Journal Entries

April 2005

1 April - Today I bought some new gear for the boat. Ever since my first voyage from Sydney I have navigated manually by paper charts. The GPS onboard is a very good one but it is poorly positioned for solo navigation. I decided to lash out and buy a new handheld colour GPS chart plotter which I can mount up on deck when sailing. This will also work as a backup GPS unit if the other fails. This little unit has everything built in, including marine charts for all of the Pacific. I am glad I learnt to navigate manually and will always have paper charts as a backup, but this certainly makes things easier when single handing.

My existing icom vhf radio is not conveniently positioned and it is virtually impossible to use it from the cockpit. I thought about relocating it near the companionway, however I decided to buy a handheld vhf which will work as a backup unit and if I ever need to abandon ship in an emergency I can take it with me. I decided to stick with Icom as it seems to have the best reputation.

Below is my Magellan Meridian Colour GPS and the Icom handheld vhf radio.

I also bought a new 3700 gallon per hour bilge pump. I hope never to need it, but I will have it installed as a backup to the existing automatic bilge pump. This unit is the largest available and should keep the boat afloat for at least a few hours should I accidentally put a hole in it.

2 April - I spent most of the weekend polishing bits and pieces on the boat and putting the final coats of oil on the butterfly hatch. The result is outstanding and I will begin the rest of the interior next week. Colin finally got his W32 and sailed her from Scarborough and up the river to the marina. There are now 2 Westsail 32's sitting back to back in the marina. As there are only a handful of these boats in Australia I think it is now the unofficial headquarters of the Australian chapter of the Westsail owners association.

Below is a picture of Colin's Westsail 32 arriving at the marina.

Here is a picture of most of my dock neighbours. We were all there to welcome Colin & his new yacht. From Left to right is Craig ("Solitary Man"), Warwick & Amanda ("Wiikiri"), Colin ("Soya") and Simon (Hartley).

Here is a comparison picture of Colin's"soya" below

and my "el viajero" taken at night looking down onto the marina.

3 April - I have been searching for some bronze or brass butterfly vents to use in various places on the yacht. They are difficult to come by and the only ones I have been able to find have been cheap brass reproductions or the regular cheap and nasty stainless steel ones. Just by chance the other day I came across a beautiful old butterfly vent. It had "S.S. VICTORIA 1934" engraved on it and was being sold ignorantly as a "brass vent". I quickly bought it for a bargain price (which was cheaper than the nasty reproductions) and only upon closer inspection did I discover it was actually polished bronze. What a find! Here it is.

I did some research on the vent and discovered that it came from and old sailing/steam ship actually launched in 1870 and named "PARTHIA". Photo of the Steamship Parthia.

The "PARTHIA" was used for various purposes and underwent numerous refits until it was renamed "S.S. VICTORIA" . In 1934, the S.S. Victoria had the honour of making the very first Arctic cruise of the Alaska SS Co. and I am guessing that the engraving on the butterfly vent indicates the significance of that cruise. If you are interested in more information about the S.S. VICTORIA click here

I haven't yet decided where I'll use the vent, but it will certainly be a conversation piece.

5 April - I was working on the interior timber tonight and I heard a loud bang. As I went up on deck I saw that there were fireworks. It was a huge display just off the end of the dock. This has happened a few times since I've been here and it's always a nice surprise. I managed to get some photos this time. What a fantastic place to live.

7 April - Each night this week I have been working on the interior of the yacht. I was never happy with the shelves above the galley sink and had considered having them closed in with teak doors. After seeing Colin's boat I decided to remove the shelves completely. What a difference that made. I took some photos of the changes but they don't do the boat justice. The boat looks so much more spacious now. Below is a photo of how the yacht was originally.

and after the removal of the shelves above the sink. This is how it looks currently.

I had planned to go for a trip this weekend, but I have been on such a mission to sand and oil the interior timber I think I will spend the weekend doing that. The weather is not looking so good anyway. There is some varnish on the interior and I will need to remove all of it before applying the new oil. The varnish is looking old and tired and has already peeled in some places. Below is a photo of one part of the interior timber I have sanded back and oiled. You can see the difference between the small panel above the engraved numbers which has been treated with only 1 coat of oil and where the numbers are engraved which hasn't been done. It's going to be a huge and time consuming job. I suppose that's one advantage of not having a social life. Friday and Saturday nights can be spent working on the boat.

8 April - I hope to sell my radar within the next couple of weeks. It is old and much bulkier than the new technology. I have very little use for a radar at the moment as most of my sailing is in a warm climate where there is no fog and the odd time I may get heavy rain and can't see, I'll just make do the best I can. I will buy a new unit just before I set off on a big international voyage.

There was also a secondary fish finder/depth sounder which the previous owner installed on a pvc pole which would hang from the very back of the boat. I'm getting rid of this as well as I don't see how having a backup depth sounder hanging off the back of the boat is particularly useful, especially since I want to know what the depth of water is in front of me and I don't fish.

14 April - Since Colin's boat has come from the U.S. , Australian quarantine considers it necessary to fumigate it. The boat has been here for 3 years, but now that it is officially being imported it must be done. Today a fumigation team attended the marina, taped up every hole on the yacht and put a tank of poison inside. They will come back tomorrow and remove all the tape. Poor Colin was homeless again for a night and he stayed onboard Simon's boat.

15 April - I haven't had much chance to do any work on the boat this week, but I did buy some new docklines as the old ropes were on their way out. I bought some beautiful 20mm black double braided lines which I had spliced at one end. This is the Rolls Royce of dock lines but I really wanted something good quality, which would last and I got it at the right price. I also inserted some clear pvc pipe into the bronze hawse pipes to stop any chaffing on the ropes. You can see the pvc sleeves in the picture below.

and the new docklines set as springers.

I hope to get away for a few days next week. It is a long weekend next week and I may try to leave Thursday night and return Monday night. This will depend on my work situation next week and how much I can get through. I may even be able to take some work with me.

17 April - What a great weekend this was. Yesterday (Saturday) morning I was up at 6am and took my push bike for a ride to West End to get breakfast. It is about a 15 - 20 minute leisurely ride and there are some really great little cafes. West End has a real inner city grunge feel to it. Heaps of bohemian types and it's interesting to watch the passing pedestrians while eating breakfast. I did a few odd jobs on the boat in the afternoon and went to the hardware store to buy some bits and pieces I needed. In the evening I just relaxed and watched a DVD. I don't have a television onboard. I decided to sell my television when I moved onto the boat. It was way too big and I haven't missed it at all. I used to waste around 3 hours per night watching it and now I always find things to do of an evening and have to force myself to go to bed at around midnight each night. If I want to watch a movie on the weekends I just put a DVD on my laptop.

Today (Sunday) I was up early again and got an early start on the boat. I wanted to sand and coat the caprails and rubrails today. I have been using this great product called Cetol instead of varnish and the results have been very impressive. I had originally just applied a couple of coats, but I am now learning that if I apply 4-5 coats it creates a really nice (and long lasting) effect. Cetol comes in a marine variety but having spoken to someone at the manufacturer I was convinced that the standard Cetol is exactly the same, only cheaper.

I not only finished the caprails and rubrails, but also did the bathroom cabinet doors, the side stay rails and the boom gallows. A productive day indeed. I will try to put another couple of coats on during the week. I have decided to use Cetol on the interior as well, after trying a regular oil which didn't really give me the desired finish. At least now I will only need to buy 1 product to use on the interior and exterior.

I hear so many people say that they don't like to have any timber on their boats due to the required maintenance. They say they love the look but not the work. Especially cruising folk. I really don't understand this because it only takes a day or 2 every 9 - 12 months (perhaps 6 months in the tropics) if using a product like Cetol. Varnish may be a different story, but really... what do these people do when they are cruising. Surely a couple of days work would be a welcome change to sitting around all day looking at the scenery.

18 April - I met with Roger, (the previous owner of Colin's westsail 32) this afternoon. He had mentioned a book to me some time ago called "World Cruising Routes" which he wanted to drop off to me. The book documents just about every passage imaginable on the planet. It is an amazing book and one which I shouldn't be reading just yet as it really makes me just want to leave on a world voyage. We sat at the local cafe for a couple of hours talking about sailing and drinking beer. He has some amazing stories and has lived on his yacht for the past 22 years. Since he has now sold his yacht, Roger will be leaving for Thailand within the next few days to live permanently with his wife. It is so good to listen to his adventures sailing around the Pacific and I hope to keep in touch with him. I foresee a trip to Thailand in the very near future to pay him a visit. He is a man who has truly experienced life. Here is a photo of us, you can see the book in front of me. I don't normally drink but I considered the privilege of Roger's company a special occassion and after 4 (maybe 5 I can't remember) bottles of beer, I stumbled back to the boat. I climbed into my bed, opened that book to page 450, "Queensland to New Caledonia" and after reading the first paragraph, fell asleep (actually I passed out) dreaming of open oceans, rolling swells and far off lands.

22 April - Simon has decided to move his boat to Mooloolaba with his girlfriend Sheree. It's not a particularly long trip but will take a couple of days to get there. He has been preparing his yacht thoroughly as this is his first trip out of Moreton Bay and offshore. I spent some time with him over the last couple of days running through navigation and radio techniques. I used a handheld compass for most of my 600 nautical miles offshore from Sydney to Brisbane and those simple navigation skills served me well.

He planned to leave tonight at around midnight and sail over to Moreton Island. He will spend Saturday there, then leave Sunday morning for Bribie Island, then to Mooloolaba. Here is a photo of Simon and Sheree leaving the marina just after midnight.

and in the left of this photo you can just make out Simon's mast light as he is running with the outgoing tide.

23 April - I had planned to go sailing this weekend, however the weather has turned pretty bad. Colin is out on the bay today and called me to tell me he was heading back in. Simon made it to the open water on Moreton Bay, but was hit by heavy winds and rain. He turned back in the early hours of the morning and spent the night in the protected anchorage of fisherman's island at the entrance of the Brisbane river. He will spend the day there and assess the weather tonight.

Having decided not to head out this weekend I thought it was a good time to finish off the exterior timber work. The main hatch still had old varnish on it and although it was in reasonably good condition I didn't want any varnish on my boat. This meant having to strip all the existing varnish off with a heat gun and scraper before sanding and finally applying cetol. Here is a photo of the existing varnish. You can see that it is beyond sanding and recoating. That is one of the awful things about varnish. As soon as it starts to peel, it must be scraped off to bare timber.

Here is part of the hatch scraped away.

and about 90% of the varnish gone.

24 April - I spent the entire day sanding the main hatch and preparing the grab rails along the cabin top. I also did some sanding on the interior. The entire boat was covered in sawdust again and I spent the night cleaning again. Here is the main hatch, sanding almost complete.

25 April - It was finally time to paint today. I applied the first coat of cetol. You can see the beautiful colour that it brings out of the timber.

and finally the first coat of cetol finished. It looks pretty dull in the photos but after several coats have been applied the cetol really builds up to a nice finish. I need to wait 16 hours between coats and I plan to apply another coat each morning before work.

This afternoon I was looking for some bits and pieces and went searching in the aft locker. It was so dirty inside that I couldn't help but take everything out and scrub it clean. I spent about 2 hours cleaning it and now it is absolutely spotless. I even found a 12volt water pump and some battery cables in there.

I spoke to Simon tonight at around 8pm. He had not long made it to Bribie Island. He had a good run today with around 20knots of wind and sailing at around 6 knots. He was pretty pleased with himself as he had a difficult time entering the harbour due to night fall, but he successfully plotted his course with his compass and made a safe entry. I'm sure those basic navigation skills will stay with him forever.

26 April - I managed to get another coat of cetol on before work this morning. It looked like rain at around 5am but fortunately it held off.

Simon sent me an sms this afternoon. He arrived safely at Mooloolaba at around 5pm and said that he and Sheree had a perfect sail.