Journal Entries

November 2005

1 November - The more time I spend living onboard the more I realise how the simple things are often the best. I will be fitting new high tech l.e.d lighting in the very near future but I have always loved the thought of having a traditional ships oil lantern. I decided to fit a beautiful dutch made brass gimballed lantern. It creates such a nice atmosphere and I use a rose scented clean burning oil which smells nice. (I mean that in a very masculine kind of way)

Here is a photo of the lamp mounted to the saloon bulkhead. How romantic, dinner for one. I think I'll send myself some flowers tomorrow.

Despite work being a killer at the moment, life is exceptionally good. Here is a photo of where I am moored in the little marina in the heart of the city. It doesn't get any more convenient than this. I literally step off the boat and there I am. My office is a leisurely 10 minute walk away.

19 November - This weekend was the first time in a long time that I have been able to do some work on the boat. I'm sure all boat owners have a list of jobs to do which they can't keep up with. Mine is pretty extensive but manageable. I finally replaced my life lines. I bought all the fittings and cables some time ago, but needed to get them swaged. So this morning I jumped on my bicycle and went for a ride out to the chandlery where they have a hydraulic swaging machine. It cost me $35 for 8 fittings to be done. It takes them literally 10 seconds to do each fitting. I really don't like being ripped off, but that's boating I suppose. Here is a photo of the new fittings and cable where it attaches to the bowsprit. Everything is heavy duty 5mm stainless steel.

Here is a picture looking forward. I also gave my stanchion posts and chain plates a clean and polish.

My anchors were looking a little rusty so I decided to give them some paint. I read somewhere that painting your anchor white helps locating it if you lose it or just want to see where it is in clear water. I used 'killrust" epoxy paint which should help prevent rusting. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts. My anchors consist of the following:-

1 x 45lb CQR, 1 x 35lbCQR, 1 x 35lb Bruce.

The photo below shows the 45lb CQR and the Bruce anchor. I don't really see the point in having the 35lb CQR as a spare because I like to use as heavy an anchor as possible. I will probably get rid of it and get another 45lb CQR as a spare.

and finally today I decided to change the colour of my speaker covers. It's just a minor thing but they were pretty ugly against the timber. Black looks alright in a car, but when everything else around them is timber and brass I thought gold would be more appropriate. I bought a spray can of gold paint and gave them a few good coatings. You can see the old black colour in one of the photos above where my lamp is. I am actually surprised at how well they turned out. The gold colour looks much more subtle than in the photo.

So that was my Saturday. Unfortunately I am back in the office tomorrow trying to finish off some work so I can go sailing over Christmas. I am really looking forward to getting away for a couple of weeks. I hope to do pretty much the same thing as last year.

21 November - I am back at work this morning. I applied another coat of paint to my anchors yesterday and then headed into the office for a while.

My neighbour asked me if I wanted to go out last night to a local pub, so I thought I probably should get out and went along. Ever since I decided to live on my boat and work toward going cruising permanently, I have seen the world and particularly the society I live in from a totally different perspective. There I was last night in a pub surrounded by people who seemed to be lost. The girls were all dressed up in tiny little skirts and ultra high heels. They wore bright coloured lipstick and heavy makeup and walked around taking tiny little steps trying to avoid toppling over should those little heels buckle. They drank brightly coloured vodka drinks and seemed to chatter about nothing. It reminded me of one of those animal kingdom documentaries where the birds strut around dancing and ruffling their feathers in an attempt to attract a mate. I looked around to see if there was a girl wearing jeans and a t-shirt and maybe some boat shoes. There was none. It's a strange world.