No sooner do you get 1 hull "complete" then you have to start all over again on the uther side!
G'day All,
Afta watz been a week of turmoil in the yard, I've now got the thyme too update the Blog with the happenings within the Yot and the Yard.
King Richard haz returned to a glorious feast (more about that later) however he soon let it be known that changes were in the wind with the yard in general. These changes will affect all that work and live here.
While he was happy with the way the yard ran during his absence, he was not so happy with the book keeping, job sheetz and general expenditure by various people in the yard (myself included)
While 90% of my expenditure was pre-approved, several other purchasers were not and he had to draw a line in the sand this also included my spendings on new hull materials.
I'm in the unique position of being able to work off my purchases by helping with jobs such as the marithyme safety boat etc. Others do not and this has forced Richard's hand.
Changez are coming, and my life in the yard loox to be almost over with new accountability measures and costs for "all."
These costs should save the yard from closing but mean the end of such luxuries as working for tennanture.
So itz head down bum up in an effort to get the other hull completed and the Yot ready to go to sea. Several jobz that were on my job sheet will now have to wait until later as priority 1 is to get the yot ready to head 2wards The Whitsundays.
The task of rebuilding the Stb hull has begun with lotz of chopping and sawing of fibreglass. The demolition only took 1 day this thyme as I knew where to make the cuts based of the experiences with the uther side.
With any kind of luck I should get the stainless frame welded / bolted onto the now exposed rear transom before the end of the coming week.
The week has seen me move onwards with the interior of the Yot during the nocturnal hours. Many nitez have been spent transforming the main console area into a centre piece with BOLD black and white stripes now covering the exterior of the skippers console.The stripes were pre-painted on 95mm wide pieces of 3mm nema board. These were then glued onto the console framework to give the finished product definite eye catching status.
I mentioned Richards Feast, I was able to score a huge scotch fillet from Jimmy the Butcher, plus a box of prawns from Greg aboard the trawler Pioneer star also Greg gave us a few kilo's of fresh scallops.So I took the fillet rolled it in bacon rashers and refrigerated before slicing into individual fillet mignions. Then capped them with a garlic creamy prawn and scallop topping.
This Friday just gone I harvested my basil bushes on the foredeck to make a superb pesto with cashews.
This I added to poached chicken and penne pasta for a lovely Italian feed. 2 trays were consumed in near record thyme.
What is now clear to me, is that my thyme in Townsville is coming to an end. The Yot will not get itz final few touches but it will B far more pleasant as a fishing platform during my journey across the Top End than it would of been if I'd left 2 years earlier.A pleasant surprise on Friday afternoon when Torsten my German visitor from 4 months ago wandered up my boarding ramp asking if it was Bourbon O'clock? It was 2.30 pm Close enuf!
We polished off half a bottle of fellix's finest then set off to check the crab traps. Bingo 2 big bucks for dinner.
Itz now Saturday nite and really Bad News!!!
The Yot is busy SINKING!!!
Not that it can sink very far...
I've got 2 pumps running in an effort to keep the water level down until the tide retreats in a few hours.
It seems I cut sumthink vital today and water is pouring into the rear sail locker and in tern into the bathroom.
Once the tide goes out 2nite I'll patch the hole into the rear sail locker and tomorrow I'll fibreglass the rear transom to get the Yot watertite again. Hopefully! 1 step forwards 2 steps back as is the usual!
It seems there is a god, he just hates me a little less these dayz, while fixing the leaks mentioned above I opened the port locker to install a suction tube for the new bilge systems and "Bingo" my missing WFT no1. This sail has been missing since B4 the trip to Cairns and is now found! It amazes me that the Yot is 43 ft long and I can still lose sumthink the size of a sail within the confines of the storage lockers.
It seemz as if itz a week of past contacts with several GHOSTS re-appearing,
Miss Evette has shown up out of the blue with a visit to the Bandit4 while Alicia a close friend from my Scarborough dayz has also maid contact during the week just gone.
Itz amazing the more isolated you get the more contacts seem to appear!
Much more 2 follow next week!
Captain felix
