Journal Entries

May 2008

3 May - Another month has gone by!!! I can't believe how quickly time is going at the moment. I'll be out of here and sailing away in no time at this rate, or at least it will feel like no time. (does that make sense?)

I haven't been able to fit my wind vane yet since there were a couple of issues with mounting it. I definitely want it fitted by June though for the regatta long weekend. I'm thinking of taking a couple of extra days off on that weekend to really give the old girl a good sail.

11 May - my windvane project has come to a halt for the time being. Unfortunately the mounting bracket supplied was a bit out. There has been a mix up in the measurements somewhere along the line but I have a stainless steel fabricator up here in Brisbane who is an artist with metal so he is making me a new bracket to mount the wind vane. Hopefully he can have it done within the next 2 weeks so I can try to mount it before the June long weekend.

This weekend has been a complete loss since I came down with a cold on Friday and have had a constant headache and flu symptoms. I'm not often sick but when I am I really hate it because I have so much to do and it's a struggle to get it done.

Cutty turned 1 year old on 14 April. For her birthday I took her to the grooming salon for a shampoo and hair cut. She loves going there since there are so many other dogs to hang out with. Here she is with her new (very short) haircut.

The photo above was taken at my office. She actually prefers to stay on the boat if I'm at work since she gets bored just sitting around watching me work. At least on the boat she has the odd visitor (infrequent "odd" as opposed to weird "odd") stopping by to say hello and give her a pat and there is always something interesting to watch on the river. If I have to work at night then I take her with me and she is happy to just rest at my feet while I work.

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Since the weather is getting cooler I have put down a floor rug I bought a while ago for Cutty. It's an old traditional Turkish rug and Cutty loves to lay on it. I told her I bought it especially for her birthday and she seemed impressed.

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21 May - I was running a bit later than normal for work this morning and since I start pretty early I don't usually get to see so much daylight. As I was heading off I happened to look up and saw a hot air balloon drifting above. I looked at the scene, took a deep breath and thought, I really do have it pretty good here. How many people get to wake up to this each morning and walk to their office within 2 minutes.

I ran down below, grabbed my camera and got a shot for you. The balloon was traveling pretty quickly up there despite there being no wind down at ground level.

and a close up.

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24 May - Today was "BOATSHOW DAY". I have been looking forward to this for a while and was determined to make it. Usually the weekends just pass by so quickly, by the time I do my washing, clean the boat, fill water tanks etc.. the weekend has gone and I've done nothing. This weekend was going to be different.

Cutty and I headed down to the boat show at about 8am. It's a bit tricky to get to and parking/transport can be a hassle, so we jumped in a cab and that allowed us to pull up right out the front.

Taking Cutty is like taking a child. I had to pack her a lunch, water, bowl and a towel. My organizational skills have definitely improved since I've got Cutty. I also filled myself a thermos of coffee (the way I like it) just in case it was too busy when we got there.

Fortunately by arriving early it wasn't at all crowded. There were all the usual production boats lined up.

We walked around looking at inflatables and the outdoor stalls.

I suppose many people come to look at the big super yachts. The one in the background had its own helipad.

Here is another in the background. These boats were enormous (and ugly). I'm sure some people really like them though. My idea of boating is to get away from everything and everyone and I couldn't think of anything worse than being stuck on a boat with a crew.

Here's an interesting item. A boat with "sealegs". You can literally drive this boat onto the beach and then keep going.

Ah, now this is more my style (although it doesn't have a sail). This company makes little tug boats in the traditional style. Very cute.

It was time for lunch and we found a nice little grassy spot out of the hustle and bustle.

Cutty had some lunch and finished off with a pigs ear. These keep her busy for a while and give me an opportunity to do what I need to.

After lunch it was time to relax in the shade. Cutty loves to climb on top of me and lay down. Portuguese Water Dogs have been described as being like velcro. I know why.

Here's another model of the little tug boats.

We walked around some more and came across some enormous engines. These engines almost look like a novelty display, like a giant outboard but this is the true size. Might get one for the dink.

One product I hadn't seen before were these "ultra anchors" which are made in Turkey and are full stainless steel. I was impressed with the self righting ability of these anchors and if they weren't over $2000 for a 45lb'er I'd probably buy one.

Of course there were plenty of big plastic fuel guzzlers. Nice but not my style and honestly if someone wanted to swap me one for my old Westsail I'd decline. (although I'd definitely be interested in selling it immediately, pocketing the cool million and then buying back my westsail.)

We got to the indoor exhibits and came across Brian & Allison who own and operate "OceanSolutions". They are the fine folks who supplied and installed my dickinson heater last year and they were really happy to see Cutty. As I had a look around the stall Cutty stretched out for a break. Brian & Allison sell a range of items including heaters, bbq's and stoves/ovens and carry out all manner of maintenance and installation works. Brian did a great job on my heater installation and went out of his way to assist me. OceanSolutions can be found at www.oceansolutions.com.au

We left Brian & Allison and walked around looking at all the high tech stuff and then came across a great little stall by "Boatcraft". They specialise in traditional boat items and it's the first time I've managed to find bronze shackles. I don't know why bronze isn't still in fashion for boaters. Stainless steel has a safe working life of 5 years conservatively. Maybe 10 if its not stressed but I wouldn't let anything go past 5 years personally. The more I learn about stainless steel and the more cheap "stainless steel" I see coming from China, the more I dislike and distrust it. If you don't believe me, do your own research and I think you will be very surprised. Just because it says "stainless steel" doesn't mean it's high quality. Bronze on the other hand (as far as I know) doesn't work harden and does not suffer corrosion like stainless steel eventually does. It also appears to have reasonable working loads. For instance a bronze D shackle with a 10mm pin has an approx. breaking strain of 2400kg. That's pretty impressive and the cost is not that much more than a high quality rated stainless shackle from a company like Ronstan. I'm not aware of any problem with bronze and I believe that it will last for 100 years. If I ever change my chainplates on the Westsail I'll be using bronze.

See, I wasn't making it up. Here is the rating of the shackles. If you want a supplier take a look at www.boatcraft.com.au

Now this stall was really interesting. Rescue Tape is an impressive product with a multitude of uses. Gerard is the bloke selling the tape and was very helpful demonstrating it.

Below is an assortment of taped items including water/fuel hoses, electrical terminals, tool grips, rigging terminals etc.. The tape is self fusing, heat resistant (up to 260c) is not gummy or sticky like electrical tape and fuel, acid and solvent resistant. I bought 2 rolls in bright orange to keep onboard for emergencies. I can foresee using it for engine leaks or if a water hose packs it in. I think this is a great product and was really impressed. Hopefully I don't have to use it, but it has a really long shelf life so it can sit onboard for years.

We had a really big day and Cutty was fantastic. She was so perfectly behaved and put up with me dragging her from stall to stall. We left the boatshow, got a cab and within 5 minutes she was asleep at my feet. She really is such a sweetheart.

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25 May - Having been to the boa tshow yesterday I was freshly motivated to get the boat sorted. I recently picked up a "Mast Mate" for $100 . This is a nylon webbing set of steps which goes up the spare mast track and allows me to climb the mast to inspect and maintain the rig. I have been wanting to change my masthead light globe over to an LED so this was a good time. I put the mast mate to work and within 5 mintues I was climbing up the mast. I inspected the rig as I went and was a bit shocked to find what I did. The rig was professionally done but there are some items I'm not happy with which I should have inspected sooner.

The plate which is attached to the mast was not bent out at the correct angle and the shackle has been rubbing against the mast. There is so much wear that it would have been through the metal in the near future. Also the shackle is not moused and can't be since the pin doesn't have a hole in the head. I will be replacing the shackle next week.

I bent the chain plate out so it doesn't contact with the mast and I'll have to patch the scraped part so it doesn't start corroding.

and this is the masthead. It looks solid enough but I'm not happy with the size of the shackle pin. I will also replace it next week. At least it's moused.

I took the globe out of the masthead lamp and will replace it with an LED which will draw about 0.3 of an amp compared with 1.2 amps and I also never have to worry about the light failing since LED's have an enormous life span.

I took the opportunity to clean things up, straighten my VHF antenna and take in the view.

Below is Daemon the Kendall/Westail sailed by Jill & Bruce from N.Z.

and looking straight down. You can see the mastmate steps which I used to climb the mast. Cutty is down there somewhere. I really need to clean the boat. It looks pretty messy from up here.

As I was climbing down, Al from "Zenataos" a big catamaran on the pile moorings was cruising past. He wondered what was going as Cutty was looking a bit agitated and looking straight up the mast. Of course he looked up and saw me on my way down. He was kind enought to take same shots.

You can see the "mastmate" running up the mast in the photo below.