Are we nearly there yet?: 10 June Preparations to leave Cayman Islands

We are officially in hurricane season and in the hurricane belt. Last week the earliest recorded tropical storm formed in the east Pacific migrated to the west of Caymans and into the Gulf of Mexico. Forecast gurus are predicting 2020 will see more, and higher category, hurricanes than normal.

In February our plan was to go east to the leeward islands in March and to be in Grenada at this time. Then the world stopped with the advance of Coronavirus and we waited in Caymans hoping there would be a change, that the virus would diminish and borders would reopen. Trinidad remains closed. Grenada will take new boats subject to 14 days quarantine and we read as of today there are 150 yachts crammed into the quarantine anchorage, most waiting to move on to Trinidad.

A second consideration was our sailing options. Grenada or Trinidad would be 1,400nm into the stronger summer headwinds and adverse current. Our alternative is to return to the US. Not a decision undertaken lightly given that Coronavirus remains widespread while restrictions are lifted. The passage to Key West is 550nm going with the wind and current. If we keep land visits to a minimum and maintain social distancing we hope to stay healthy.

With the new plan we've been checking weather and it looks like we have a window to leave. Pre departure we need to check that the hull is clean of growth and take on diesel. I'm snorkelling giving the hull a final polish when I find one of the propeller blades doesn't turn freely. I report to the chief Engineer who then gets in the water to investigate. His opinion is we have to take the prop off and service it. We potentially have a lot of motoring in our future. We have perfect conditions to do the job.

Five years ago we had a problem when we were in Borneo. One of the three blades had seized – they are supposed to rotate freely on ball bearing races – and we had to dive to remove it. Diving and removing a prop underwater wasn't a problem. It was the murky water and the crocodiles which are reputed to live in the marina that were. We didn't see any, I could only just see my hand at the end of y arm in the dirty water, but a 2.5m specimen was removed from the marina area a week after we left. Compare that with the Caymans where the water is warm, gin clear and no snappy reptiles with big teeth lurking. David did the grunt work and I was the floating tool box who lent a hand now and again.

blackcoating is Jotun antifoul

Once the propeller was on deck David was able to disassemble it and calciferous growth on the facing plates causing friction. The bearings were all in good condition. He had simply to clean and reassemble before we jumped back in the water and refitted.

shiny and friction free

the faces needed cleaning

With the prop serviced we could go alongside the commercial dock to do our clearance and take on duty free fuel. It's a long stride up and across from deck to wharf but the line handlers give me a hand up and I walk the short distance to Immigration and Customs to do paperwork and pay for our fuel. By the time I get back to the boat the fuel truck is backed up and ready to deliver.