Finally Moving On
11 August 2017 | Darwin
Tom
We have been in Australia for 21 months (including the time we spent at home) and it seems like unknown forces want to keep us here. We have blogged about the rudder bearing issue before.
So when we arrived in Darwin we planned a quick turnaround to pick up our Indonesian visas. Since arriving it has instead been a marathon of boat projects (I thought I was done with that in Cairns).
First, the batteries were close to flat the day after arriving in Darwin and as they are 6 years old I decided to have them replaced. Once installed I went to charge them and realized that our new alternator (well new'ish' at 2 years) was not working. I also determined that the external regulator was malfunctioning. Luckily I have two spare alternators, so I sent out the better of the two to be serviced and reinstalled it yesterday. The regulator is not essential and will await replacement at a later date.
The infamous forward head now has a new strainer after the cheap one (only one available) I installed in Brisbane stared to leak again. I love working under the sink!
Then there was the outboard motor that would only run on choke. You would think I would learn to run the carb dry. A thorough disassembly and cleaning of the carb solved that problem.
The new dingy now has new tie downs made up by a local sailmaker. I thought the old ones were ok but Kim wasn't convinced.
We also installed and worked through the setup of a replacement to our new satellite phone system (another blog to come) that now seems to be fully functional.
So all in all, for a quick stop to pick up our visas in Darwin it has been a busy week. Looking forward to some quiet bays and diving in Indonesia.