Talk to anyone in Sydney this Summer and you'll hear the same comment: "What Summer?". Three weeks ago we took "Destiny" off her mooring and went alongside at Cabarita Marina, thinking that sometime over the next month we would be absolutely certain to get three days running of clear, dry weather so we could paint the decks. Well, you'd think so; but we have had an unbelievable run of showery, cloudy and unsuitable weather. Never enough to be really WET, but enough to prevent us popping open the two-pack polyurethane. We are in the grip of a La Nina that is quite strong and looks like persisting right into Autumn. Oh well, such is life! Anyhow we have been able to do lots of niggly little jobs that normally you'd postpone until you finish the "heavy lifting" so to speak. Meaning lots of little trips to the chandlery and hardware stores.
We are super happy with the Raymarine Widescreen displays we have networked, and moreso as we have the new Raymarine digital radar and AIS overlays going. These features add a whole layer of information and safety that we are relishing. The digital radar is a lot more sensitive and has a high resolution that actually takes some getting used to after our very ancient analogue unit but once you are accustomed to it it's great and having side-by-side screens and overlays is a luxury. The old analogue unit was in perfect working order but wouldn't interface with the Widescreen display so it has found a good home on Claire and Michael's "Trident".
We hauled out just prior to Christmas - at the Squadron this is a quiet time with the yard being basically closed and the shipwrights off on holidays, so we can grind, fill, splash and curse without disturbing anyone important. And also we don't pay hard-stand fees while the yard is closed - bonus! We were really pleasantly surprised at how good the bottom was this time around - very little growth and particularly almost no barnacles. We put a lot of time and effort into prep and priming last year and this seemed to have paid off, so we did the same this year - very thorough wet rub and extensive priming then three coats of ablative Altex bottom paint. Here's hoping!
While we were out we also repainted the topsides with two-pack polyurethane and "Destiny" is looking great again. If we can manage the decks before heading off this year, Shauna will be very happy. Another overdue task was to replace our wind generator which died a slow, stuttering operatic death over a few weeks last time we were away. The internal overspeed brake gave out, then the integral regulator stopped regulating, then the entire epoxy-encased brain inside the thing had some kind of stroke. With Mike's (Wombat) help we fitted an automotive rectifier he "happened to have in the locker" (how often have we heard Mike say those words!) that temporarily gave us DC output at phenomenally high amperages but finally the shaft bearings went to Heaven from all the high-speed activity: and that was that. John purchased a newer model Air Breeze from Defender.com online and it arrived via Fedex within a few days at a significantly lower cost than local retail (about 35% less in fact). Our son Matt helped us with the installation, which wasn't too difficult in any case, and now we are sucking amps from the wind again - and the new Air Breeze is way quieter than the older model.
During haulout the World Yngling Championships were held at the Squadron. There were two events - the World Youth Championships and the World Opens. We ended up acting as a dock-bound mother ship to the Youth fleet - lending and giving shackles, wire, epoxy glue, filler, cleaning supplies and sunblock to kids from as far as Denmark, Germany, Canada and Switzerland. The Youth winning crew was led by Michel Peulen, a nice young fellow from Netherlands who ended up staying with us at home after the event was over - he then hired a car and did some touring before heading home.
We also struck up an acquaintance with Anthony Bell, on "The Count", a charter Beneteau 57. Tony and his partner are really nice people who have a lovely vessel that is both a home and a business for them.
A pleasant interlude was a visit to the Sculptures by the Sea outdoor sculpture exhibition at Bondi Beach - dozens of artworks ranging from the accessible to the outrageous but all fantastic in an outdoor environment - this is an annual event and worth coming to Sydney to see.
So now we are cranking up preparations for the season ahead and hope to be away from Sydney by just after Anzac Day, again moving North to Coffs Harbour and then out to the Pacific. As many of you know we had thought we would be in Asia by now but those family issues have put us back a year or so. Nonetheless, another year of idyllic Pacific island cruising can't be a bad sentence to serve can it? Interestingly, a lot of our friends who have already made it to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are now confronting the dilemma of what to do next. The Red Sea and North Indian Ocean are now out of the question except for those lunatics wishing a horrible death at the hands of Somali pirates or having $5 million in the back pocket to pay them off. So some are choosing South Africa as a way to Europe or the USA - as our friends on Wombat found out this is a rough, unpleasant trip over vast ocean spaces with little respite. Many, most recently Stuart and Annabelle on "Troubadour" are shipping their vessels to Europe - an expensive option but in the end cheaper than your lives. This may end up being our choice. Who knows?
John was recently re-reading an old Latin text to keep in practice (never know when you're going to run into a stray Pro-Consul or a division of Legionaries setting up camp do you?) and was interested to read about how Mark Antony cleared the Eastern Mediterranean of pirates in the early days - rough but effective his methods were: he issued an ultimatum to the towns the Phoenician pirates used as bases and the towns that didn't immediately return to peaceful, law-abiding ways simply ceased to exist. They became ground-level dust. Piracy rapidly died out in the Eastern Med.
A few pics can be found here. We'll be back soon!