Proximity Floats Again!
25 January 2012 | Town Basin, Whangarei, NZ
Rod

We are now back in the water, and thus we close a chapter and begin a new one. The launch started this morning a 0830 and by 1030 we were tied up at the Town Basin in Whangarai, just in front of Riva’s restaurant. Everything went really quite well. After a boat is out of the water so long, it is often a major event to get her floating again. We ran through the checklists of burping the prop shaft gland, checking every through hull fitting and its associated valve for leaks. “Does the prop work correctly?” We have a feathering prop that can be put together such that forward gives reverse thrust and reverse gives forward. It happens. We were fine.
We had asked our friends Flavius and Morgane, of Galahad, if they would ride along and help handle lines at the basin. They are very special people, and it was a treat to have them on board. Flavius was especially helpful since he knows the channel. It is very narrow and shallow in places, and we are a deep draft boat. We had a beautiful sunny day with a very slight breeze. Perfect.
The engine ran smoothly – all good there. Arriving at the basin we did a back and fill turn around so we could tie on the starboard side. Proximity is a boat with starboard propwalk, so we use the propwalk to help us get in. All of this went perfectly with no drama. We always say that one of our goals in life is not to entertain any on-lookers when we moor. After not having operated this boat in over a year, it was nice to meet the goal. We all celebrated with a nice espresso (called “short black” in NZ) and a small pastry at one of the waterfront coffee houses..
We did have a near drama when we returned from taking Flavius and Morgane back to the boat yard. Our mechanic had installed a new Volvo dripless prop-shaft seal that was working perfectly at the shaft end, but at the attach end, the clamp was too big for the shaft, could not be tightened and was – you guessed it LEAKING, and in a big stream way. Visions of having to rush back to the slipway ran through my mind, and for a moment, we were pretty worried. But quickly putting a hose clamp over the leak as best I could (it wouldn’t fit square – we don’t have the clearance) stopped the leak. Temporary fix, but promising. We weren’t going to sink, but can we fix it while in the water? A quick call to our mechanic let us know we were more or less on our own – he was out of town and not reachable.
We are parked next to another friend Jon, of Jenny, who shared that his shaft seal was held with good quality hose clamps. This was the configuration that had brought him all the way from Norway, and his boat is much bigger that ours, so we decided to give it a try. Ultimately, it worked. We managed to get the old clamp off and the new hose clamps on and let less than a liter of water in. Success. Our mechanic later returned our call and gave his blessing on our fix.
The rest of the day was spent visiting with guests who were stopping by to wish us well and celebrate our long awaited launch. It was all pretty touching and it is truly fantastic to be back in the water. From here, we will continue to test our systems, including navigation, communication, fridge, toilet (yes, marine toilets are a verrrry important system that MUST function perfectly). When we have enjoyed our little vacation of living here in the “postcard” and our local testing is done, we will start shaking down for long distance travel the boat proper as we have had our boom modified, installed a new furler, new anchor arrangement etc.
We are posting new photos of the projects we have done, and by now you probably know that you can click on the map on the right side of this page to see our new location up the river. Until later, “Your (tired but happy) Rock and Roll Argonauts” wish you the best.