Richard Hewson

Our adventures onboard Sunday Island so far can be separated into four parts. Part one cruising from Hinderlopen NL through the French canals to Marseille. Part Two cruising the Mediterranean. Part 3 sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Part 4 cruising the caribbean.

With the hurricane season approaching we needed to work out a plan. Sailing north to Canada required a B1B2 US VISA which we did not have. Remaining in the caribbean would be hot, wet and sticky. So we decided to leave Sunday Island in Trinidad and head to Tasmania to do some work and earn some $$$ for the pacific.

Tobago Keys gave us a wonderful setting to start cleaning and packing up the boat while still being able to swim with turtles and explore tropical islands with huge iguanas.

When the wind swung to the NE we sailed from Tobago Keys to Union Island to clear out of St Vincent and the Gredadenes,

We made sure Sunday island was thoroughly secure and departed Union Island at 2pm, with a reach towards Trinidad with a 100 degree wind angle at 20kts making 8 knots in the right direction.

The next morning we entered into the Harbour at 0800, pulled up a buoy and contacted the yard for direction and Customs clearance.

First job was to set up the kids bikes to provide entertainment, then while the kids rode around the yard, Emilie and I spent the rest of the day stripping sails, removing halyards, cleaning freezers.

Power Boats Yard in Trinidad is an excellent facility and even has site apartments to make the transition on and off your boat a lot easier. We decided to get an appartment and defiantly found it worth it.

The next day on 24th March we hauled Sunday island out of the water, gave her a good wash all over, and secured her on the hard stand.

While some people are content in leaving their boats with sails on, dirty bilges and the interior not packed I like to use the opportunity to do a full deal clean, check if all gear and thirough pack away.

I spent the next two days removing everything from the bilge – including the lead ballast – cleaning, panting and replacing every inch of the bilge. Emilie emptied and every cupboard from food and clothes. We then thoroughly cleaned the interior and wiped the teak down with a mixture of teak oil, oil of cloves and eucalyptus oil to prevent mildew during the approaching wet season.

Sails, tenders, halyards, wind vane steering, outboard motor, Solar, wind generator, basically everything that could possibly be removed from the deck was packed away and stored below. Finally we applied a wax coating to the hull and stainless and handed toe keys to our new friend and boat minder “Cow” from Classic Yacht Services.

The five day pack up working 10 hour days in the heat was exhausting but will make for a nicer boat to return “home”. We returned to the apartment and packed our bags ready for our adventure back home to Cremorne Tasmania Australia.

In March 2020 Our family left Tasmania to start our adventure living and cruising our way around the world. Living in Malta and Spain over the pandemic, then Purchasing Sunday Island and moving aboard In October 2021. Now three years, 21 countries, 12,000 logged sailing miles and countless islands we will return home for a “work sabbatical”. One thing is absolute- we can’t wait to get back onboard Sunday Island in October and plan to enter the Pacific January 2024 and continue our adventure.