area. After two trips back to the shop to get them adjusted, it all worked out well.
Our last delivery from our metal-man Harry were our two new safety rails (also known as granny bars!) These will mount to either side of the mast to help keep crew members in place when raising or reefing sails. I had a couple of unsettling tumbles on Whisper two years ago in choppy conditions, and with Tackless II's higher coach roof the fall could be farther. We had the safety rails made from 1" stainless which straddle each salon hatch with a third leg coming down outboard as a brace.
Moving inside, it really gets serious. We took out the main salon table completely. In its place we added a 60 liter Minus 40, 12 volt/air-cooled freezer, which we had shipped in from South Africa. Offsetting it slightly to port, we then had a new table built around it. This literally had to be built around it, as the hatch was too small to allow it to come in whole, although it is designed to pull clear of the mast if we need access to the mast step. The freezer is top loading so the table has an opening lid that will allow access. The original side leaves were trimmed down and reused. Our varnishers are having fun trying to match a stain for the white oak to bring it close to the teak of the table (white oak not being available here!)
On the starboard side forward in the main salon we used to have a hanging locker. Now we have a slightly wider locker that houses a 110v washer/dryer combo. Yup, you read it right!!!! 17" x 23" x 33", 165lbs, and 17 gallons per load! All we had to do is make the locker 4 inches wider. Doesn't sound like much, but we are talking MAJOR rip out. Amazingly, all that effort and after the fact it's very difficult to tell anything changed! Celebration was stalled a bit by a pressure switch broken in shipment, but once repaired it's working like a top and makes the Admiral really purr. Still to be installed the ducting for the new used Marine Airrrr conditioner. Tired yet? There is more!
We have removed the water tank from under the port settee and converted it to a diesel tank. This will give us an additional 33 gallons of fuel before counting any jerry jugs we put on deck. (The "L" end of the tank was already cut off in St. Thomas to allow for more battery room.) This tank will be used as a "holding" tank only. Once our main fuel tank is down at least 33 gallons, we will pump the entire contents of the new tank into the main, so the new tank will either be full or empty (baffle is no long in the tank). It was easy to conceive of the conversion, but all the water fittings had to be glassed closed and a new plate on top with fuel inlets and pickups created for the top. Then we had to ensure there were no leaks, either in the glass tank itself (the seams being vulnerable to voids) or in the seal of the metal plate to the tank top. This project moved forward in frustrating microsteps while everything else was going on, but I'm pleased to report it has held liquid for five days now with nary a dribble. All we have to do now is glass it back in under the settee and hook up all the hoses which are already run. This conversion cuts our water storage down to about 125 gallons, which obviously suggests we're feeling pretty positively about our watermaker! We are planning to order a second/backup feed pump, which can either replace the current one or add to it to increase output.
Nearby for much of our time here in Trinidad has been a Tackless II sister ship Soggy Paws, whose owners Dave and Stacey are also doing a big refit. It's always fun to befriend owners of boats "just like ours", because then you're guaranteed great cocktail conversation?or, in our case, Joe's Pizza conversation. Though the boats may be the same, the "To Do Lists" weren't?..at least, not originally. One of the problems with the sistership phenomenon it can double the projects as you get insights and ideas from each other. One of Dave's classic lines was, "Oh, gee, I just want you to have as much fun as we're having." This was in reference to chain plates, which Dave had to remove and replace. Formerly a bareboat in the Bahamas, Soggy Paws has seen harder use than Tackless II, but David wouldn't rest until we'd checked ours. This involved ripping out the wood liner in all the cabinets, cleaning up all the metal and checking it with Rig Check, a chemical die that reveals hidden cracks. Although we came up clean, we did discover some anomalies in construction. Tackless II's aft-most pair of chain plates are an inverted T rather than the traditional CSY triangle shape! It also gave us the chance to clean up all our bonding connections. Dave still isn't happy that we didn't pull all ours out, but then he's painting his boat and we aren't!
In addition to Soggy Paws there is a 44 walk-over Nirvana, which is at least two years into a total gut and refit, a 37 called Conjoe II, which is getting some post-hurricane repair, plus there have been two Antigua 44s. CSY buffs all know that Antiguas are made from the same CSY molds that made both Whisper and Tackless II. One of these Antiguas, however, Wind Shadow is Antigua Hull #002, and she is one of the four hulls, like Tackless II that were laid up by CSY and then sold to Coates Marine to finish. Tackless II had an owner who insisted she be finished as a CSY. We haven't seen the inside of Wind Shadow, but outside she could be a clone! The other Antigua here is Sky Rocket #???. Sky Rocket is a later Antigua with a different look and finished off as a ketch.
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"Boats is boats is boats" which is
daughter Tiffany’s reaction to a time-honored, unavoidable phenomenon that happens
when any boater gets an audience: the parts stories, the maintenance sagas, the epic
dramas (and comedies) of boat projects. "No shit, there I was…" is much
less often the prelude to a storm at sea, than the opening statement of a tale of man and
his wrench.
little perspective: When I first bought Tackless II in November
of 1990, I immediately started making plans to upgrade her to cruising
condition. For example, I bought a matched pair of Airguide gauges
(barometer and clock) at a marine flea market. Then I carried them
loose on the nav station for over a year because installing them would
require 6 screws into a bulkhead somewhere in the main salon. What
if I chose the wrong place to mount them? What if I didn't like them
there? Or they weren't readable enough in that position? What would
I do about those screw holes? 
o
build the top Otto and his crew built a mold out of wood, covered
it with thin, shaped plywood. The shape was taken from our original
bimini bows, only widened a bit to cover the cockpit teak. On top
of the mold they laid two layers of fiberglass. On top of the fiberglass
they laid a layer of half-inch Westcor, a lightweight honeycombed
material. The core was then cut to provide channels for wiring in
lights on the underneath side and for the placement of teak pads for
mounting the solar panels on top. Then the core was covered with two
more layers of fiberglass, the front legs shaped and fitted, and finally
the whole thing was faired smooth and painted on top to match the
Linen color of our Sunbrella and underneath Oyster white to match
the rest of the cockpit. Total weight is less than 200lbs, and it
can be removed if really necessary. Teak handrails were made for the
top outside edge and the underneath outboard edge. These rails are
mounted to each other through the top to give added support to the
entire length. The top handrail is solid and acts as a gutter allowing
us to catch rainwater, while the inside rail is traditional "grab
style". 
n
the starboard corner of the arch is the wind generator pole mount,
36" high above the arch, mounted on a solid SS plate. This length
had to be increased 7" after the first fitting as the wind generator's
blades would not completely clear the radar antenna (OOPS!). In the
center of the arch, there is another mounting plate for a halogen
deck light and the stern nav light. The port corner was supposed to
get all the other antennas, but so far we've just left them where
they were on the center of the stern rail, as moving them requires
major rewiring. Sticking out aft are the dingy davits across which
a fifth solar panel will mount. We intend these davits mostly to secure
the dinghy at anchor overnight, but with the vane gear there we may
not be able to have our cake and eat it too. Our original design had
two solar panels running longitudinally, but the large radar antenna
was going to block part of each most of the time, so we've decided
to go with the one across the back that can be tilted if we wish to
chase the sun. (The panels on the hardtop are more or less fixed,
since most cruisers advise that "chasing the sun" gets old quickly
and few bother!) 
ack
on the starboard side of the arch we had an arm for an outboard motor
hoist mounted. On the other side we had a removable holder for two
fenders made, and our Tailblazer BBQ is back in place on the stern.
Before the welder was done, we had him add lots of other little things:
cleats for the dingy and motor hoisting tackles, separate "attachment
" rings for the hoist purchases when not in use, and "L" brackets
at the base of each stanchion (always needed to tie or hook something
down). 
e've
installed new molded countertops and sinks in the both heads and the
galley. This was partially an aesthetic indulgence, but we were really
swayed by the molded-in blacksplashes and fids that will keep stray
water on the countertops from leaking into the wood. The counters
are of ?" Decoran, a cousin of Corian which is made here in Trinidad.
What was nice was the ability to choose 
ronically,
one of the things we had thought of doing here in Trinidad, was moving
(which would involve replacing) all our chainplates to the outside
as Pieter and Pat Stoeken did on the CSY Independence and David Kummerle
did on the CSY 37 Glory of Christiansted. The objective was to solve
our perpetual leaks. To our puzzlement, the one on the port side behind
the nav station has cured itself. Don did replace and rebed the shore-power
inlet there, but neither of us would have pegged that as the source.
The matching leak on the starboard side into the galley cupboard has
also just been solved. We found a void about an inch square where
the curving glass of the step down meets the forward deck joint! So!
We are optimistic that we MAY have won a major battle! 
