On The Hard...

May 27^th

So here we are, back in Mackay Marina, and this is where we will be for the week at least – Jamie is going to Sydney to see his mum and dad and I am staying – boat sitting!! With nothing much that I can do on my own – I did contemplate taking all the anchor chain out of its locker and dragging it on to the pontoon and giving it a scrub to get rid of all the rust but that is not something I want to do solo as to get it off the boat would mean dragging it over the decks and 50 metres of chain dragged over the fibreglass would not be very good for it so that idea has been shelved. Instead – what does a good grandmother do – with just a picture in her mind of what she wants to end up with, she goes shopping for wool to knit a jumper for her granddaughter of course!! Well 3 days, countless hours looking at knitting patterns on the net, bus trips to numerous shops and much frustration at the lack of patterns available later, she finds the desired wool and sets about creating a masterpiece that she has to make up from scratch – adapting three different patterns and just hoping the end result is like the picture in her head. Knitted in a bulky wool and with nothing else important to do the back is completed on the first day – then she suffers conniptions as to the sizing – bloody hell – being the perfect nan is not easy!!! It is finished by Friday and ready to show Poppy before it goes in the mail and hopefully Lilly will have it by the end of the week.

Jumper for Lilly

The wind is howling today, Thursday 1^st June, and poor SOL is bouncing around a bit here in the marina as are all the other boats mind you, so I’m not worried about her security just the noise of the mooring ropes creaking is driving me round the twist!! During the day, it’s ok but as the main culprit seems to be right outside our cabin during the night it’s unbearable – sleep is pretty impossible so much so that I turn to the internet again at midnight and ask google for help – Dr Google knows all!! The result being - in the dark of night there am I, semi-naked, in the howling wind, out with the dishwashing liquid pouring it over the offending ropes where they pass over the cleats. This seems to help a little or maybe I just think so, anyway sleep does come eventually and the goddam noise is still there to greet me when I awake! This creaking noise is not abating and has now been going on for the past three days – I am near screaming point – ha-ha maybe the screaming will mask the noise of the creaking!! In the end, I ask a couple of men walking past to their boat further down the pontoon to help me change the ropes around, I’m not sure what I want to do, just need to do something – anyway, one immediately says – “cleat creak – yes, it’s your rope – this one, you can hear it.” The offending line was left on the dock and replaced with a spare from the locker – and – blissful silence. Heaven. How easy was that.

Jamie arrived back Saturday night - having left Lithgow on the 9.30am train, then a further train to Sydney airport, fly to Brisbane, then another plane to Mackay he was back on the boat by midnight, another fun day testing out transport options in Australia. Happy to be home.

By Tuesday we had had enough marina life however we have decided that we will haul SOL out on the hardstand here in Mackay and do what we were going to do down at The Boat Works in the Gold Coast – we may as well use the poor weather now to our advantage then have the possible better weather later to enjoy, so we have her booked to be lifted Monday morning, June 12^th. So back out to Scawfell we went – I love this place – it is just a few hours sail from Mackay, but another world when you arrive – so very peaceful (we were the only boat for the first day). We saw our first lot of dolphin this morning – two young looking ones frolicking along in our wake, then coming up beside us before leaving – I was too in awe to get organised with the camera – next time. On Scawfell there are fresh water streams ashore where we wash and paddle in like little children, we walk the beach, climb the rocks, swim, snorkel, and of course – fish. Just living the dream – as one does!!

Boys checking lifting slings are in place - not going to slip

We stay here until the weekend catching fresh fish for dinner each evening. Then it’s back to Mackay to get ready for the haul out. We are being lifted on Monday morning – 0900 hours. This is another new experience for us – SOL was lifted for her survey pre-purchase; however, we were not able to be present so we hadn’t had to face the fears involved. I do mean that – no one I have spoken to has ever said that hauling their boat out is a pleasurable experience – well think about it – your boat is happy as Larry in the water, then two slings are placed around her, roughly/hopefully spaced in such a position so they are balanced, then the hydraulics start and she is test lifted a few metres – breath is held while the guys lifting her make sure she is stable – ok, so my breath was held, not sure about Jamie’s, but I know he was nervous like me. 

Hanging - me breath holding!!

Anyway, suffice to say – having your boat lifted is one of the worst experiences ever.

Not only do they have to lift it but of course then they must wheel it along until it gets to the space where they are going to lower it – and all the while it is suspended, swinging just metres above the ground – not a normal place for a boat to be. And all along I am holding my breath, kind of. She is then placed on slabs of wood and the slings removed. Our boat is “on the hard” as they say. It is a truly weird feeling, being in the boat but not in the water – there is no movement at all, so no pleasant rocking to sleep. As we go up the steps from the hull to the saloon it is disconcerting to look through the escape hatch and see concrete – not water.

The work begins with a pressure wash of her hulls, this is to remove as much of the rubbish (barnacles, slime, growth etc.) before the real hard work starts. First, we sand, then wash with a special solution then that is well washed off – this takes up the rest of Monday.  

Tuesday is painting day, (after masking tape is applied so the red paint doesn’t get on the white paint) the hulls get two full coats of antifoul paint each then we give the top third another coat as this is the area that gets the most wear from water whooshing past. That takes all of Tuesday. While out we have decided to get the cutlass bearings checked (no, I don’t know what these are or what they do but good thing Jamie does) so he organises a man to replace them as they need it and as well it is an opportunity to replace the rudder bearings as there is play in the shafts. These repairs would have needed doing within the next while so best do them now. Wednesday and Thursday are spent buffing and then polishing the topsides (the white part between the waterline and the decks) – SOL will be one of the best-looking boats on the water when we are finished!

Friday, we are ready to go back into the water – well, SOL is, and I am mentally prepared for the next “lifting” trauma – BUT – the travel lift is broken. We are not going anywhere. In fact, we are stuck here for the weekend.

However - we do have a beautiful bottom!!!

We couldn't be more pleased with all the people we have met, had work done by, and who have helped us here in the yard at Mackay Marina -
Greg, the yard manager and Benny and Alex - who lifted us were superb and cheerful (reassuring me they'd not dropped a boat - yet!!) Dale and Richie, who did the cutlass bearings, the rudder bearings and gave us heaps of tips with our first antifoul experience. Mark, who showed us the way to PropSpeed our props - now we will go really fast - too fast for barnacles and slime to grow!! In fact - everyone has been amazing. Thank you all.

Barnacles on our prop

Clean as a whistle

PropSpeed going on