59 days to go. The last post was at 89 days. That’s a whole month! The days are flying past before we finally embark on our adventure. With only two months to go, Mayday came and went and the todo list stoically refuses to shrink. I think it’s a conspiracy.
The last month has finally confirmed that Darwin is in ‘the dry’ which meant that I could complete the recaulking and sanding of the teak deck. I am really pleased with the result and enjoying the feel underfoot while walking on deck. That’s a big tick.
The new Diesel engine raw water heat exchanger arrived from the USA, and was fitted in a trice. Once refilled with antifreeze the engine started on the first go. I love these old Diesel engines. Ours is a 90hp Ford Lehman tractor engine and gives a decent power for extended cruising but chews through diesel fuel at about 5 litres per hour. With only two months to go I thought it would be a good idea to do a complete oil change on the engine and the gearbox transmission. This is always a dirty job and involves spending time in the bilge, but all went well and I test ran the engine. I left it running but after about 15 minutes the engine coughed and stalled. Hmmm. That’s not what Diesel engines do, surely? After a quick check on fuel levels I tried restarting and she started reassuringly with that purr of a happy engine. Fifteen minutes later the same thing happened again. Hmmm. Here’s an idea, it could be fuel starvation so I think I’ll change the primary and secondary fuel filters. Good idea! Having spare filters in the locker, I set about this task, confident that all would be well.
It only took a few minutes and the job was done. Turned on the fuel pump and did the bleed on the system to eliminate the air. Magic! Again she started and ran like a dream. I thought that I would check the vacuum at the filter and noticed that it was a bit higher than normal but not enough to be a worry. The worse problem was that I could see air bubbles percolating through the glass filter bowl like some demented barista was hiding in there, and sure enough, 15 minutes later she coughed and died. Hmmm. How is that air getting in? That must be why it only runs for a short time using the fuel up and filling the top of the filter with air. Working backwards towards the fuel supply I checked all hoses and clamps until I eliminated the bubbles. Turned out it was a pinhole leak on the fuel feed that was allowing the pump to suck in air. Today I ran the engine for nearly two hours and she just kept keeping on, in gear and under load with the prop in reverse so as to clean the hull. Sweet!
So then it was out with the engine degreaser to clean off all the spilt diesel fuel, oil and antifreeze safely into the bilge to be pumped out into ‘environmentally friendly’ containers for disposal. Yay! Another big tick.
It’s Margies last day at work tomorrow and after she has a two week R & R in Perth we will be full on with transforming Moonshadow from a live aboard boat to a cruising yacht. All the sailing gear has to go back on board, spares to be replaced, provisioning to organise and the hardest part being how best to reorganise the stowage of too much ‘stuff’ into too few spaces. We also have to do the inventory so we know where ‘stuff’ is if needed in a hurry, which is often the case. Margie is great at organising so this is more of a pink shade of job instead of the blue.
Loads of other jobs have been completed over the last month including new high capacity bilge pumps and alarms, refurbishment of the dinghy and the tinny as well as servicing the 5hp and 15hp outboards.
All in all, I think we are on target for a July 1 departure. I am just loving this.
Life is grand!
Thursday, 3 May 2018
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
The Seven P’s.
Ok. It’s getting serious now. I got one of those ‘countdown the days’ apps that tell you how long before a ‘significant’ event is to reach it’s predetermined deadline. As of today, we have 89 days till July 1 2018. So what significant event is worth a blog entry then?
Margie and I are casting off the lines and going sailing again. We have had a great time in Darwin but now is the time to resume our cruising lifestyle.
We have entered Moonshadow and ourselves in the Darwin to Dili Rally. The start is at 10am on the 14th July From Fannie Bay. The trip to Dili will be 4 or 5 days (& nights) to cover the distance of 400 odd nautical miles. We have entered the rally division, not racing so it should be a relaxing trip.
We are luck to have Margie’s sons, Shaun And Dylan joining us for this part which will be a big help on the night watch.
Preparations have been progressing well and the todo list is starting to look manageable in the 89 day timeframe. There was a meme on FB somewhere that said about boat maintenance, “A simple 20 minute fix is only one sheared bolt from a major three day drama.”
It seemed a good idea at the time to check the anode in the engine heat exchanger and I became a victim of the meme. Sure enough, the bolt sheared off filling the freshly cleaned bilge with green fluid and requiring the removal of said HE to have it fixed. Trouble is, it’s cupronickel and requires brazing, a skill set noticeably absent in Darwin. Let’s bite the bullet and order a new one, I thought. Google came to the rescue and I was able to locate the parts for a 90 HP 1984 Ford Lehman tractor engine in the USA but the freight is a killer. That’ll teach me!
The season is changing here in Darwin and we are almost in what is called ‘the dry’. As well as the odd Tropical Cyclone ‘the wet’ has been, well, wet. This has delayed my major project of maintaining our teak deck and caulking as the deck has to be dry to fix it up. Real soon now!
When we had Moonshadow slipped in Cullen Bay, there was a blackboard on which some wit had written the 7p’s. “Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. The preparation seems like an never ending list of potential disasters when it comes to me using spanners. But we live and learn.
After a week in Dili we will Sail west along the north cost of East Timor to Oecusse, and then onto Kupang, in Indonesia. (West Timor). This is where our crew will be leaving us to head home to loved ones and Margie and I will continue exploring the delights of the Indonesian Archipelago.
Hopefully we can keep feeding the blog to keep everyone up to date with our adventures. A friend asked the other day how long we were going for to which the only reply is, “...as long as it takes.” I would like to think that the same applies to the todo list.
We live in hope...
Margie and I are casting off the lines and going sailing again. We have had a great time in Darwin but now is the time to resume our cruising lifestyle.
We have entered Moonshadow and ourselves in the Darwin to Dili Rally. The start is at 10am on the 14th July From Fannie Bay. The trip to Dili will be 4 or 5 days (& nights) to cover the distance of 400 odd nautical miles. We have entered the rally division, not racing so it should be a relaxing trip.
We are luck to have Margie’s sons, Shaun And Dylan joining us for this part which will be a big help on the night watch.
Preparations have been progressing well and the todo list is starting to look manageable in the 89 day timeframe. There was a meme on FB somewhere that said about boat maintenance, “A simple 20 minute fix is only one sheared bolt from a major three day drama.”
It seemed a good idea at the time to check the anode in the engine heat exchanger and I became a victim of the meme. Sure enough, the bolt sheared off filling the freshly cleaned bilge with green fluid and requiring the removal of said HE to have it fixed. Trouble is, it’s cupronickel and requires brazing, a skill set noticeably absent in Darwin. Let’s bite the bullet and order a new one, I thought. Google came to the rescue and I was able to locate the parts for a 90 HP 1984 Ford Lehman tractor engine in the USA but the freight is a killer. That’ll teach me!
The season is changing here in Darwin and we are almost in what is called ‘the dry’. As well as the odd Tropical Cyclone ‘the wet’ has been, well, wet. This has delayed my major project of maintaining our teak deck and caulking as the deck has to be dry to fix it up. Real soon now!
When we had Moonshadow slipped in Cullen Bay, there was a blackboard on which some wit had written the 7p’s. “Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. The preparation seems like an never ending list of potential disasters when it comes to me using spanners. But we live and learn.
After a week in Dili we will Sail west along the north cost of East Timor to Oecusse, and then onto Kupang, in Indonesia. (West Timor). This is where our crew will be leaving us to head home to loved ones and Margie and I will continue exploring the delights of the Indonesian Archipelago.
Hopefully we can keep feeding the blog to keep everyone up to date with our adventures. A friend asked the other day how long we were going for to which the only reply is, “...as long as it takes.” I would like to think that the same applies to the todo list.
We live in hope...
Saturday, 18 November 2017
Deck the Halls...
I cannot deny that one of the most important aspects of our choice of yacht for our cruising adventures was the inherent romance and pride of owning a beautiful, lovingly crafted and well maintained work of art. Not for us the pragmatism of making do and compromise on this issue. I have always loved the look of a monohull with a wine glass stern and a ketch just set the right mood for tickling the romantic in me. So, no cats or trimarans, no concrete or steel, no veneer and no lightweight plastic fantastics masquerading as cruising yachts. Moonshadow is a solid 14 tonnes unladen of pure craftsmanship and beauty.
As it was, we ended up with a sloop with a canoe stern, but no less beautiful and rewarding. Built in 1984 with a crafted mahogany interior, redolent of an old manor house ‘gentleman’s’ study; classic lines and all the comforts of home. Small at 49ft (including the bowsprit) Margie and I are confident of our ability to sail our girl on our own as well as Moonshadow’s personality and ability to take care of us.
This also comes with some downsides such as the maintainance required on certain aspects. The bright work and varnishing, the stainless (?) steel and the teak deck.
We have heard all the horror stories of having a teak deck; the weight, the leaks the thousands of screws into the hull and oh, the maintainance! Friends and peers have recommended stripping the teak and restoring to a clinical and easily maintained fibreglass and characterless topsides but this is not for us.
So the time has come for some major renovation of the teak deck. The caulking was in poor shape and standing proud of the teak making for an uncomfortable tread and preventing the easy runoff of water. I thought to myself that I would research and learn how to do this myself and what an education it has been. I remember my Dad always saying that the secret is in the preparation when doing work like this and he was so right.
My first task was to lower the existing black caulking to be level with the deck timbers. Research suggested that doing this with a razor blade scraper was the way to go but I found this tedious and unsatisfactory. I ended up using a really sharp blade on an oscillating multi tool, laying it flat on the deck and smoothly removing the proud caulking. This worked a treat and allowed me to closely examine the caulk for the areas that were sound and those areas that needed to be replaced. Fortunately, only about 30% of the total area needed to be stripped so I set about removing the split caulking with a caulking hook, a really sharp Stanley knife and lots of scraping and cleaning the grooves between the boards. This seemed to take forever but Dad’s advice was constantly on my shoulder like some piratical parrot.
The next task was to lightly sand the surface taking care to remove only the absolute minimum amount of timber to provide a flat surface. This made a huge difference to the look and feel of the deck and I was encouraged to continue this DIY adventure.
The timber deck is screwed to the hull and each of the thousands of screws is buried beneath teak plugs. Or so it is meant to be. Hundreds of the plugs had deteriorated and exposed all these sorry looking screws. They had to be replaced and replugged. Getting the old screws out proved problematic in a lot of places and meant hours and hours of work on my knees to extract the broken, sheared and simply stubborn screws taking care not to damage the deck or the plug holes. I discovered that you can buy new plugs at Whitworths (Australia’s premier chandler) at $1.00 each which would have been very expensive for the hundreds that needed to be replaced. I found an alternative in a drill bit plug cutter at a hardware store and I had a few spare bits of quality teak in the ‘someday I’ll find a use for this store’. On a trip down to see my brother in Katherine I took my ‘plug cutter’ and bits of teak and sequestered myself in his wonderful shed. ( I wish we had a shed!) A few hours later I had hundreds of plugs cut (slightly tapered) in the old pieces of teak. (Thanks 'Bro!)
Back on the boat, the matching drill bit to the plug cutter was a Forstner bit that has the unique trick of being able to cut flat bottomed holes to precisely fit the plugs. With the screws removed and after buying hundreds of new stainless steel deck screws, I set about drilling the deck with the Forstner bit to ever so slightly lower the bottom of the plug holes. This had to be done with extreme care so as not to drill into the hull and leave enough thickness of timber for the screws to be secure and hold down the deck planking.
Days later, this part was complete and I could set about plugging the holes. This went really well as the plugs were a tight fit and the tapering made the insertion easy. A slight tap with the mallet and it was done. The part of the plug that protrudes above deck needed to be cut off and for all the advice on YouTube about chisels, I found that the most efficient way was to place a washer over the protruding plugs and use the trusty multi tool to saw the plugs almost flush with the deck and follow with a gentle sanding with a hand block. (The washer gave me just enough surplus to make this an easy process.)
So now all the screws are replaced and plugged flush with the deck. It’s time to tackle the caulking!
Life is great!
Jeremy
As it was, we ended up with a sloop with a canoe stern, but no less beautiful and rewarding. Built in 1984 with a crafted mahogany interior, redolent of an old manor house ‘gentleman’s’ study; classic lines and all the comforts of home. Small at 49ft (including the bowsprit) Margie and I are confident of our ability to sail our girl on our own as well as Moonshadow’s personality and ability to take care of us.
This also comes with some downsides such as the maintainance required on certain aspects. The bright work and varnishing, the stainless (?) steel and the teak deck.
We have heard all the horror stories of having a teak deck; the weight, the leaks the thousands of screws into the hull and oh, the maintainance! Friends and peers have recommended stripping the teak and restoring to a clinical and easily maintained fibreglass and characterless topsides but this is not for us.
So the time has come for some major renovation of the teak deck. The caulking was in poor shape and standing proud of the teak making for an uncomfortable tread and preventing the easy runoff of water. I thought to myself that I would research and learn how to do this myself and what an education it has been. I remember my Dad always saying that the secret is in the preparation when doing work like this and he was so right.
 |
| Various shots of the deck in progress! |
The next task was to lightly sand the surface taking care to remove only the absolute minimum amount of timber to provide a flat surface. This made a huge difference to the look and feel of the deck and I was encouraged to continue this DIY adventure.
The timber deck is screwed to the hull and each of the thousands of screws is buried beneath teak plugs. Or so it is meant to be. Hundreds of the plugs had deteriorated and exposed all these sorry looking screws. They had to be replaced and replugged. Getting the old screws out proved problematic in a lot of places and meant hours and hours of work on my knees to extract the broken, sheared and simply stubborn screws taking care not to damage the deck or the plug holes. I discovered that you can buy new plugs at Whitworths (Australia’s premier chandler) at $1.00 each which would have been very expensive for the hundreds that needed to be replaced. I found an alternative in a drill bit plug cutter at a hardware store and I had a few spare bits of quality teak in the ‘someday I’ll find a use for this store’. On a trip down to see my brother in Katherine I took my ‘plug cutter’ and bits of teak and sequestered myself in his wonderful shed. ( I wish we had a shed!) A few hours later I had hundreds of plugs cut (slightly tapered) in the old pieces of teak. (Thanks 'Bro!)
Back on the boat, the matching drill bit to the plug cutter was a Forstner bit that has the unique trick of being able to cut flat bottomed holes to precisely fit the plugs. With the screws removed and after buying hundreds of new stainless steel deck screws, I set about drilling the deck with the Forstner bit to ever so slightly lower the bottom of the plug holes. This had to be done with extreme care so as not to drill into the hull and leave enough thickness of timber for the screws to be secure and hold down the deck planking.
Days later, this part was complete and I could set about plugging the holes. This went really well as the plugs were a tight fit and the tapering made the insertion easy. A slight tap with the mallet and it was done. The part of the plug that protrudes above deck needed to be cut off and for all the advice on YouTube about chisels, I found that the most efficient way was to place a washer over the protruding plugs and use the trusty multi tool to saw the plugs almost flush with the deck and follow with a gentle sanding with a hand block. (The washer gave me just enough surplus to make this an easy process.)
So now all the screws are replaced and plugged flush with the deck. It’s time to tackle the caulking!
Life is great!
Jeremy
The big ticket!
When it really comes down to the nitty gritty, the most pressing items of concern are the ‘big ticket’ items that take an enormous bite into the cruising kitty. Foremost among these was the decision to replace our navigation instruments. We opted for Raymarine as this brand was readily available in Darwin and Wayne was a knowledgeable and very helpful source of information at the Yacht Shop.
Our old instruments were ‘old tech’ and had been superseded by the ‘new tech’ with a marked incapacity for any kind of integration. So the decision was made to install a new chart plotter (big ticket), with its requirement for a new wind instrument (big ticket) and through hull for depth transducer. Our old radar looked like something out of a WW2 movie in a submarine so we bit the bullet and put in a new Raymarine FLIR wifi radar (big ticket) that is integrated into the chart plotter and freed up considerable space in the nav station. We were able to rationalise the wiring and relocate the VHF and HF radios and stuff to a more suitable location. The old 486 mini computer running Win xp had to go an as we are a Mac family, a new MacBook (big ticket) has since been integrated into the network and programmed to provide redundancy for navigation using Open CPN as a back up system. As well as the inevitable iPad options.
During our travels we are going to be writing, shooting stills, video and creating AV material as well as rehearsing and performing our music, so we have to have our iMac setup for multi tasking. We are mounting the 28” iMac where the radar used to be in the nav station and networking as appropriate. The Thunderbay NAS has to be relocated and secured to new shelving, again in the nav station. So many wires! An additional complication is that everything has to be secured to desks and shelves for when we are in the (inevitable) rough stuff.
We hauled Moonshadow up the slip in Cullen Bay (big ticket) for its anti fouling treatment earlier this year and took the opportunity to put a new hole in the hull for the depth transducer. All went well with no leaks so far.
UIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWWe are now back in the pen at Bayview and tackling the maintenance and transition from a live aboard to a cruiser. This includes restoring the teak deck and all the prep and varnish of the bright work. More on that in another post!
Life is great!
Jeremy
Our old instruments were ‘old tech’ and had been superseded by the ‘new tech’ with a marked incapacity for any kind of integration. So the decision was made to install a new chart plotter (big ticket), with its requirement for a new wind instrument (big ticket) and through hull for depth transducer. Our old radar looked like something out of a WW2 movie in a submarine so we bit the bullet and put in a new Raymarine FLIR wifi radar (big ticket) that is integrated into the chart plotter and freed up considerable space in the nav station. We were able to rationalise the wiring and relocate the VHF and HF radios and stuff to a more suitable location. The old 486 mini computer running Win xp had to go an as we are a Mac family, a new MacBook (big ticket) has since been integrated into the network and programmed to provide redundancy for navigation using Open CPN as a back up system. As well as the inevitable iPad options.
During our travels we are going to be writing, shooting stills, video and creating AV material as well as rehearsing and performing our music, so we have to have our iMac setup for multi tasking. We are mounting the 28” iMac where the radar used to be in the nav station and networking as appropriate. The Thunderbay NAS has to be relocated and secured to new shelving, again in the nav station. So many wires! An additional complication is that everything has to be secured to desks and shelves for when we are in the (inevitable) rough stuff.
 |
| Hauling up the slip in Cullen Bay, Darwin |
 |
| Encouraging sign on the slipway! |
 |
| Dirty Hull! |
 |
| Cleaning Hull! |
 |
| Anode on prop required work and cleaning. |
 |
| Here we go! |
 |
| Before! |
 |
| After! |
 |
| Clean as a whistle. |
 |
| Rudder and Prop. |
 |
| Ready for floating... |
 |
| Nice and clean. |
 |
| Safely launched! |
UIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWWe are now back in the pen at Bayview and tackling the maintenance and transition from a live aboard to a cruiser. This includes restoring the teak deck and all the prep and varnish of the bright work. More on that in another post!
Life is great!
Jeremy
Thursday, 19 October 2017
A Gough Whitlam Moment!
October 20 2017
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
It seems an age since we left Fremantle. We have enjoyed our stay in Darwin, but as Gough would say, “It’s time!”.
The decision to cast off and head north to explore Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is becoming an imperative and has motivated us to attend to all those pesky ‘to do’ items that have been sadly neglected due to the work commitments we made here. Our stay in Darwin has been a bit like a hibernation from the cruising adventure for three years. How the time flies.
We arrived in Darwin somewhat unexpectedly due to a severe problem with our gearbox while exploring the Kimberley. The plans to head south after exiting the King George River were abandoned as we lost the use of the engine and decided to make a beeline sailing to Darwin for repairs. Temporary repairs allowed us to nurse Moonshadow into Fannie Bay and (after replacing the starter motor) into the Tipperary Marina on the east side of Darwin. We stayed at Tipperary for a while before moving to Bayview Marina a little further north.
Darwin has had it’s highlights but has been tinged with sadness with our Mums’ death earlier this year. Thankfully, it was pain free and peaceful for her in the Katherine Hospice and we had the chance of some quality time with her and with the opportunity to say all that needed to be said with the family (of which Mum was so proud) gathered together. We took Moonshadow out into Darwin Harbour and had a touching ceremony of scattering Mum’s ashes in accordance with her wishes.
Working in Darwin has been interesting to say the least. The heat and humidity of the build up to the ‘wet’ has been a bit of as shock to the system. I got a job driving buses for the Inpex gas project, delivering the FIFO workers out to the site. At least the buses were air-conditioned!
The split shift system was awful as were the employers treatment of the staff. I have never experienced such childish bullying and demotivating attitudes in the workplace as were practised at Buslink VIVO. The staff turnover was reckless, but I suspect that due to government grants and subsidies to train new drivers, it was regarded as a cash cow that just had to be milked.
I lasted seven months or so, a relatively long employment in the circumstances but I was dismissed for some damage I did to a bus in a minor accident!
For the past eighteen months I have been working as a Student Advocate at Charles Darwin University. This was a great opportunity and a really rewarding chance to help struggling students navigate their courses through CDU. Sometimes there were practical ways of helping them and at other times all they needed was a quiet talk and a shoulder to cry on. The danger of this kind of work is not being able to maintain a professional distance from the horror stories, especially the indigenous and international students. This, combined with the pressing need to work on Moonshadow, prompted me to ‘retire’ in June to concentrate on the ‘to do’list.
Margie is still working for Darwin Paediatrics, bringing her organisational skills to a group of diverse doctors. It sounds to me to be akin to herding cats, and I can’t understand how she manages the inevitable and never ending multi-tasking! (A skill that will be extremely valuable when we resume our cruising adventure!)
We have achieved so much since June on Moonshadow that it deserves to have its own blog page detailing the process of preparations for resuming our adventures. There is so much to learn.
‘The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race.’ (Gough Whitlam, 1989).
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
It seems an age since we left Fremantle. We have enjoyed our stay in Darwin, but as Gough would say, “It’s time!”.
The decision to cast off and head north to explore Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is becoming an imperative and has motivated us to attend to all those pesky ‘to do’ items that have been sadly neglected due to the work commitments we made here. Our stay in Darwin has been a bit like a hibernation from the cruising adventure for three years. How the time flies.
We arrived in Darwin somewhat unexpectedly due to a severe problem with our gearbox while exploring the Kimberley. The plans to head south after exiting the King George River were abandoned as we lost the use of the engine and decided to make a beeline sailing to Darwin for repairs. Temporary repairs allowed us to nurse Moonshadow into Fannie Bay and (after replacing the starter motor) into the Tipperary Marina on the east side of Darwin. We stayed at Tipperary for a while before moving to Bayview Marina a little further north.
Darwin has had it’s highlights but has been tinged with sadness with our Mums’ death earlier this year. Thankfully, it was pain free and peaceful for her in the Katherine Hospice and we had the chance of some quality time with her and with the opportunity to say all that needed to be said with the family (of which Mum was so proud) gathered together. We took Moonshadow out into Darwin Harbour and had a touching ceremony of scattering Mum’s ashes in accordance with her wishes.
Working in Darwin has been interesting to say the least. The heat and humidity of the build up to the ‘wet’ has been a bit of as shock to the system. I got a job driving buses for the Inpex gas project, delivering the FIFO workers out to the site. At least the buses were air-conditioned!
The split shift system was awful as were the employers treatment of the staff. I have never experienced such childish bullying and demotivating attitudes in the workplace as were practised at Buslink VIVO. The staff turnover was reckless, but I suspect that due to government grants and subsidies to train new drivers, it was regarded as a cash cow that just had to be milked.
I lasted seven months or so, a relatively long employment in the circumstances but I was dismissed for some damage I did to a bus in a minor accident!
For the past eighteen months I have been working as a Student Advocate at Charles Darwin University. This was a great opportunity and a really rewarding chance to help struggling students navigate their courses through CDU. Sometimes there were practical ways of helping them and at other times all they needed was a quiet talk and a shoulder to cry on. The danger of this kind of work is not being able to maintain a professional distance from the horror stories, especially the indigenous and international students. This, combined with the pressing need to work on Moonshadow, prompted me to ‘retire’ in June to concentrate on the ‘to do’list.
Margie is still working for Darwin Paediatrics, bringing her organisational skills to a group of diverse doctors. It sounds to me to be akin to herding cats, and I can’t understand how she manages the inevitable and never ending multi-tasking! (A skill that will be extremely valuable when we resume our cruising adventure!)
We have achieved so much since June on Moonshadow that it deserves to have its own blog page detailing the process of preparations for resuming our adventures. There is so much to learn.
‘The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race.’ (Gough Whitlam, 1989).
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Oh Dear...
Just checking the blog (as you do), and realising that we have been really remiss in posting updates on our ‘continuing adventures’. The last post was in 2014 and so much has happened since then that we must make an effort to catch up and get back into the swing of recording our travels.
Note to self... ‘pull your finger out’!
Note to self... ‘pull your finger out’!
Sunday, 20 July 2014
FROM A NUCLEAR PARADISE TO ‘SALT OF THE EARTH’
Montebellos
to Dampier
8 July - 13 July 2014
by Margie
We really like Dampier!!.... I am not sure
why - the port is busy, it takes a
long time to get into the harbor through the Mermaid Sound or Strait, there are
tankers and tugs by the ‘harbor-loads’ to contend with, and there is of course
the red dust from the ore stacks and the white dust from the salt stacks that
add a layer of coloured dust to your deck and all spaces inbetwee- but it
offers everything that I believe a yachtie needs and is looking for after days
at sea.
It offers friendliness, cleanliness, a
dinghy dock, restaurant and bar close by with huge television screens, café for
the most tastiest cappuccinos, (next to the Mill Bakehouse in Freo of course),
there are showers, toilets and laundry facilities, there is a small supermarket
with all necessities within a short walk, there is an almost free bus service to
Karratha, should you wish to go, and if you don’t get the bus there is always
someone to give you a lift.
At the Dampier dinghy dock there is a
double boat ramp with floating docks.
One of them a dinghies dock for dinghies
less than 3.5 meters. Opposite
this dock is another that some of the smaller working boats use, very large
tinnies that ferry workers to the larger working boats. This dock has a water tap and hose it
also has a petrol fuel bowser. These docks are well protected with a rock wall
surrounding them. Outside this
rock wall is a much larger fuelling jetty. However this must booked and details
for this are at the yacht club reception or in the cruising guide.
 |
| Yacht Club and floating small dinghy dock |
Anchoring in Hampton Harbour is not a
problem and there are plenty of moorings to pick up in case of an
emergency – all privately owned
but available if in need - which was our case the night of our arrival.
 |
| The fuel jetty in Hampton Harbour |
We had had a great bumpy sea- sickening
motor sail from the Montebello’s to Dampier. Staysail only was up and the winds were beating directly at us from the east – again –
but it was manageable. We
pointed Moonshadow on a direct course for Endeby Island, planning to enter
Dampier harbor via Mermaid Strait, which runs a course west and then south
around the Island.
The exit from the Montebello’s was
beautiful, pain free and the scenery was stunning. I am not sure how to describe these islands except that from
a bird’s eye view they would seem like bits of land scattered in close
proximity with no rhyme or reason as to their shapes or positions. From space they the islands and their
surrounding reefs take the form of a whale ready to breach. From our point of view, though,
the magnificence never ceased.
Around every bend and bay there was another bend and bay and lagoon and
channel. One could easily get lost
in this maze and I must admit, it seemed inviting at times.
The waters were reasonably calm, the spinifex
covered hills, the rocky outcrops and the sandy beaches that intersperse the
rock faced cliffs all added to the sheer charm and beauty of these serene and
isolated islands – and not a tree insight. We tried desperately to capture the mood and image on
camera – but not sure how successful Jeremy was. The photos are fabulous but you would have to be there
to absorb the history and the serenity and the spirit of the place.
We exited the islands through Dot and Daisy
Islands, with Dahlia, Dandelion and Aster Islands to port and Marigold,
Foxglove and Buttercup Islands well to our starboard.
The names of these islands and bays are
intriguing. It seems that most of
the islands have floral names and the bays have alcoholic names! Hmmmm – wonder what that says about the
people who park in these bays – or who named them.
We arrived with Pansy Island on our port
and Drambuie Bay on our starboard.
We sailed past Primrose, Carnation and Gardenia and Rose Islands to get
to our anchorage in Chianti Bay, which we bypassed to get to the mooring in
Chartreuse Bay. At anchorage we
had Alpha Island behind us and Bluebell and Jonquil Islands opposite. And Crocus
Island was situated behind Alpha Island.
The bays are not to be outdone, however, and we managed to visit
Burgundy Bay, but missed out on Champagne, Cider and Brandy Bays. Stout and Whisky Bays were also out of
our reach. We did get to see
Turtle lagoon, however, which had lots of turtles in it J - but missed out on Vermouth Lagoon – and that was just the beginning.
Back to Moonshadow pointed at Dampier! Halfway across the pond between the departure
and destination, Moonshadow’s engine suddenly shuts down and there we
were. Bobbing up and down in very
square seas, staysail was up so we were able to keep direction and Jeremy was
head down, butt up in the engine room sorting out a blocked fuel filter. Filter replaced, fuel now looking
a lot cleaner and engine purring nicely, off we set again, staying well clear
of exclusion zones surrounding the gas well heads gracing this area of ocean. This little exercise, however, did set
us back an hour or three, and planned arrival in Hampton Harbour for daylight
ended up being a dark 2030hrs.
 |
| Enderby Island passing through the Mermaid Strait |
The journey in via the strait was
eventless, very easy to follow – even in the dark – this being due to our very
careful route planning and chart mapping.
And despite the myriad of red and yellow and green flashing markers and
buoys beckoning the mariner to head in all sorts of directed channels, we found
our way in, no trouble at all.
What we were not prepared for were the enormous mooring buoys that were
scattered within the anchorage area itsef, situated in front of the yacht club rooms. Coming in in the dark, and not having our
bearings, we had initially planned to drop anchor and then, as a last minute
decision, we elected to pick up the closest mooring to us, just for the
night. So boat hook at the
ready we slow Moonshadow down and we are suddenly at a stand still. Tinnie’s rope has caught around the
prop. We were motionless, except
for the drift, and then we drifted over the mooring lines, which also caught
around the prop and possibly the rudder – and there we were. 9.30pm at night in the dark.
So what do you do? We brought Tinnie around to the ladder,
hopped in and moved her towards the stern of Moonshadow trying desperately to
grab the mooring line to see where it went. We were not happy to leave it till morning, as all we could
envisage was the current pushing and Moonshadow tugging at the prop and
rudder. So there was nothing for
it except for Jeremy to don the wetsuit and have a look.
On climbing his way up from Tinnie to
Moonshadow, via porthole and footing rail, a little wave suddenly hit us and
sent both Jeremy and I flying to the far side of Tinnie. There we were – perched on her
starboard side and Tinnie leaning at a very dangerous almost 90 degree angle to
the harbor waters. For a split
second we could see ourselves swimming in Hampton Harbor at some ridiculous
hour at night. However, sanity
took control and Tinnie righted herself, and Jeremy continued on his merry way
up the side of Moonshadow to don the gear. Gear on, waterproof torch and goggles in hand and he was
ready. He handed me the torch,
which completely missed my hand and is now resident on the ocean floor of
Hampton Harbor.
That was three out of three!! That was it we decided
– all would be well from here on in.
Which it was? We attached a
second loop from the mooring to the amidships cleat to ensure Moonshadow was
attached to the mooring should we break it free, Jeremy dived and found the
mooring line caught around the prop as was the rope from Tinnie. He freed them both and we were now
freely tethered to a secure mooring, as any normal boat should be. We moved the loop from the amidships
cleat to the bow cleat - it was now 2330hrs. So
on the mooring we stayed and next morning we did the right thing, once again
said a silent thank you to an unidentified boat owner, and moved to drop the
anchor.
After a very welcome but quick hot shower
we had a hot coffee, a giggle and a laugh about what we had learned that day
and then off to a comfortable cozy bed it was.
On waking, I put my head up in the cockpit
and for the first time, noticed the trees on the shore. How strange that one can miss them if
you haven’t seen them for a while.
 |
| Dampier's Hampton Harbour with dinghy dock and yacht club in the distance |
We dressed had breakfast and decided to
explore the town for the obligatory cappuccino outlets. We introduced ourselves at the club,
gained free membership on the spot and headed off to the little shopping center
and café, where we had a fabulous, tasty and hot cappa. In the days to follow we were to find
another café outlet called the Road Runner Café, with a 1 million dollar view
over the harbor, fabulous service and friendly staff, not to mention one of the
best cappuccinos I have ever tasted. (Again - only second to Mill Bake house in
Fremantle). We frequented the
restaurant at the Yacht Club, and on advice from some friends, also had a great
meal at the Chinese Restaurant – all within walking distance.
 |
| On the dinghy Jetty |
Whilst at the club we also introduced
ourselves as members of the Moonshadow band, and were immediately asked to play
the coming Friday. We, however,
had not thought out the logistics of getting thousands of dollars worth of
equipment off a yacht on anchor, and we passed up the opportunity. We do, however, have an
invitation to return once we are in Darwin. How good is that!!
 |
| View of the Yacht Club entry over Hampton Harbour |
 |
| View from the Roadrunner Cafe |
And the Chinese Restaurant is resident at
the local lawn bowling club, leasing their kitchen and hall and the club
providing the alcohol. There
seems to be this sense of camaraderie here.
We hitched a ride into Karratha and spent
some money, as you do, at the huge shopping center there, walked for miles and
miles looking for some noodles to act as fenders for Tinnie and then found a
little coffee shop which offered reasonably tasty coffee, but did not allow
patrons with Hi-vis work wear to enter their café. A little strange – me thinks – as the uniform of the Pilbara
region is a Hi-vis shirt with blue cargoes!
 |
| Scenery on the road to Karratha |
 |
| Scenery on the road to Karratha |
Our biggest and most successful acquisition
in Karratha was a new rubbish bin.
We have managed to hold on to the white relic left to us by Steve and
Jackie – it just didn’t seem right to dispose of it – it was after all heritage
pieceJ But alas, cracked and
smelly it had to go. So we now own
a beautiful stainless steel Tinnie number 2. And I must admit it looks well at home.
 |
| Out with old... |
 |
| In with the new! |
We also managed to find the Red Dog statue
– and having seen the film twice I couldn’t help myself, but give it a huge hug. Must have seemed a little odd to the
passing traffic on the main Dampier/Karratha road where the statue is
located. But – hey- who cares –
really!
 |
| Woof! |
 |
| Woof woof! |
All in all our time in Dampier was great,
relaxed and friendly. We
managed to get our washing and shopping done, have plenty of hot showers, have
some great cheap meals and even managed a day of doing nothing. Now it was time to plan for the long
journey ahead to Broome.
On Sunday morning, 13th July 9am,
cupboards stocked, washing folded, food ready for the day, we lifted the
anchor, motored across the harbor towards Mermaid Sound and into Flying Foam
Passage on the first leg of our journey to Broome.
We have some great memories of our stopover
In Dampier, the people we met, the boaties who motored up
in their dinghies to say hello, the staff at the restaurants and bars, the kind gentleman who responded to
Jeremy’s thumb, giving us a lift into Karratha and the very interesting
Somalian taxi driver who drove us back.
People we will never forget and experiences that we will always
remember.
 |
| Moonrise on our last night in Dampier |
Thank you and goodbye Dampier.
Life is so good.
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