Boat prep and Northward bound

Boat preparations are going well, but not without the normal number of hiccups.

A couple of jobs hanging over from her lift out are yet to be finalised. The toe rails are yet to be replaced and I have been advised they will be wood and not nylon as previously advise. Lighter but more maintenance in the long run. The new fridge and freezer lids are also not yet installed yet and are kinda necessary.

When re-commissioning the water maker the low pressure pump burnt out. This was made slightly worse by the fact there was no fuse protection so it got somewhat toasty before I realised. It took about half an hour to cool down enough for me to pick it up without protection. When replacing it, I did take the opportunity to move to to a more accessible location (it was under the floor in the galley). This required some pipework adjustments and some wiring mods. Once complete I was a little surprised when, at first it, didn’t run at all. This turned out to be a blown fuse in the now fuse protected wiring. With this replaced things still weren’t as they should have been. More head scratching and a little testing and we realised the pump was running in reverse. As it turned out, so was the old one. Previous “bright sparks” were too lazy to pipe it up correctly so they just reversed the positive and negative to make the pump run in the way they piped it and not fix the pipework!!! A quick wiring change and we were away. Not only was everything running smoother, quieter and easier to service, but now with the pump was running as the designer intended, the pressures and flows were now what they should have been and this has resulted in better quality water.

There has also been some work in the hydraulic department. We have had issues in the past and we found quite a bit of hydraulic oil when we were surveying the boat. We traced this down to a corroded reservoir and a leaky suction hose. Again we decided to improve the system while fixing. The reservoir was moved from the steering quadrant compartment to right next to the hydraulic panel and the suction hose replaced. We also found a much better way to fix the hydraulic pump when it gets an air lock. Of course now we have a new technique, we’ll never need it!

Big thanks to Claudia Thackray for her assistance with these engineering tasks.

I may have also tempted Sarah to come and haunt me. Not only have I re-organised the kitchen, but I have also removed some of the many, many, many platters (SOOO MANY PLATTERS). I have also reduced the boat to only 3 coffee making methods and a single kettle. This has freed up some cupboard space and, in my opinion, the stowage is a little more logical (Pete logic is different to Sarah logic, ask any of the crew). Just to be fai though I have reduced the number of tools and spares I’m carrying.

Once I have the fridge lids we can load the food that Lindy and I slaved over on Sunday. We have cooked 6 meals for 4 crew and still had plenty left over. Guess what I’m eating this week? The menu for the trip is lamb rogan josh, red chicken curry, chicken risotto, chilli con carne, lasagna, and spaghetti bolognaise. According to Lindy’s meal plan we are also going to catch some fish and have sushi or Goa fish curry or something.

Saturday (10th) will be a stowage and prep day. Stowage will include the loading of the “fizzy sports drink”. Crew have been instructed to provide at least a 6 pack and it has to be French, no excuses!

Wine-Dark Sea is planning to leave for Magnetic Island on Sunday 11th August after a leisurely breakfast at Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. The delivery crew is Greg Lake, Lindy Hardcastle, Byron Ross and I. Forecast modelling suggests we’ll get to Southport in 2 days. There Byron will leave us and the remain 3 will jump up the coast. We have a bit of a plan but I don’t want to give away too many spoilers

If you are in Sydney this weekend, drop in and say G’day. Any time Saturday or Sunday morning.