Wednesday 6 Nov, HHN day 26: A day of bits and pieces, but no launching.
We are up early so we can meet the launching crew immediately as they start work at 8am. They have us on their list but it won’t be till the afternoon earliest. We remind them that we draw 8ft so will need 6 inches extra on the average high tide to be able to launch. We don’t want to scuff the keel before Cloudy even takes her first few steps of the season, now do we?
For weeks now, our hire car has been permanently full of merchandise that we don’t yet want on board – new windlass (spare), dinghy wheels, 6 solar panels, multiple parts and spares from Hallberg-Rassy Parts including a new bimini and sprayhood, etc etc. And we still have the Sailrite sewing machine and materials sitting in the marina office which we haven’t even pick up yet. Hmmm, maybe we should have raised the waterline paint this season, in anticipation! For a moment we were going to bring it all aboard this morning, but in the end only brought up the hydraulic motors that were back from service and a lot of cardboard ready for a messy job. Hydraulic oil always seems to get everywhere when dealing with the hydraulic deck fittings. So the car remains full until stowage space is ready.
Last preparations for launching. Our large Avon fenders are blown up and all the other fenders brought on deck and deployed. Then mooring lines out. Then it’s time to put the fittings back on around the cockpit, which we had removed to enable the new vinyl stripe to be applied. These fittings mostly comprise of multiple studs for the cockpit tent to secure to. It’s a fiddly job. Each screw needs sikaflex sealant and we are determined not to get any on the shiny new vinyl.
Meanwhile Oana has ventured outside in her thermal gear to varnish various new wooden parts for the galley cupboard and the new bilge storage. Despite her shivering, she applies the varnish beautifully. Her next job is to try to get our Delorme (now Garmin) Explorer to sync. She uses the Delorme for our live tracking, texting home and for its emergency communication line. We are thinking to upgrade to the latest Garmin device and sell this one on Ebay – but we have to sync it first to upload the data before we can sell. There are several hours of “IT” type swearing emanating from the cabin as it refuses to sync, so I stay well clear! Finally, after a reset and a firmware upgrade she gets it done. Huraar!
3 deliveries today at Free State Yachts. Our new Dyson vacuum, the supply of Nesspresso coffee and the new castle locking rubbers to secure the dinghy to the davits to stop lateral movement. The last set remain firmly glued to the old dinghy. We already have a Dyson vac cleaner but like any vacuum that is (mis)used for “building” type dust, it’s not as happy as it once used to be. Frankly I would say that its recent performance sucks … but actually that IS the problem, it no longer sucks like it used to. So we splashed out on a 2nd one. This new one will be firmly under Oana’s management regime – household tasks only. Glen and his dirty cleaning jobs will have to be done with the senior Dyson. I can’t really understand the problem. I mean, I think Dyson’s hardest job was sucking up human hair…. the long variety, not short hair like mine😊
At 4pm the launch chief comes and reports that we will not be launched today. Not enough water. No surprise. So I head off to the Suzuki dealer to find out how to remove the shaft from the engine on our 6HP outboard which we want to stow as a backup. But no joy, the mechanic tells me not to bother. It’s clearly a bigger job than I thought. Back at Cloudy Bay I find the travel lift sitting next to Cloudy ready to grab her. Oana is on deck telling me they wanted to launch us but she told them to go away as I was not there. Pfff, wish they would make up their minds. Clearly the water had not miraculously risen in the last 1 hour!
Back to the outboard. It gets a thorough cleaning and oil is drained from it. Actually, it was more like I managed to drain the oil all over it and all over the ground. What a numpty… me and oils just don’t mix without a mess. Finally it’s all cleaned up, its nasty sharp little propeller removed, and raised up the deck ready to stow. But stow where? I really have no clue. So will leave it there till the morning and hope it somehow shrinks in the cold night. Just where do you buy those “honey I shrunk the kids” type of guns. All boaters could do with one, don’t you think?
Another delicious dinner later and on with evening jobs. Oana is really pulling a rabbit out of a hat on the cooking side. We don’t seem to shop much but the food she produces each day is very welcome. Surely we must be coming to the end of our out of date provisions from Gibraltar by now?
Now that we are ready to launch, we feel more relaxed. And the evening reflects this, including an early night for a change.