16/3/2017
Bundaberg, still ....
If you stop too long in one place, boat
jobs catch up with you. A boat that you
might have thought completely seaworthy and ready to set off around the world,
begins to demand further attention. This
was one of the objections I presented to those who argued the irrelevance of
delay. The longer you delay, the more
the peak of preparedness slides toward the slippery realm of entropy.
Of course, some delays, like some boat
jobs, are necessary, some perhaps less so.
It was important to get the leaky rudder post repaired, the pintel
bearing restructured, the alternator and solar panels charging. And who could resist the luxury of a working
fridge? It seems that turning back last
year from just south of Cairns to the relative cyclone-proof haven of Bundaberg
was a wise move.
Time out in Melbourne for Christmas and in NZ
for my father’s 99th birthday in January was originally planned to
be from South Africa, not Bundaberg, and I followed the blog of “Blue Flyer” as
she crossed the Indian Ocean with some envy.
Returning to “Shanti” at the beginning of
February, I was keen to get out for a sail, partly to test everything and
partly to escape that other insidious trap, the long-term attachment to the
dock. So, early one morning I cast off, very pleased to find the engine fired
enthusiastically into life at first key-turn.
A minor job still on the to-do list was to
take the near new headsail to a sail maker to have a protective strip of
leather sewn along the foot, which had been chafing on the life-lines. I decided to drop the sail, (for the first
time since it was made) which ordinarily would be a simple, quick and easy
thing. Not so. The sail jammed half way,
and would go neither up nor down. Fortunately, there was very little breeze, so
I was able to half furl it in and return to my marina berth without creating
too much of a spectacle.
One of the great things about the cruising
community is the willingness to help one another. We each have our strengths and
weaknesses. I’m useful on the other end
of nuts or bolts but no good with heights. (I realize that one day I may have
to overcome this fear). I have built a
plywood mast-climber, which allows someone (other than me) to “walk” their way
up the mast while I merely take up the slack on the supporting halyards. This could be used by a single-hander in an
emergency, using mountain-climbing equipment (https://www.thegorgeoutdoors.co.uk/petzl-ascentree-double-handed-ascender
) to grip the ropes, slide up and lock.
Or, a simple friction hitch, like a Prusik knot.
On this occasion, someone with less fear of
heights kindly volunteered to try my new mast climber. Once at the top of the
mast, he swung out and attached himself to the forestay, then slowly slid down
the hypotenuse of the fore-triangle. His discovery was that practically every
single grub screw securing the sections of the foil was loose. Hence the foil had been able to shift
slightly out of alignment, preventing the sail from sliding freely on its
track. It appeared as if the grub screws had not been bonded with “Locktight”,
so each was removed, (taking care not to drop any), treated and tightened. Then the sail tracks were washed out with
detergent and rinsed by hoisting a hose aloft.
My current job-list has 14 items on it,
including things like sand and paint the aluminium hull of the dinghy, bolt wheels
on it, affix a clever lifting harness for ease of launch and retrieval. I’m also working on making fly screens,
rearranging and inventorising stores and provisions, securing extra jerry cans
of drinking water down below. The
battery charger that was installed in Townsville died, so a replacement needs
wiring in. Only really needed on rainy
overcast days, of which we have had one so far this year.
An ongoing concern is what food I need, how
much to take and in what form. I have
looked into freeze-dried meals but they are expensive and most seem to have
flavour enhancing nasties added.
One of the more time-consuming necessary/unnecessary
jobs has been playing with the fresh water plumbing, which seemed to be leaking. A largish puddle appeared in the bottom of
the tight little space that is home to most of the water inlets and outlets. Of
course it’s always a very tight, scarcely accessible space.
It took several extremely hot and humid
days to pull it all apart, remove defunct hoses to a non-existent hot water
system, etc. All accompanied by blood, sweat, tears, bruises and a few well
chosen words of encouragement; then to install a new Whale gusher foot pump, new
hoses, joiners, reducers, T intersections, clamps, etc.
 |
| The end of the nut had been burred so had to be hacksawed off with my neat new flexi tool. |
 |
| Some of the old hoses that were removed. Not so easy, as they were gooped in solidly through every hole. |
I guess you might call it ironic, or just plain annoying, but the water in the bilge turned out to be
condensation from under the fridge. What can I say? Not much, other than it’s a far neater layout now than it
was before, with all those superfluous hoses gone.
While I was at it, it seemed like a nice
addition to install a new electric pump and salt water tap in the galley. I already had a hand pump fitted, but more
water seemed to come out of the base of it than the spout and it often required
an old Beatles song worth of pumping before any water surfaced.
An added bonus - with another T intersection, the
electric pump could do double duty as a deck wash. I remember how muddy many of the anchorages
were last year and how many buckets’ handles parted while trying to gather up
water to sluice the chain, anchor and deck.
Now that’s got to be a superfluous nicety
surely? It must be time to go...
One more trip to Melbourne in April for
imminent birth of youngest daughter, Shoni, and Pierre’s second child, then
cyclone season should be over and the great migration North resumes.
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