Haulout Time
17 January 2009 | Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
John and Shauna
Since our last posting an entry it has been mainly hard work - which sometimes seems to match the good times hour for hour We have been both working for $$'s and toiling on "Destiny". We have just gone back in the water after a three week haulout, for annual maintenance and a few jobs that we have been putting off a while. We came out at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron just before Christmas and started work in earnest just after - firstly the routine scraping, abrading, grinding, sealing, priming and painting of the hull, and then some other jobs - a new skin fitting to accommodate the Raytheon ST 60+ speed-log we bought, and wiring in the display and graphic repeater, then renewing the sound-proofing on the engine-room walls. We did some maintenance on the cooling system and followed this with fitting new dorade vent covers. Beryn from Pattons will shortly be making some modifications to our cockpit covers.
We were very grateful to Co and Carla from "Lotus" who helped us with all these jobs while they were in Sydney, and to Bart and Olivier from "Bauvier" who got down and dirty with the anti-fouling paint.
Shauna bought a small but really powerful water-blaster that has proven fantastic at cleaning the hull and topsides. It is always great to see "Destiny" looking good after a couple of weeks of TLC, and it really gives one a sense of achievement to do it oneself.
In and around these inevitables we have managed to catch up socially with Bart and his family, also Co and Carla, and Ted and Nancy from "Blackwattle". Dorothy has hosted us a couple of times on "Bauvier" and she is such a generous and thoughtful hostess: it is remarkable what she can produce in a small galley!
David and Ruth on "Islay" are in Sydney, with "Obelia" at Cammeray but they will be leaving soon for Tasmania to join "Lotus". We are doing a fair bit of paid work from now until the end of April, and will then turn the bow North once again - we are thinking of Espiritu Santo and the Torres Group..... no firm dates just yet but things are rapidly gelling in our minds.
BTW - we've put some more pics on the latest gallery page - have a look!