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| COLORFUL WFT!!! |
I find myself in an unxpecktad quandary:
How can they be called White Flappy Things?
When they are this damn colourful!
You're witness to the first flight of Galleycats' Spinnaker.
With a very lite wind and absolutely no water under the Yot I decided it was thyme to have a crack at flying this beast of a sail.
After all how much trouble could I get in while the Yot's on the land!
The world of Yachting is full of tales of disasters involving these brightly colored yacht over-turners.
With incredible ease the spinnaker filled with breeze and tried to drag the Yot along the ground.
I cannot wait to take the yot out and fly this bad boy, in just a few days time.
I've a new autopilot to run through itz shakedown trip and now the additional task of trialling the spinnaker as well as the New WFT no1 which has arrived and is now fitted to the furler.With the upcoming arrival of WTF no2, I'll have a full compliment of sails again.
So itz definitely thyme to head 2 sea.
I'm well on top of the jobs to do list with only one more critical task still holding the Yot ashore.
I'm slowly repairing the underside of the Cat's belly so she is once again watertite.
The electronics on board have received a further upgrade with the purchase of a new underwater camera for dive trips plus another smaller inverter to keep the computer charged.
Paul my visitor from Newcastle had a family drama arise in Melbourne so has left the tropics for a much colder Victoria. Still he seemed to enjoy his thyme aboard and has vowed to return in a few weex.
I can almost see the finish line with regards 2 completing the build of the Yot with more and more of my tasks related to simply improving rather than building.
With both of our re-spray's complete and Ken due to set off on his gemstone safari tomorrow I'll be needed around the yard but it also free's up thyme to complete the last items on my list.
The calender has recently swelled immensely with bookings 4 holidays aboard now stretching rite through to the end of October.
I'm beginning think its everyone growing tired of the colder climes down south.
This I can understand!
Itz still cold here with nite thyme's around 10 - 12 degree's and the days hovering around 25 - 28.
"Thatz near bloody freezing"
The weekend ended up with many many wonderful people on an absolutely wonderful wonderful yacht.(pick the 80's movie character)
Just kno wind to play with.
We took King Richardz yacht to Cape Clevland however the forestay had snapped!This resulted in our ability to fly zero sales!
So it waz an impromptu Picinic on the leg towards Nelly Bay!
Just Imagine: "Bourke Street" or "Hay Street" as a water way!
We had 2 radio for clearance both in and out of the harbour!
This is of course after Andy had buzzed the Yacht with a 200ft long Ferry earlier in the day.
Frustr8ly I decided to take over the radio and we managed to leave Maggie and head back to the Slipz.
With the painting of these 2 yacht's now complete I've begun to repair the "Boom Track" (technical yot equipment) this will allow me to take Galleycat out 2C again and should also close the last ceiling leak. not that itz raining very much!
Early this morning disaster struck the yard in the form of a accident with a boat worth a cool $750K.
The supports under her gave way as the powerboat was being hauled from the water.
This resulted in a massive effort with a crane to realign the boat with the cradle.Despite Big Rob's attempt to lift it (see foto)
This had everyone licking their wounds with a very sombre mood settling over the yard once the whole incident was deemed 2B over.
I was merely a bystander for the whole thing and as such decided to take advantage of the opportunity 2 take Galleycat out for her trial run.
Dale and I left around 5.30 pm and after 1 minor modification to the Autopilot we were soon under full sail. GLORIOUS!
The port motor began to play up "again".
And with the entire Wednesday Nite sailing fleet passing us by, we set a course for the harbour.
This is where things turn Nasty.
The Car Ferry "Fantasea Arcadia" was pushing herself onto the loading ramp with full engines.
This has pushed Galleycat sideways with just the Starboard Engine for power.
We almost cleared a huge concrete and steel marker pole structure but alas almost is not enough in the yotting world. (see above foto)
The aluminium triangle haz just caught the forward corner of the fibreglass roof and torn it from its fixings.
This sent Perspex, timber, TV's, roller blinds and even Dale flying in all directions.
The entire crew of the yacht Sealink was witness to my feeble attempt to avoid the upcoming collision and have all rung with cheers and messages of admiration.
However Galleycat is now "DAMAGED"
All the good work of the last few weex has just been undone!
Dale and I managed to park the Yot at the yard and set about securing the damaged roof with winches and ropes.
It'll take a inspection during daylight to reveal the full extent of the damage but at this stage it all looks repairable!
Haven't tried the tv though! They generally don't like being flung to the floor with Gr8 force!
UPDATE THYME!
All the damage IS repairable, the tv still worx (amazingly), all solar panels and wind gener8ors are fine so with a couple of dayz work I'll have the Cat back into shape once again.
We've just been 4 a dive at the "crash site" recovered the Lateral mark plus itz huge service platform.
We dragged the whole shitfight back across the river straight into the Marithyme Safety yard.
They've got a really nice private boat ramp so we attached a tow rope to the Managers 4WD and soon had the whole cage up in the parking lot ready to go to the workshop.
It appears at this stage that the platform will not be replaced in favour of a far simpler post and light arrangement.
As the dayz go by I'm growing angrier regarding the whole incident.
I've collided with a stationary object which is not something that should happen EVER!
The whole area is covered by a
6 knot NO WASH restriction.
While my 2.5 knot speed was not in xcess of this the ferrys' wash definitely was!
It'll take lotz of time, money and effort to undo what has happened.
With Marithyme safety bound to have their say I'm preparing for a legal stoush.
This is a part of "life" I thought I'd left behind long ago.
And rerintensifies my desire to leave the trappings of "civilization (wkoa) far behind.
So I'll complete this entry here, pour a stiff drink and begin the task of getting the Yot ready again!
Still what doesn't kill us makes us stronger!
or so it is said.
Captain Felix
This is of course after Andy had buzzed the Yacht with a 200ft long Ferry earlier in the day.
Frustr8ly I decided to take over the radio and we managed to leave Maggie and head back to the Slipz.
With the painting of these 2 yacht's now complete I've begun to repair the "Boom Track" (technical yot equipment) this will allow me to take Galleycat out 2C again and should also close the last ceiling leak. not that itz raining very much!
Early this morning disaster struck the yard in the form of a accident with a boat worth a cool $750K.
The supports under her gave way as the powerboat was being hauled from the water.
This resulted in a massive effort with a crane to realign the boat with the cradle.Despite Big Rob's attempt to lift it (see foto)This had everyone licking their wounds with a very sombre mood settling over the yard once the whole incident was deemed 2B over.
I was merely a bystander for the whole thing and as such decided to take advantage of the opportunity 2 take Galleycat out for her trial run.
Dale and I left around 5.30 pm and after 1 minor modification to the Autopilot we were soon under full sail. GLORIOUS!
The port motor began to play up "again".
And with the entire Wednesday Nite sailing fleet passing us by, we set a course for the harbour.
This is where things turn Nasty.
The Car Ferry "Fantasea Arcadia" was pushing herself onto the loading ramp with full engines.
This has pushed Galleycat sideways with just the Starboard Engine for power.
We almost cleared a huge concrete and steel marker pole structure but alas almost is not enough in the yotting world. (see above foto)The aluminium triangle haz just caught the forward corner of the fibreglass roof and torn it from its fixings.
This sent Perspex, timber, TV's, roller blinds and even Dale flying in all directions.
The entire crew of the yacht Sealink was witness to my feeble attempt to avoid the upcoming collision and have all rung with cheers and messages of admiration.
However Galleycat is now "DAMAGED"
All the good work of the last few weex has just been undone!Dale and I managed to park the Yot at the yard and set about securing the damaged roof with winches and ropes.
It'll take a inspection during daylight to reveal the full extent of the damage but at this stage it all looks repairable!
Haven't tried the tv though! They generally don't like being flung to the floor with Gr8 force!
UPDATE THYME!
All the damage IS repairable, the tv still worx (amazingly), all solar panels and wind gener8ors are fine so with a couple of dayz work I'll have the Cat back into shape once again.
We've just been 4 a dive at the "crash site" recovered the Lateral mark plus itz huge service platform.We dragged the whole shitfight back across the river straight into the Marithyme Safety yard.
They've got a really nice private boat ramp so we attached a tow rope to the Managers 4WD and soon had the whole cage up in the parking lot ready to go to the workshop.
It appears at this stage that the platform will not be replaced in favour of a far simpler post and light arrangement.
As the dayz go by I'm growing angrier regarding the whole incident.I've collided with a stationary object which is not something that should happen EVER!
The whole area is covered by a
6 knot NO WASH restriction.
While my 2.5 knot speed was not in xcess of this the ferrys' wash definitely was!
It'll take lotz of time, money and effort to undo what has happened.
With Marithyme safety bound to have their say I'm preparing for a legal stoush.
This is a part of "life" I thought I'd left behind long ago.
And rerintensifies my desire to leave the trappings of "civilization (wkoa) far behind.
So I'll complete this entry here, pour a stiff drink and begin the task of getting the Yot ready again!
Still what doesn't kill us makes us stronger!
or so it is said.
Captain Felix
