Journal Entries

October 2005

1 October - This entry is actually from 26th of last month but becuase my webhosting server has been down for two weeks I have moved it into this months. I managed to get some time away from work this weekend to install my new watertank. What was seemingly an easy job turned into something more difficult due to my lack of tools onboard In the end I bought some new tools (including a huge screw driver) and finished the job.

Below is a photo of the old aluminium tank in place (looking aft). I had two of these but removed the other some time ago.

The two stainless steel straps holding the tank down were screwed into the bilge floor and were very difficult to remove. That being the reason I needed to buy a new screwdriver.

It's coming out...

and gone. I took this opportunity to give the bilge a good scrub and hosed it out.

This is the old aluminium tank laying next to the larger new tank on the dock.

This is the reason I wanted to get rid of the aluminium tank. The white stuff on my fingers is an example of the build up contained in the tank. This is all over the internal walls. That's why I would never drink the water from these tanks.

and finally all plumbed in, being filled and even a strainer on the outlet. All that is left to do is secure it properly so that if the boat ever rolls over in bad weather it is not going to land on top of me.

The final result is fantastic. I also installed a new tap head so everything to do with my water supply is pretty much new.

7 October - I took delivery of my 3 new batteries on the weekend. They are sealed AGM 100 amp hour (each) 12volt units, manufactured by GNB in the U.S. As far as batteries go, these things are damn sexy! They have a design life of 12 years maintenance free, can safely operate at any angle, even upside down/under water and can charge many times quicker than a regular wet cell battery. (see below)

My old battery setup consists of 4 x 6 volt Trojan 105 amp hour units. This gives me a total of 220 amp hours at 12volts. Realistically however I only have a maximum of 110 amp hours as the old technology batteries should never be drained more than 50%. The new AGM batteries are able to be drained up to 80% without adversely affecting them (not that I would ever drain them below 50% anyway) and at 50% I still have 150 amp hours. I have some work ahead of me replacing the old ones as ideally I would like to move the batteries out of the engine room. I also need to install my wind generator and update solar panels to increase my charge capacity.

17 October - This last weekend was a good one. I managed to get some time to relax and also made a (another) start on those portals. I still haven't finished and I suppose it will be one of those jobs which I do one per month when I get the time.

I have been thinking recently about my long term plans and where I want to be in 20 years time. I plan to be out of Brisbane in 4 years time, but have no set itinerary after that. I do want to be financially secure and have some base or real estate to come back to and I have been giving New Zealand consideration. After trawling the internet looking at real estate prices and the beautiful landscape I am rapidly falling in love with that place. I can also work there easily and a few months ago I decided to set up a practice there. Hopefully all the formalities will be out of the way within the next month and I can start to do some work over there. My office will be located in Auckland which is the largest most cosmopolitan city in NZ (and also conveniently known as the city of sails) and this will allow me to start spending some time there getting to know the different areas (and of course sample the sailing).