Good Friday:
The painting process was to begin but once again the dreaded diesel was back in the clean prepared back diesel tank - the saga continues. Painting on hold and thinking caps back on.  We went back to our original thoughts last year of putting in an inspection port on the deck as the best option to access the sealed compartment behind the fuel tank.  Sure enough just enough to be a nuisance about 1cm of diesel in the bottom, sponged and cleaned that out only to have diesel seep back in from the compartment next door.  Managed to drill a slit in the bottom of the wall between these two tanks to let the diesel seep through completely.  Back to steps 1 and 2 cleaning and preparing before the painting could take place.

Late morning the first coat of paint applied not only to the tanks but Chris as well, he now has grey painted arms!  Access to the tanks is only by the top inspection ports just big enough to get ones arm through.  After the first tanks application Chris was covered with long sleeves and everything he used such as mirror and torch I covered in glad wrap to reduce the spread of paint other than where it was required.  The first round of all four tanks took nearly two hours, we both felt rather light headed from the fumes and dehydration.

The second coat went much quicker as we seemed to know what we were doing and had a better rhythm sorted.  Decided we'd drive into town for dinner and go to our favourite indian where we were warmly greeted like long lost friends.  Definitely   been here too long when people remember you and welcome you back, also people in the yard call out "hello Chris"!

Saturday: Help at last with washing of the exterior, a yard worker has been allocated to us and he made good progress on the top sides finishing off the washing and then polishing the gloss painted surfaces - almost back to new.
Chris and I continued with the painting of the tanks and finished the last of the tin when we got back after another enjoyable dinner.  

We went in for dinner early as had down time between the coats but hadn't anticipated taking so long, being Saturday night and earlier than usual we had quite a wait for our meal.  We went back to the Chinese on the waterfront - you could picture something like the Cairns waterfront or Sydney waterfront - well not quite but equally as enjoyable after a long hot day in a dusty industrial boat yard.

We managed to sit at our favoured table on the jetties edge where we can observe the activity both on and off the water, all quite fascinating.  The kitchen that our meal is cooked in is about the size of a beachside change cubical, there are four of these each independently operated, not sure how one selects which one to eat at.  The one we choose is closest to the water.   The first icy cold beer went down very quickly, Chris said maybe it'll be a 3 tiger night and if it wasn't for the final coat of paint after dinner it may have been.  Being early we seemed to be hungrier so we added chile crab to our selection of dishes.  The food is so fresh, we saw the cook walk along the jetty and select our live crabs from a tank on the wharf.

Scraps go straight  into the water, the dishes are washed in large plastic bowls on the lower steps of the jetty, a small girl from one of the tables nearby needed to go to the toilet, the mother carried her down to the lower steps just near the dish bowls and squatted the child to wee into the deck! All so different here without the over rules and regulations that we have.  Lots of garlic, chile and ginger all aid  to naturally ward off germs one hopes!