Major Change of Plans

After working onboard Moonraker for three months we are sorry to say that our job has not worked out. We have had several ups and downs in the time we have been onboard and had hoped to be able to work through them but it was just not meant to be. We both enjoyed our jobs and the Owners were happy with us but it basically came down to a clash of personalities.

Life is too short to be unhappy so although we are very sad to leave Moonraker it is the right thing to do. We are leaving Newport on Friday and will fly back to England where we plan to spend some time travelling around and enjoying life!

We will be keeping the Blog updated with tails of our new adventure!

Beryl Behaved!

Tropical Storm Beryl behaved herself and slowed down, passing about 50nm away from us causing the wind to pick up to around 25kts in the early hours of Friday.

We woke up on Friday to bright blue skies and sunshine and not a breath of wind! Beryl certainly was very kind to us!

Tropical Storm Beryl

We have had a real mix of weather this week, including foggy mornings followed by hot, sunny days, finished off with rain showers or thunderstorms. Two nights ago we had a spectacular thunderstorm which stuck around for several hours and for a good hour produced some very high winds of 30-40kts, including gusts upto 50kts.

To complete the week there is a Tropical Storm heading up the coast of New England and is going to brush past Rhode Island before going over Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod. As you can imagine we have all been watching the weather forecast very closely!

With the possibility of winds up to 50-60kts everyone around the marina has been busy securing boats and getting prepared. We have blown up our very fat fenders and taken more lines ashore, as well as taking two lines to the boat next to us.

Hopefully, the storm will pass by as quietly as possible and not cause any problems.

Big Clean Begins!

After spending the last couple of weeks in the shipyard we are now trying to clean up the boat ready for guests on Fridayand the Owners arrival on Sunday afternoon.

The carpentry work which was started last week should be completed tomorrow. We have had some shelves added to the forward guest cabin wardrobes and the dishwasher has been taken out and a large drawer is being added, as well as a couple of other bits and peices around the galley. We pulled the Dishwasher out but couldn't easily see where all the hoses were connected so Colin climbed inside the cupboard for a better look!

All being well the Main Engine and Generator will be back up and running by tomorrow afternoon too. Our fingers are firmly crossed!

On Friday evening we have the Owners Son coming onboard for the weekend, with his girlfriend and two friends. They are coming up from New York and will be onboard until Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon the Owners fly into Boston.

Weekend Away

As the next few months are going to be busy with lots of guests onboard we took the opportunity to go away and explore a bit more of New England at the weekend. Originally we were going to go further up the coast but as we took a wrong turn and ended up having to go over Newport Bridge, which costs $2.00 each way, we decided to go South instead and make the most of our $2!

We drove down to Mystic River in Connecticut, which is about an hour and half from Newport. We had cruised up the River when we were onboard Tivoli but we didn't really get chance to see the town so it was nice to go back and have a look around. We enjoyed a pizza for lunch at the famous Mystic Pizza (a movie was made about it several years ago) and then carried on driving to see some of the small towns close by before findning somewhere to stay.














We managed to find a hotel in Old Mystic and checked in for Saturday night. On Sunday we got back in the car and drove a bit further South, to Essex on the Connecticut River. With so many tall trees and the little towns/villages it really reminds me of the West Coast of Scotland. We headed back to Newport in the early afternoon and finished off a relaxing weekend flying Colin's kite. Well, we attempted to fly it but with about 5kts of wind at best it was a struggle!

Rain and Fog

For the majority of this week we have woken up to either thick fog or heavy rain. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the sunshine forecast for the weekend appears.

We have been busy trying to organise the refit for the Autumn and have spent many hours with Riggers and Electricians going over the fine details of the work required. In between time spent with Contractors we have been trying to tick off some jobs from the work list. Kate completed minor surgery on the Navigation Computer on Wesdnesday and upgraded the RAM from 256mb to 2GB so it can cope better when zooming in and out of the charts. Colin has been upgrading the lighting in the Engine Room.

We stripped the port side of the Saloon seating today so that we can try and solve the diesel smell which has reappeared. The boat is an absolute tip at the moment as so many cupboards and seats are stripped open. With just over a week to go before the Owners are back onboard we still have a lot to do!

On Tuesday night we drove to Warwick, about 25nm away and it proved to be an expensive trip as we found a huge Camera shop and Colin treated himself to a new wide angle lense for his camera! This evening we went to Fort Adams to watch the sunset and took our cameras so Col could try out his new lense.

Biltong

As the Washing Machine packed up a last week we spent this morning fighting with it to try and extract it from it's home in the Day Head. We have so far managed to get it three quarters of the way out but the toilet is now in the way! However, we have got access to the top and just now need to work out what's wrong with it!

We hired a car this afternoon and drove to a couple of shipyards based in Portsmouth, further up the Bay, to find some more information to help us decide where the boat will be in the Autumn for the refit.

On our way home we stopped at the supermaket and Colin bought all the ingredients required to make Biltong and once back onboard he set up a little production line in the Galley! For the non South Africans out there, Biltong is dried meat and Colin made his by firstly coating the meat in salt, then putting it in Apple Cider Vinegar before rolling it in Coriander Seeds. It is then hung on skewers in a mesh bin and left to dry out. As the Engine Room on Moonraker is a little smaller to that of Aphrodite's the Biltong is being left to dry in the Galley!

Newport Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Newport. The top one is looking down Thames Street, which the main street in town, with the Red Parrott Restaurant on the left corner and the Newport Bay Hotel, where we stayed a couple of weeks ago, on the right. The second picture shows Newport Trinity Church and a small park. The last one was taken by Colin last night of some classic yachts moored in the Shipyard.

Successful Start

We had a fairly successful week and have started to make some good progress in getting ourselves organised for the refit in the Autumn, as well as getting some jobs ticked off our work list.

The Injector Pumps have been taken off the Main Engine and Generator and sent away for servicing, which will take a week to 10 days. The Saloon floor lifts up to give us good access to the engines.

We have found a good Carpenter, who all being well can start work on some interior jobs next week and we also met an Electrician who spent a couple of hours onboard discussing the options for the Cockpit Console alterations.
On Thursday we had a visit from Poo Bear, the Black Water Tank pump out boat!

Next week we plan to hire a car and visit two other yards to see what they have to offer and get some prices from them. We are currently in Newport Shipyard and there is a live web cam which looks over the docks and shows Moonraker. Have a look at www.newportshipyard.com, and chose Live Shipyard Cam and then Dock Office.

Yard Time

On Monday morning we moved Moonraker into Newport Shipyard where we are hoping get some of our engineering and carpentry work ticked off our ever increasing job list. The Owners left at 6pm last night and have headed back to Europe for three weeks. It looks like we are going to be in for a very busy time!

As it is Independence Day today everyone is on holiday so the yard is very quiet, although that should change tonight when the fireworks start!

The picture below was taken by Janet on our trip up from Florida.

Sunday Sailing

We woke up on Sunday morning to the wind blowing 20-25kts and with a forecast of gusts upto 30kts. We were all determined to go sailing but decided that it would be better to stay within Narrangansett Bay where the sea state was much calmer.

We left our mooring buoy in Newport Harbour around 10am. With the wind increasing up to 28kts we decided to leave the mainsail alone for the time being and just pulled out the Staysail. We sailed under Newport Bridge, which, even with a 70ft clearance above our mast still looked incredibly close! We swapped the Staysail for the Genoa and sailed nicely at around 7kts up the Bay. At one point we were sailing, close hauled, at 9kts with only the Genoa!

We anchored in a quiet bay on Prudence Island, which is in the middle of the Bay, and had a BBQ for lunch. With the wind on the nose we motored back to Newport dodging plenty of lobster pots along the way. It was a great day and the Owners seemed happy to have finally sail Moonraker again.

High Speed Sailing

The 121ft MaxiCat Orange left Newport on Saturday afternoon to start their North Atlantic Record Attempt. Orange was towed out past Moonraker and was surrounded by small boats all wishing them well. They have just smashed the 24hr speed record, having sailed 752nm in a day, averaging 31kts! It is hard to imagine sailing across the Atlantic in 4 days!

Sun Shines Once Again!

The fog finally lifted around 9pm on Thursday night but this was followed by a night of thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds.

However, the Sun finally reappeared yesterday and it feels like summer is here once again. We enjoyed a day off yesterday, most of which we spent just relaxing on the boat.

Graham and Janet arrived back this morning and have gone off to watch the England match. As it is a nice day we may go for a sail later this afternoon. We definately plan to go out sailing tomorrow for the whole day.

Here are some pictures taken over the last couple of weeks. Colin had the chilly task of defrosting the chest freezer!