The YOT has now safely returned to Townsville after cruising between Rattlesnake,Herald and Magnetic Islands over the past week.The morning after my last update saw the wind pick up to a steady 20knots leaving dinghy fishing firmly off the agenda. So knowing I had to leave Rattlesnake very early the following morning I chose to set off for Magnetic Island a day early. This meant taking the YOT straight into the stiff South Easterly for a 14 mile trip.A true test of the Yot's capability to head to windward.Kenny always say's a gentleman never goes to windward! As we all know,
"I'm no gentleman!"
This bracket worked well so once again I set off into the wind and slop for another mile run to a coordinate that Carlo had given me,a nice lump just north of the Island. After anchoring the Yot up current,I set about catching a nice feed of Nannygai. The fishing went well and lotz of great sized fish making their way aboard.The wind however kept on blowing and about 8.30 at night I decided "enuf waz enuf" and headed for the shelter of West Point. Sleep came easy and next morning I checked my repair job and
After returning Ken and myself set about the "small" task of rebuilding and redesigning the entire rudder support system as itz lack of servicability was a real concern.So after removing the kitchen and cutting 3 layers of decking and the side of the Yot away, we finally got to the back of the rudder support bracket (not really logical).So what was once a working kitchen and Yot is now a cut away version of itz former self with the new rear deck and support for the new redesigned rudder brackets my focus for this coming week. This might seem a drastic step and in any other boat yard it would be a major rebuild but the confidence that comes with the arrival of Ken and his knowledge mean I feel confident enuf to start this task and look forward to a completed stronger Yot very soon. We have now finished fibreglassing the Nydiaplast sheets for "Kenny's Kampa" and will soon form the mould for the fibreglass roof (pergola) and as part of the rear deck rebuild we will be securing the supports for the six poles that will support the pergola.
I'm also planning to make the side wall of the kitchen enclosed and change a few of the kitchens basic functions.The sink needs to be reversed and new taps fitted to the fishing bench as the current layout sends water everywhere but where itz needed. The fishing bench also needs shelving and racks to keep the fishing gear that I'm using secure in rough weather.
But all in all despite what seemz like a huge a huge task it should make the the overall YOT a better live-aboard fishing platform and fingaz crossed it won't be long b4 I'm back out on the water with rods bending and reels screaming hopefully I'll be near the Gr8 barrier reef sooner rather than later.
As a side note it appears that many of your commentz are not getting through to the blog at this end it seems that unless you enter your comment as "annonymous" author it doesn't arrive here.Just include your name in the text area so I know who's comment it is.I'm going to check this out through the next week and will have an answer soon I hope. In answer to the many requests to come back to W.A for Christmas I don't know if it'll be possible but if the stars and moon align perhaps I'll get there. Also I'm sure I'll be sailing the islands off Queensland for the foreseeable future with the Whitsunday Islands firmly on the agenda.I can't begin my trip Northwards and across the top end until Easter at the earliest.This is to avoid the ever present risk of cyclone which is now the season that is upon us over here.
So for now I'll get back to the task of rebuilding the rear deck area and getting ready for my next big trip on the big blue ocean.
Live life
Captain Felix
Test comment!
ReplyDeletecf