Year 5 Days 68 and 69 Patches Leu
09 April 2012 | Bundaberg Port Marina
Dave/Sunny, No Wind
I am sorry that I did not post a blog yesterday. The truth of the matter is there just was not much to write about so I decided to take a break. The day was spent adding patches to our shade tarp. It is now over 4 years old and we have used it exceptionally hard. It is showing its age by forming small tears that widen when the wind blows hard.
I had not realized it but the big wind storm we had right before we left to tour Australia last month caused a number of tears to form before I was able to get the shade tarp down. The cloth is simply wearing out and it is time to replace it. However, we are hoping to get one last season out of it before it gets tossed. We are thinking that we will buy more material when we return to the States at the end of this season and then have a replacement made in Malaysia. That way we get the quality material we want and benefit from the cheap labor market in Malaysia. We are not sure the tarp will last that long but we have our fingers crossed. Meanwhile, just called me Patches Leu…
Today Mary Margaret spent much of the day cleaning the inside of the boat. It is an endless and thankless task. It is especially difficult since I go in and out of the boat so much, chasing after tools, supplies and parts that I keep in the forward cabin on the port hull. This is my storage area on the boat. Each time I come in, I track something into the boat. It seems to me I had this same problem when I was a little kid and my Mom never was pleased with the amount of dirt that I brought into the house. Poor Mary Margaret has inherited this problem. I am glad that I did not have to withstand an investigation of my poor track record when she decided to marry me. I am afraid if she knew what she was getting herself in for, she would have chosen someone else. Thank God love is blind…
While she was cleaning (again) I spent the better part of the day running our reef lines. I had to remove them when I took the sail down soon after we arrived in Port Bundaberg last November. Since we had reconfigured the boom and the reefing system last year in New Zealand, this was the first time I had to run those lines by myself. I had the rigger run them in New Zealand and I did not watch how he did it. That was a mistake because now I had to carefully inspect the inside of the boom and figure out a way to run the lines. I seceded but it took me 6 hours in the hot sun. A lot of that time was undoing mistakes I made. However, I now know the various tricks that are needed so the next time I do it, it should take less than three hours. At least I hope so.
The day ended with a number of us cruisers getting together at the bar next to the marina office for beers. Karen and Frank of S/V Tahina had come in yesterday and Lori (of Lori and Ken on S/V Trim) returned today from an extended stay in the States. We were joined by Sue and Craig of S/V Serendipity and Dave and Sue of S/V Stand By Me (not the correct name of their boat but close). Ken had asked Dave and Sue to join us and share their local knowledge of anchoring and swimming spots along the Great Barrier Reef going north. Dave was full of great information and we are getting really excited of starting our cruising season.
We all are looking to leave the marina in a week or so (for each of us it depends on how our respective boat projects go). Thus, there could be a mass exodus starting next week.