Journal Entries

December 2006

1 December - If you read last months entry you will have seen a snake on the marina. Today I had some more wildlife pay me a visit. This pelican often paddles past the boat checking me out.

Today he decided to hop out of the water and wander around the dock to take a closer look.

I think he was actually interested in the cat who lives on the marina, "Puss Bear". Puss Bear is pretty old and just wasn't interested in the Pelican.

After a cursory glance at the pelican old Puss Bear just resumed her usual position and the pelican decided to move on.

I was planning on going sailing this weekend but as it turns out the weather isn't that great and I'm trying to get some jobs done on the boat.

I had hoped to be out of Brisbane for the summer, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen at this rate. The weather is already becoming extremely humid.

11 December - I can't believe how quickly Christmas has come around this year. It really doesn't feel like it's almost Christmas and what makes it worse is that I haven't been out sailing for a month. Each weekend I have had the boat in bits trying to sort something out so that I could get away.

Some time ago I noticed a crack in the caprailing on the port side. I was a little concerned as I thought it might be a place where water could leak through. There were also a couple of other spots on the aft starboard caprail which needed a little TLC.

I am very fortunate to have a good relationship with the owner of the paddle steamers which are berthed near me and he volunteered to have his shipwright fix it up for me.

Below is a photo of the crack in the port side caprail. This photo was taken before I the decks were refurbished. I didn't realise how bad the decks were until I compared these photos.

Below is a photo of the damaged caprail being cut away.

and below the entire piece of caprail removed exposing the hull to deck joint. I had no need to worry about it leaking since it's a waterproof join. The shipwright and a couple of other people were surprised with the extremely high quality of the westsail building technique.

13 December - and finally the new piece of caprail with the plugs glued in. It looks absolutely beautiful.

Below is a photo from the boardwalk. You can see the clamps holding the repaired caprail just forward of the dinghy.

Below is a photo of the aft starboard caprail. This is just cosmetic damage but I am most grateful that it will be professionally fixed.

Mark, the shipwright removed the aluminium jib track to cut out the section to be replaced. The jib track is badly corroded as it has never had any barrier between the stainless steel screws and the aluminium. Mark suggested that he replace the aluminium tracks with brass. He will make a teak rail for a base and then put the brass over the teak. I will make sure that I put a barrier between the stainless steel screws and the brass this time.

below is a photo of where the old auto pilot mount was. This mount always caused me problems as it broke off on the trip up from Sydney and I have never been able to remount it successfully. Mark will put a few plugs into the teak cap rail and it should look like new. As for the auto pilot mount I have had a stainless steel mount welded onto the inside of the boom gallows base.

I will post some more photos of the timber work when it is finished.

15 December - I have been trying to resolve my power needs onboard and after experimenting with a little 4 stroke petrol generator I have decided on a wind generator and 2 x 60 watt solar panels. I previously had solar panels mounted on the side of the aft cockpit lifelines however I wasn't happy with the position as it was always a hassle to have to lift them up to a horizontal position and secure them somehow. They could not be used while under way either. The solution was to place them somewhere they could sit permanently and not be in the way. Colin has 2 x 40 watt solar panels mounted on his spray dodger and I decided that this was the best solution for me. It's not ideal because one panel will be partially shaded at times by the boom but I will experiment with the positioning. I had to have two stainless steel bars mounted across the dodger to mount the panels to. These also serve as hand rails when going forward in rough seas. I had the bars bent at about 10 degrees in the middle so the panel is angled slightly. Below is a photo of one panel mounted in position. The side curtains of the dodger are removed. You can also see the new timber patch which was replaced.

I moved the old solar regulator from the aft locker and placed it in the engine room near the charger. It's a much neater solution. While I was at it I removed about 1000 metres (slight exaggeration) of redundant wiring in the engine room. I really need to get in there and rip everything out and start again. I don't understand how people can do jobs like that in half measures. It's so annoying.

16 December - Yesterday I was helping the welder hold bits and pieces to make the solar panel mounts. I am conscious of not watching the spark from the tig welder but I must have caught it at some point because last night at about midnight my eyes started to sting like crazy. I couldn't open them or see anything. I was going to try and just sleep through it but the pain was pretty intense. The only place open for medical assistance at that time of night was the hospital and I managed to pry one eye open to look at my mobile phone to call a taxi. The only problem was that I needed to get from the marina to the street. The pain was getting worse and I couldn't see a thing. I managed to get to the hospital and they gave me some local anesthetic for my eyes which was a huge relief. By the morning my eyes were much better. Lesson learned, don't look at the pretty blue light!!!!

17 December - A couple of days ago I saw a new yacht come up the river and anchor. It was a large Colin Archer design, a similar style to the westsail.

I had to go take a closer look at it since it looked to be very traditional and the type of yacht I love. You can see in the photo above that it is gaff rigged and even has baggy wrinkles (these are little fuzzy things that look like mops) on the shrouds.

I jumped in the dinghy and motored up for a closer look. As I got close there was a lady on deck and I asked her if it was a Colin Archer design. We got talking and her husband came out. They invited me onboard and I felt as if I was imposing but was really keen to check out their yacht. After chatting on deck for about 15 minutes they invited me down below for a cup of tea and some fruit cake which Pat had made in their new kerosene oven. Dick and Pat are the owners and they have been sailing from London for 8 years. Dick built the yacht and it is an incredible boat of 45ft length and 30 tonne. Standing on deck is like standing on a ship. Dick even made all the sheet blocks which are english oak and the only way I can describe below decks is old world luxury. The bulkheads are beautifully paneled mahogany with loads of polished brass and bronze most of which was hand made by Dick.

I really liked their philosophy on cruising which is similar to the Pardey's. They don't have any fancy electronics onboard or refrigeration and their shower is on deck. Dick however is an absolute perfectionist and in the 2 hours of chatting and going over the boat I came away with many ideas for my boat and a book on wind vanes and self steering. I promised to bring some of my books over for Dick and he will be dropping by to take a look at my boat during the week. I'm hoping he can give me some pointers on a few items.

It always amazes me how friendly and open voyagers are generally. Could you imagine walking up to someone in their front yard and saying, "Hi, I really like your house" and them responding with, "thanks, come in for a cup of tea and some cake my wife made". I suppose as sailors we all share our front yard.