Around Darwin

 (Darwin City skyline from the sea)

(Afternoon wet season storm approaches the marina)

(The sunsets in the west and the storm lights up in the east)

 

 

We have not done a great deal in the last week or so after finishing the work on Rob's yacht 'Babe'. We had to lift 'Babe' out of the water last Monday afternoon at Spot On Marine as we had a small problem with the depth gauge. Since putting in the new keel we found that the new keel is around 80mm further forward and the depth gauge was indicating the depth of the keel rather than the depth of the sea.

Monday at 1730 hours we lifted out on the travel lift and stayed in the slings with ground supports for 24 hours this allowed Rob to drill a new hole further forward and fit a new transducer so Nancy and I helped Rob take the yacht around to Spot On Marine and bring her back the next day.

(Larrakeyah Point, the waterfront cliffs are eroding away as they are soft rock)



(Nancy on 'Babe' as we head back towards Darwin Harbour)

('Octopus' visits Darwin, it is one of the worlds 13 largest super yachts, owned by Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft, more information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_(yacht) This yacht has 2 choppers, 2 submarines, it has a 19m tender inside the transom)

 

I have had work to do aboard our boat with the job list that never ends, as one job is complete some other item shows up. The other day the galley 12 volt fan decided to stop working so I got another fan and replaced it but it still did not work in the end I had to run a new cable and re-wire the fan. Other uninteresting work was to replace one of the anchor chain rollers and repair the channel where the chain slides from the winch to the roller it had worn a groove in the wear plates. They say you never finish a job list on a boat, one American thought he had finished all the jobs on his list and two weeks later his yacht sank, so it is not wise to say all the jobs are done one has to keep looking for more items to stay afloat.

I have made some planks up with rubber on the one side to assist us to get out of this marina lock. We were going to test them this Easter weekend but the weather deterred us from going out for the weekend. I went and measured the inner lock gate as that is the narrowest gate and it is 7.2 metres, we are 6.93 metres wide giving us a clearance of 135mm on each side, the boards with the rubber foam are 65mm wide which leaves a gap of 70mm each side, it will be fun, I put a few scratches on each side the boat coming in I am trying to prevent that happening again.

Yesterday (Easter Sunday) we went into town for lunch and had a walk around, we were so looking forward to get out for the weekend but the weather was not the best and we did not know what that low pressure system was going to do. So we had a nice lunch and I think Nancy was very pleased to get off the boat and out of the marina.

(How to cast a bait net)

(Double Barred Finch, we have a few around the marina)

(This is Henry the cod that resides near Rob and Alison's dock)

 

We have one month left before we head out of the marina, we probably will not leave Darwin straight away as we want to get out on the water and make sure all is well, I need to beach the boat so I can change anodes and check the bottom and we need to plan our voyage which we have not done in detail at this point. We probably will not go down the west coast until spring, it is not good to go before this time and I am not that eager to head down for a winter. At least when we get underway I will have more to write about.

Cheers

Darwin - What wet season ??? Changing a Keel

 

We have not had a wet season other than a few days rain. The first sign of the monsoon season this year was around the 20 January when we had four days rain, however, when the low pressure intensified in the Gulf of Carpentaria and formed into a cyclone it took the rain with it and dropped it on Queensland and NSW. The fact is that when we researched the weather through weather sites I have previously listed in an effort to decide whether we came to Darwin for the cyclone season, many indicated that the activity would be in the east and it has really shown that in the past couple of months.

There have been three cyclones on the Australian coast so far this season two in the west one that stayed off the coast and one that is crossing the coast as I punch the keyboard and the one that formed in the Gulf causing the flooding all down the east coast.

We had seen some rain and drop of temperatures so the monsoons have returned but that low pressure off WA that is now a cyclone 'Rusty' has dragged the monsoons with it away from Darwin.

There have been many storms around the top end but it often moves away from Darwin City itself, I have watched it on the met radar heading towards Darwin City and Harbour area and split into two and go around us. I have a theory why some storms do this and that is the new topography of Darwin. Darwin has a lot more tar and cement these days including high rise buildings, the heat that these surfaces generate may well affect air flow, tall buildings like hillsides also affect air flow and this may affect changes to the norm in the past. Well it's a theory.

What have we been doing???

We have really had an easy time most days as it has been too hot to really get into anything outside, Nancy has been doing her photography as you may have all seen through her blog site, (her link is on this page to the right). I have been doing a few repairs to the boat and assisting Rob when he needs a hand on 'Babe', his yacht that we have been changing the keel and all its surrounding parts. A very big job but it is nearly complete, we actually put the new keel in for that last time today. I must say it has been an experience and I have learnt a fair bit about cutting large holes in yachts and  fibre glass work.

('Babe' on the hard at Dinah Beach Club, photo by Dale the welder)

(Left - Old keel casing, right New keel casing)

(Left top - Old keel, Left Bottom- Keel bulb waiting for new foil)

(Right from top- Keel hole after keel casing removed, Keel hole from inside with string lines to ensure new casing bed is perfectly square, keel hole cleared of bad materials ready to rebuild.)

 

 

(Over the last few months Dale has been fabricating the new keel foil in his workshop as you can see it is quite a fabrication)

 

 

 

 (Note the wedges made to lift the inner structure hard against the outer casing before welding)

 

One of the biggest jobs I have had to do on our boat besides the gel coat repairs around the area of the trampolines that I have already covered was the removing of the fuel tank for repair. I have found that the Leopard 42 Catamaran was designed with easy access to most areas engines are easy to pull in and out, same with water tanks. The fuel tanks are easy to remove with the exception that you need to get to the filler hose behind the aft bulkhead of the forward head/shower to pull the hose clear to lift the tank out. To get behind the bulkhead you have to remove the vanity cabinet and its surround the deck head and then struggle with a tight fitting section of bulkhead. I have now fixed that problem by cutting the bulkhead section just below the area of the vanity surround, shaving the sides so it is a loose fit. If I need to get to the filler hose or the hoses for the head I can now do it by removing four screws.

I have a list of jobs to be completed over the next few weeks and usually work from early morning until around midday when it get too hot.

I have had to replace the engine start batteries as the one on the starboard engine failed so I figured it won't be too long before the port engine battery throws the towel in so replaced both. I also learned that the smart marine electricians in the Abel Point Marina complex that did some work for me at a very high hourly rate also supplied these batteries (AGM) and told me they were good start batteries but now I find out they do not have the ratings for start (crank) batteries and that is why they have failed. Most start batteries (good ones) should last 3 to 5 years if you look after them, these lasted 2 years. What is ironic is this company 6 months after I had used their services sent me an email stating that people had complained about their hourly rate and have now dropped it to $80 per hour. If I have to use someone's service I do not mind paying if it is good service and they supply good items. But I would say even $80 per hour for the speed these guys worked is too much. Well there's my gripe for the day.

The big problem yachties have is that boats normally relate to being wealthy and in a lot of cases this can be correct, but there is a lot of us out here sailing that definitely do not fall into that group. I went into a marine electronics place the other day a sign on the wall stated the hourly rate was $120 per hour it did say that they charge in 6 minute increments and we wonder why we live in a throw away world. You really have to look at what you want repaired or replaced.

Much later....

I am finding it hard to write things when we are marina bound, the jobs on our boat are not interesting enough to write about and when we finish 'Babe' I will put a few pictures and a little movie together about it.

(When reshaping the keel hole we found some bad construction work so had to do further modifications to ensure a strong and sturdy structure for the new keel casing and keel)

(Left - New keel hole, Rob checking all secure, Right - Rob relaxes after another milestone completed with me using the test timber for a perfect rectangle hole to the correct size)

(No, not a glass bottom boat. The Perspex is a template for drilling the holes in the stainless steel keel casing securing plates, time for a beer)

(New keel casing put in place, Centre top, Dale has welded stays inside the casing when they are broken off the casing will spring tight against the sides and the sealant oozes out from it, Rob ensures the sealant is around the bolts, later we glass over the whole area sand and the form the keel hole again)

(Checking the operation of the hydraulic keel, the keel in place)

Monday 11 March 2013

The big day when 'Babe' hits the water. As we got everything ready and waited for the crane to arrive Rob happened to say. "Last time we did this it poured rain". Well it happened again the crane arrived and the sky opened up and it poured. I must give it to the crane operators crew they just kept on working and we all ended up drown rats. The good part about it is the rain is warm and it probably kept our temperatures to a good level.

(Top left - 'Babe' is lifted off the blocks, top right- Rob and I looking the part, bottom left- touching up the antifouling, bottom right- ready to splash)

('Babe' (The Pig on a Mission) going back in the water.)

Once in the water Rob and Dale checked for any leaks before the crane removed the slings and then we were off we had a tight schedule to get to the marina lock no later than 1715 hours because after that the high tide goes above 7 metres and there is a safety limit where the lock gates do not operate above a 7 metre tide, too much pressure on the inner drop gate.

We went through the lock and got alongside at Rob's dock at his house once all secure we had  a beer in our dripping wet garb. Alison had to shuffle the crew back to their respective places so I walked back to the marina and got showered and changed. We then all went to the Dinah Beach Club for dinner and a few more drinks. Well we had to wet the 'Babe'.

Rob was saying it would be good to go in Sunday's Wet Season Race there are only two races left in the season, there was still a fair amount of work to do to 'Babe' before that could happen.

 

Later.....

The next job was to get 'Babe' ready for the second last wet season race which was at 1330 hours on Sunday 17th. Well Saturday and Sunday morning was very busy we worked till death knock. This was the shake down for the new keel. Some of the tasks were the sail bag and sails had to be put back on and all lines, sheets and halyards plus some hardware that Rob still had to shape and fit..

Rob had booked the lock opening for 1100 hours Sunday come Sunday that was put back to 1200 hours with a questionable tide depth. We could not wire up the new depth gauge so it was going to be navigation by brail. The new keel is 200mm deeper than the old one 'Babe' now has a draft of 1.8 metres. We got out without touching the bottom. I had mentioned to Rob that I had checked the wind charts or should that be no wind charts it was going to be 0 - 5 knots from the SW.

When we got into Darwin Harbour near the start line the wind was absent all the yachts had the sails up and some of us were going backwards with the tidal flow, fortunately the tide was about to change in favour of the race direction at least on the way out but not coming back.

Five minutes before we start and no wind an occasional light breeze, it took ages to get over the start line but then once we crossed the afternoon sea breeze kicked in and we got away. One of the problems we had at the start was one yacht that should have given way to us did not and we were about to 'T' Bone it and we had to take evasive action to avoid it and that took us off the wind then we had no steerage, then another yacht was heading towards us that we had to fend off. Nearly everyone had trouble getting over that start line.

It was very hot out there and we all looked for the shade once we finished sail movements. Rob was pleased with the new keel, he felt that he is pointing better into the wind and we actually gained on quite a few yachts and passed them once we had the wind the only problem we had was the downwind return we had not loaded the spinnaker and it was really needed, we lost some ground on the return but still we went well.

After the race we returned to "Babe's' berth and then we went to the club for dinner and a few drinks, or was that a few more.

Cheers

Weather websites.

I thought I would re post some websites for weather watching many sailors are looking at heading off after the cyclone season and considering it has been a dry wet season so far the question is "Is it a late cyclone season?" Well I don't think we will move until May cyclones have been known to occur as late as ANZAC Day.

Well here are the websites I use there are many more if you wish to search the net but these do me.


http://www.bom.gov.au/

http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html

http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/main-menu/Weather-Tools/Customise.aspx

http://www.cmar.csiro.au/remotesensing/oceancurrent/

http://www.buoyweather.com/index2.jsp

http://metvuw.com/index.php

http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/

http://weather.org/stormwatch.htm

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/MJO/mjo.shtml

http://www.cmar.csiro.au/remotesensing/oceancurrent/

http://www.marine.csiro.au/~lband/web_point/

http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohemiloops/shirgmscol.html

Hope these help you.

Cheers

Darwin - Bombing of Darwin

0958 hours 19 February 1942

Aircraft were heard and seen in formation over Darwin and the air raid siren sounded, 188 Japanese Naval Aircraft had started bombing Darwin and lives were lost ships were sunk and there were more bombs dropped on Darwin than Pearl Harbour. The bombing continued for eighteen months. Most Australians were unaware of the additional attacks the government on the day placed everything in the 50 year Secrets Act, so it was not until that 50 years expired that Australians were allowed to tell their stories in book form. Probably with tourism in mind all these signs started to appear along the Stuart Highway between Darwin and Alice Springs indicating WWII Army Camps, Airstrips, Army Hospital, Ammunitions Bunkers, hidden fuel and oil tanks built inside of hills. The sad part of this is that many that served in the forces were not recognised as war service veterans because on record at the time indicated one only bombing on this day when it lasted for the eighteen month period.

(Three soldiers dressed as they would have dressed in 1942)

 

For more information see websitebelow:

http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/japanese-bombing-of-darwin

 0930 hours 19 February 2013

The ceremony started at the Darwin Cenotaph to commemorate the 71st Anniversary and at 0958 hours the sirens sounded the big guns fired and the jet did a flypasts.

(A young lady assisting a WWII veteran that served in Darwin during the bombings to his seat)

Nancy and I attended and whilst Nancy was busy taking photos a lovely lady sat next to me and we started a conversation, her name is Mary Lee and her ancestors were from the Philippines. We started to talk after introducing ourselves and I found her delightful and very sweet. She was born near the Old Police Paddock in 1931, she told me that was where all the migrants lived from other places like Italy and Greece,  she was 9 years old when she lost her Father in the bombing of Darwin, her Father was one of the wharf workers loading the merchant ship 'Neptuna' that was full of depth charges, his body was never found. They were moved to Katherine which was also bombed. Mary was one of nine children that her Mother had to bring up by herself, Mary told me her Mother was a wonderful woman and it was hard for her to find work to keep her children but she did find jobs and supported her family.

Mary also told me that her grandchildren were at the event today, one of her grandsons is a Police Officer and she said her granddaughter looks nothing like her she is blonde and has blue eyes. She is very proud of them. The Mayor of Darwin Katrina Fong Lim is a distant cousin. Mary has a lot of Darwin history and I only hope someone has documented it.

 

 

0958 hours - Air raid siren sounds -

The siren sounds to simulate what occurred 71 years ago, then jet planes were heard approaching as a flypast of five F/A 18 Aircraft, as the planes arrive 8/12th Regiment, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery commence firing of M2A2 (105mm) Howitzer Guns (4 of them), a Navy Patrol Boat patrols out in the range of the guns making sure other vessels stay clear. The noise is tremendous even though we were all supplied ear plugs to save our hearing.

There was the laying of the reefs and I assisted Mary to stand as she requires assistance to get about with her walking stick, her friend helped her with the laying of the reef as she was returning she passed the Mayor (Katrina) and when Mary returned to her seat she said that the Mayor said hello Aunty and Mary chuckled and said I did not know what to do because Katrina was with all the important people the Chief Minister. She said that is what Katrina calls her is Aunty.

(Mary Lee assisted by friend and escorted by a young sailor after laying a reef)

 

(Mary Lee (left) in traditional dress but is an Aussie through and through, she asked me what I was doing and where I was from, I told her I was sailing around Australia and her reply was "Goodonya")

There was the usual too long speeches by politicians which probably could have been shorter as a result two of the guards fainting near the end of their duty. It was a very hot and humid day for the guard to be standing at attention for an hour and twenty minutes, the only part of the body that can be moved is wiggling the toes to keep some circulation. I think the forces should change the guard at appropriate intervals.

(The Catafalque Party was made up of two female and two male service personnel, it was hot and humid and they had to stand in this one position for more than an hour)

At the end of the ceremony I helped Mary stand again and thanked her very much for her company, it was a pleasure talking to her and I probably have not remembered everything she told me.

Wednesday - 20/02/2013

Friends Graham and Fern have loaned us one of their cars and told us about the ceremony to be held today at Adelaide River so we left at 0730 hours and drove down there.

Adelaide River is village 125 kilometres south of Darwin and is where the dead from the bombing of Darwin were buried. Adelaide River was also a staging and area where stores and equipment was loaded onto trains. It was going to be the frontline if the Japanese invaded Darwin after the air raid.

Adelaide River also experienced the last bombing activity by the Japanese in November 1943 there was no further bombing in Australia after that.

The ceremony commenced at 1000 hours with the attendance of around 200 people, school children helped people with seating and made sure they had drinking water continually through the ceremony.

I thought the great thing was the involvement of the school children, the MC for the ceremony was Year 12 Student Tala Turner and she did a wonderful job. The start was by a Year 11 Student who sang and played guitar Saysha Ham, who sang 'I am Australian' beautiful voice.

It was another hot day and I take my hat off to the Catafalque Party and Flag Party that again stood in that one position for near the entire service.

(The official party at Adelaide River)

After the service I went over and spoke with Her Worship Lord Mayor of Darwin (Katrina) and told her that I had sat with Mary yesterday and was just thrilled to have her company and I took the opportunity to ask if someone had recorded the history she has and she assured me it had been done in fact Mary was in charge of all her side of the family history. I found Katrina was just as nice to talk to as Mary.

(Having a chat with the Lord Mayor of Darwin, Katrina Fong Lim)

Darwin Council do a very good job of looking after the WWII veterans and or relatives of the veterans from the bombing of Darwin times, there were two busloads of people that attended yesterday's ceremony that came to Adelaide River ceremony.

On the way back to Darwin we called in to have a look at the historic railway from WWII at Adelaide River then stopped at the Noonamah Pub (which is now called Noonamah Tavern), and had lunch before driving home.

Cheers

 

Darwin - sitting out the wet season.

(Darwin just before nightfall with a storm cell passing)

I have not written in the blog for some time which is due to the fact that there is not much exciting news to write about. Most of the week days have been spent working on the boat and weekends helping friend Rob with his boat.

(Mindil Beach sunset, during the dry season (April-October) they hold the famous Mindil Beach Markets, I believe it is so big now they hold it on two nights)

 

 

Although I must say we had a very nice Christmas and New Year. We had Christmas Day with Rob and Alison  and their family which was a great day with lots of food, they are a really nice family and we enjoyed the day very much.

New Years Eve we went to the Darwin Waterfront Precent where the main celebrations were being held with live entertainment and a 2100 hour Fireworks Display you the children and us oldies that did not want to stay till midnight. It was an alcohol and glass free area. The place was packed but plenty of room to walk about or sit.

(Happy New Year, they held a great show on the Waterfront Precent with live music and the firework display)

We have been out and about a few times for a look around and have lunches. We have found a few places that are value for money in the dining, The Cool Spot at Fannie Bay have hamburgers you can barely jump over, (slight exaggeration), but they are very filling. The Fox Ale House 85 Mitchell Street serve the good pub meals the plate is filled with food, the Dinah Beach Yacht Association Club open for evening meals and Saturday and Sunday lunches.

The weather has not changed much the wet has not properly set in so days are hot and humid at times with the occasional thunder storm at one stage they announced that the wet was arriving with the monsoonal trough moving down. However, this resulted in four days of rainy weather and lightening storms and then it went away. Most of the weather went towards Gove then formed a cyclone in the Gulf which the crossed land and brought all the nasty weather down the east coast. An earlier cyclone formed prior to this one and went down the west coast but stayed out to sea. We had cooler weather over the four days of rain periods to the extent that I had to adjust the air-conditioner during the night as it was too cold.

Nancy went away for ten days, she flew to NSW to see the grandchildren and when she came back my sister Jeanne and hubby John came to visit for a week so we had a good week with them here. A good friend of theirs drove them up here from the Alice because they had their new car stolen and wrecked just before Christmas. After their visit I then flew to Alice Springs to stay with them and visit my sweet Mother who is 91 in April, she cannot travel these days due to her knees, she has to use a walking frame when she walks, her body is letting her down but her mind is as sharp as a tack.

(A croc named 'Wendel' at the Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, this place is right in twon in Mitchell Street)

(For those that want to get up close and personal with a croc and be safe, for two people it is $110 per person for one person it is more, I think it is a little expensive)

We went out a few times for lunch whilst there, the Gillen Club, (originally called Westies, they serve good meals at good prices, the Vietnam Restaurant which is just south of Alice Springs, very nice meals and if you want to go of a night time you have to book as they get busy, 'Sporties ' The Sport Cafe/Restaurant in Todd Mall, a favourite of mine great people, great service and great meals and the Gap Hotel, Sunday roast $10.

('Sporties' at Alice Springs)

(A great Mexican dish)

 

I returned from Alice last night to the heat again, the weather in Alice was kind to me with day temps being 31⁰C and cooling down during the night to 16⁰C.

(Simpsons Gap, west of Alice Springs)

(A Rock Wallaby at Simpsons Gap)

(Simpson Gap)

(These trees on the ground were the famous Twin Ghost Gums that were painted by Albert Namatjira, over the years they have suffered and were not totally healthy trees, being on the tourist tours for many years probably did not help them but now some thoughtless person or persons have set fire to them and these are the remains).

(This picture from the internet of Albert Namatjira painting)

We still have a few months here in Darwin before the end of the cyclone sean when we will start again on the circumnavigation starting with the Kimberly's, this may be April of May depending on the season.

(One of two storm cells that we flew between just before landing in Darwin last night.)

 

Cheers

(There you go Colleen).

 

Cyclone and weather watching

Although I have continued to be a weather watcher for sailing purposes it has been a while since I have been concerned about cyclones for our planning as we are normally outside the cyclone areas in the monsoonal seasons. However, this year being in Darwin it is a thing that concerns me greatly. The last time I monitored weather for cyclone activity for our own preservation was in Raiatea, French Polynesia when we sailed the Pacific Ocean as we were held up there for the cyclone season as French Polynesia is just outside the cyclone belt. They can still have some nasty storms and winds but they do not usually experience cyclones.

(Tropical cyclone Evan as it hits Fiji)

Cyclones are an evil necessity in Australia as it is usually the cyclones that bring water to the inland areas, last few years cyclone and storm activity brought water to Lake Eyre and the Murray River, many cyclones that hit around Broome area that cross the mainland and then forms a low depression carries the rain across the driest parts of the country which farmers in VIC, NSW and SA rely on for crops.

The cyclone belt appears to be active east of Africa across the top end of Australia and through to the Pacific to the west side of French Polynesia. One of the ingredients for forming a cyclone is sea temperature, cyclones can form in sea temperature above 26.5⁰C a website to monitor this for Australia is -

 http://www.marine.csiro.au/~lband/web_point/

(As seen on the above website, it is possible to click on and area and it will give the lat/long and sea temp at that point)

 

One of the other sites I monitor is the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) rather than me trying to explain what this is and what it does there is a great web page that will do it better than I can and that is -

http://eprints.usq.edu.au/1140/1/Donald_Mienke_Power_Wheeler_Ribbe_Forecasting_with_the_Madden.pdf

After understanding what you have read from this website on the MJO go to this website and it will provide the last 40 days MJO monitoring. This is only one of the tools that is used by the met as they use satellite and models to predict all weather.

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/mjo/

(MJO monitoring as seen on the website indicating activity as it is out of the centre circle)

It is interesting to note that the MJO is split into 8 phases and Phase 1 is simultaneously east of Africa in the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific Ocean around the Fijian area where a cyclone Evan has created havoc at this moment.

In monitoring the storms worldwide the following website is very good -

http://weather.org/stormwatch.htm

There are many weather websites that can be used for monitoring the weather and many sailors have their preferences, I personally use many websites and listen to weather reports on commercial radio , VHF radio and HF radio.

Other websites I use for weather:-

http://www.bom.gov.au/

http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html

http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/main-menu/Weather-Tools/Customise.aspx

http://www.cmar.csiro.au/remotesensing/oceancurrent/

http://www.buoyweather.com/index2.jsp

http://metvuw.com/index.php

http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/

Whatever website you prefer to use make sure that it provides what you need there are many people that use http://www.seabreeze.com.au/ in Australia and it is a very good site for coastal use only. This website is for wind surfers, surfers and boats that hang very close to the coastline. If you search the website you will note that it states yacht skippers should use another website. A few miles out to sea can be different than what is experienced along the coastline.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

Darwin - Marina bound

(Birds in flight as a storm passes Darwin city)

The wet season is still coming we have had some storms with some great electrical displays but the wet is not in full swing as yet and comments have been made in the media that it will be late this year, or should I say it may happen in January.

(Reflections in the marina as sun sets)

We are using the time to carry out some work on the boat and helping friends with their boat. My main project at the moment is gel coat repairs, no not the scratches I put on Alana Rose when coming into the very narrow lock that will be done in time. I am practicing on areas that are hard to see first. I have dabbled before with doing this type of repair but I must say not with great success. However, I came up with the idea of researching and found some great sites on the net with Youtube  showing how it should be done and so far I am pleased with my efforts.

The areas that I am repairing at this stage is the area around where the trampolines are secured this area has taken a beating from people and the seas giving pressure on the tramps and this has caused hairline cracks in the gelcoat. I have had to grind the cracks and refill with new coatings.

Doing this work in the wet season build up is not fun with temperatures around 36 -36⁰C and high humidity and no breeze I have to have a few more drinks so I have something to sweat out.

(Working out of the dinghy repairing the gelcoat)

I have been helping Rob with his yacht removing the old keel and preparing to install the new keel, Rob is a keen racer and is getting the yacht in better condition for that purpose, plus the old keel was not working well, it is hydraulic operated so it can slide up and down but it was not performing well with this action. It is interesting in doing this type of work and it is always good to help other yachties as many helped us in the past. That's what it is all about with life on the water is helping each other. I made the comment way back in the other blog about our friend Leigh who helped us when we blew the mainsail out three days out of Galapagos, as soon as we were in the next port he was over with his sewing machine and restitched the whole sail, when I asked him what I owed him his reply was, "I have broken 6 needles and use a fair amount of thread $20 should replace that". I asked what about the time you have put into to this. He replied, "It's mates rates, a lot of people helped me along the way and this is how I pay them back, it is now up to you to do the same, you help other along the way". We have tried to do this and it is a great way to do business. The other thing is that you learn more about boats and you make some great friends.

We have purchased a second hand tinnie with outboard motor for the Kimberly's, something light and will be able to withstand the oysters on the rocks where our inflatable might not. We got that through a website 'Gumleaf' not a bad site if you are looking for something or you want to sell something.

Other items that we have had fixed was our Autopilot control head screen was bleeding (going black so you could not see the numbers), so that has been fitted with a new screen, not cheap $660. So George the autopilot has had a facelift. Whilst dealing with the Raymarine agent I decided to get a new transducer for our log (the thing that monitors boat speed), it has not worked for a few years now, we have just relied on the GPS to give our speed across the ground,  but we thought it may be handy when we start going into the fast running tides. Obviously when this was a charter boat it had been replaced before, but they did not want to run the wires all the way back to the control panel so they did a cut and rejoin job, you have to see the photo to believe what they did. See below.

(Now that is how you do not do repairs, you can see one wire that has broken out and the sea air blackened it)

We have also had some good socialising with people around and about we have joined the Dinah Beach Sailing Association Club, this also gives us the benefits of using the clubs facilities which will include beaching our catamaran there before we leave to clean the bottom touch up antifouling  paint  and cleaning props. It is a great club nothing flash in fact it is a taste of the old Darwin, cold beer and good not expensive food.

So that's all the news.

Cheers