It’s been two weeks since we arrived on Grand Cayman and it’s been a frenzy of activity. We are very fortunate to have friends on the island, the Whan Tong family, and we’ve been taking advantage of their great hospitality. Zenobia has been tucked away at the dock and we’ve been staying in their guest room, sleeping in a bed and having real showers – we are basically living in the lap of luxury.
The only drawback to our temporary new lifestyle can be broken down into two partss. Part one: we have tried to use the opportunity to do work on the boat – always a painful and expensive adventure. And part two: we managed to pick up a rat while at the dock. Yes I said rat. We’re not totally sure how it got aboard but we’ve found loads of evidence of its presence. We devoted two days to hunting the rat, whom we named Rat Ford. We devised a very clever water trap using a ruler, peanut butter, and a bucket of water. Although very clever, as previously mentioned, it was not as effective as we had hoped and we switched to the less clever, but much more effective, snap trap. We believe that Rat Ford was wounded on the first night but managed to escape the trap alive – on the second night he wasn’t so lucky. When we found him we were overcome with relief and high-fived as we cheered over his broken body. It was morbid but it was also a time of great joy. Adam wanted me to post pictures but I felt that it might be a bit too much. Anyone who is desperate to see 8 inches of squished rat can apply to Adam directly. After we successfully terminated Rat Ford we tore apart the boat, cleaning up rat droppings and chewed up items from every nook and cranny. Apparently he was over every inch of the boat, or at least that is what we’re hoping for - the alternative is too grim. We like having guests on board but we aren’t ready for Zenobia to become a rodent cruise ship.
When not checking and re-checking our traps, we spent a good week working on the items that were damaged on the passage here. Adam also took the opportunity to try to fix the alternator and fuel gauge which have been acting up for a while. He did an amazing job with the alternator and then, still on a high from this mechanical accomplishment, he tried his hand at the fuel gauge and promptly lost a vital component into the fuel tank. It was valiant effort but he just flew too close to the sun. Luckily he didn’t let it get him down for too long and, after a couple of days, he managed to retrieve the part and replace the entire fuel gauge. It still doesn’t work, but we’re pretty impressed with the installation.
The only drawback to our temporary new lifestyle can be broken down into two partss. Part one: we have tried to use the opportunity to do work on the boat – always a painful and expensive adventure. And part two: we managed to pick up a rat while at the dock. Yes I said rat. We’re not totally sure how it got aboard but we’ve found loads of evidence of its presence. We devoted two days to hunting the rat, whom we named Rat Ford. We devised a very clever water trap using a ruler, peanut butter, and a bucket of water. Although very clever, as previously mentioned, it was not as effective as we had hoped and we switched to the less clever, but much more effective, snap trap. We believe that Rat Ford was wounded on the first night but managed to escape the trap alive – on the second night he wasn’t so lucky. When we found him we were overcome with relief and high-fived as we cheered over his broken body. It was morbid but it was also a time of great joy. Adam wanted me to post pictures but I felt that it might be a bit too much. Anyone who is desperate to see 8 inches of squished rat can apply to Adam directly. After we successfully terminated Rat Ford we tore apart the boat, cleaning up rat droppings and chewed up items from every nook and cranny. Apparently he was over every inch of the boat, or at least that is what we’re hoping for - the alternative is too grim. We like having guests on board but we aren’t ready for Zenobia to become a rodent cruise ship.
When not checking and re-checking our traps, we spent a good week working on the items that were damaged on the passage here. Adam also took the opportunity to try to fix the alternator and fuel gauge which have been acting up for a while. He did an amazing job with the alternator and then, still on a high from this mechanical accomplishment, he tried his hand at the fuel gauge and promptly lost a vital component into the fuel tank. It was valiant effort but he just flew too close to the sun. Luckily he didn’t let it get him down for too long and, after a couple of days, he managed to retrieve the part and replace the entire fuel gauge. It still doesn’t work, but we’re pretty impressed with the installation.