Winter to Present Day . . .

Last remaining days here in Port before returning to Gold Coast . . . and beyond?

Not long after returning from Laurieton on a brisk Sunday  afternoon, lil' elle decided to go for a swim without her owners. As the story goes, the owners took her out for a days fishing and upon their return,  having moored her in the pen, she slowly descended to what you can see here at left.

Sitting on the bottom, only her cabin roof above water, she looked in a sad way, but was refloated the next morning and then it was found that her bilge pumps failed to work for whatever reason as things on boats often do . . .

All turned out well and now she has gone back to the owners home on a trailer with all repairs having been completed in the hardstand here in the Port marina.

With Winter approaching fast, it was no surprise to wake up one morning to find the whole place fogged in as you can see in the video above and the shots below. An eerie feeling with the first real winters chill in the air . . . and you know how I hate the cold.

 Once again I am feeling the cold and as the shot above shows, (No this is a different shot than the one I posted last year), we were again feeling those single figure days and nights that I have been dreading for the last 6 months, knowing that I have one more winter down here before returning to the relative warmth of the Gold Coast and beyond.

Gary (Sparra) Chester and me at the Quaylime Bar

June . . . Birthday Boys

 A mate on the Th(u)rd Finger (C Arm) shared the same birthday as me and  friends on the Marina arranged a surprise party for us at the onsite restaurant, Quaylime. We had a great night and I woke up to regret the amount  I drank but would like to thank all of those caring friends for the great occasion.

Happy Birthday Sparra!!!

~  Once again, food became a major player thru winter with various new dishes of which I will only show you a couple of the more outstanding recipes that I found or shared with Nicole, my associate at work.

At left Tuna Past Surprise and right Indian Butter Chicken.

Also on the menu were delicacies such as here on left - Chinese Stir-fry Pork, chilli and Gai lan and on the right, one of Nicole's dishes - Angel Hair pasta, pork & pesto . . .

All very yummy and added to list of favourites for the future.

This was the "Year of Refurbishment" and getting Fete ready for that long awaited trip and it sure proved to be an enormous workload that I set myself. As all of you boat owners know, there is always something to do on a boat and when you set a task of getting the boat ready, all the other jobs that you have neglected are still there waiting to be done along with the new list. . . My list comprised of 109 tasks and ran to 3 foolscap pages.

Firstly, on the trip to Laurieton, I noticed that the bilge pump came on continuously. Upon inspection we found that the copper plumbing throughout the engine room to be faulty causing a leak when the water flowed thru the hot water system and the water pump. This was totally replaced.

Next I had new sail covers made with attached lazy jacks as I had planned to get new sails before leaving Port.

As you can see here they look a treat but the strange thing about this deal was that the sailmaker refused to go aloft to fit the lazy jacks - in fact he refused to go aloft at all . . . don't know how a sailmaker doesn't go aloft but I am sure he knows what he is doing!!!

Next, Ian from West Port Upholstery, had the job to totally refurb all cushions on Fete. As you can see I chose the fabric and colour and the job turned out brilliantly and at an affordable price - well done Ian.

The pics above and at left show the saloon settees and aft cabin but I neglected to take some shots of thee fwd V-berths. A great result.

The year has just flown and next on the list was to install a new AIS system and integrate it with my Raymarine Radar A70 system. For this I chose a local marine sparky. Pat installed it as well as tidying up all loose wiring hanging around and sorted out my rear cabin lights, aft running light and new lights to fwd & mizzen spreaders - almost ready to go!!!

Next, having been to BatteryWorld for a new battery for the laptop, I thought I would enquire as to what marine batteries they had in stock and what price. The Owner, Terry Luckman, served me personally and said he would come down to the boat to have a look before giving me a price. I had several prices from local sparkies and they averaged in at around $750.00 to $950.00 each.

Terry came back with the best price inclusive of labour to install, so I gave him the job as he recommended AGM 270ah which is what I was after. That's Terry in the middle with his staff.

Next - I new that I would soon need some new sails and started looking around at different prices and sailmakers. A mate, John King, from  sv Ukelele up in Yamba, suggested that I look at Rolly Tasker sails in Phuket Thailand and as I had purchased a Tasker Staysail whilst in the US, sent them an email along with the measurements required. The quote came back at around 1/2 the price quoted here in Australia for a Mizzen & Main and with a 2 week turnaround. Not only was the price right, but the sail weights were heavier that all the Australian quotes.

Mike Tasker and his team performed to their word and 2 weeks after I paid for the sails they were delivered and all customs & import duties were paid.

I cannot help but promote this firm for their professional services and quality workmanship.

They even put my RW/45 - 14 on both sides of the main 7 Mizzen. This was important to me as Fete was, from what I have been told and mentioned in earlier blogs, was the last hull (#14) to be built and the RW/45 being the Ted Brewer Roughwater 45'.

Fete is almost ready to go - just a few more small things to get done and off we go . . .

I have previously mentioned the Th(u)rd Finger and as all of you would know that this is synonymous with the raising of the middle finger in that famous salute. Well in this case it is not a rude gesture but an Irishmen's take on trying to say the Third Arm or C  Wharf, Port Macquarie Marina. You can see all the members of the

Th(u)rd Finger below left with the head chef and organiser of the monthly Friday evening marina get togethers Sparra.

The crew here at left made me feel part of their family down her in Port as they say, but we had to wear our Th(u)rd Finger shirts or Sparra would fine us $10.00.

I thoroughly enjoyed these nights and all my time down here with this crew and will miss them when we leave.

Blue Moon over Port

It's now February and I have finished work and with only a couple of minor things to do, I will be leaving Port within the next week and would just love to thank all of those who have made my stay so good - I will not mention a full list of names but you know who you are and we shall meet again whether it is thru these blogs or when you  come to visit Fete and me somewhere in the world.

A last indulgence -  at left here is Jay Delaney. He is the very 1st person I met when I got to the Marina and it appears that he is waving me goodbye, but that's not the case.

See you all again very soon . . .

 

So as always, until the next time . . . Cheers! ! !