8/24/2015 0 Comments Six Months! I’m feeling a bit reflective this afternoon. It was our being left ‘anniversary’ last week – can you believe it has been six months now since that awful day when I was informed that our marriage was over by text message, when that cyclone and powerful East Coast Low was upon us and we had to just deal with whatever came our way by ourselves.
It feels like it all happened years ago now – I struggle to believe it was just six months. This week we have come from the Coomera River and anchored near Currigee campsite on South Stradbroke Island. We dropped anchor last Monday afternoon after saying our many goodbyes at The Boatworks – it seemed like we were leaving old friends and I must say it was a very nice feeling! We got so much done while we were there – both during our time on the hardstand, while the repairs were carried out, and afterwards while we were at the marina. We attended to things that were in my ‘too hard’ basket and had some awesome help – I continue to be amazed at the kindness and consideration of so many people we have stumbled across in those past six months. The boat is now such better shape. We are in such better shape. When we were left at Macleay Island we were long overdue to haul Argos out. That’s why Peter had been on the island working – to allow us to get this essential task done and especially to repair the damage the rudder had sustained when the wind vane steering snapped off in the Bight over 3 years earlier. We had not antifouled in all that time either and had no idea what shape any of the underside was in or if there were any issues to address. Since then I can’t believe what the kids and I have achieved. I really can’t believe it – and I would have to say that not only have we done an amazing job with the boat but we have overcome a great deal of personal pain at the same time. I am impressed with my little crew – every day! Since leaving Macleay…… We have had major engine issues repaired – issues with the gearbox sorted out, the raw water intake and fresh water pumps replaced. We have learned how the fuel system works and ironed out some niggling issues with the fuel tanks. We have hauled out, antifouled and had the rudder repaired. We have completely overhauled the electrical system, attended to significant and dangerous wiring issues and installed a powerful new solar panel. We have assessed every through hull fitting in the boat and replaced one with the potential to cause significant problems. We have attended to the issues caused by the trawler incident. We have painted the hull - twice now, but the second time much better than the first! We have repainted all the deck woodwork. We have repaired hand holds and hand rails throughout and assessed safety lines. We have repaired stanchions that were damaged when we moored at San Remo 3 ½ years ago and hit the jetty. We’ve had the running boards restored and repaired, and then I painted and sealed them. We bought a new RIB dinghy and sold the previous two dinghis we had been left with. That’s quite a lot of stuff, but something has happened to us along the way though that I don’t fully understand. In the past six months we have tackled bigger and bigger things ourselves. We have learned to ask questions and get input from some of the people we have been so lucky to have had around us. It’s funny really – and this is the thing I have been reflecting about the most – we have been so NOT alone since being abandoned. We have had so much support and assistance and really, more than anything else, I would have to say that the only thing I hated about our sailing up until February, is no longer the case for me at all – we are not one little unit alone on the water – we are surrounded by people and help and ideas and learning opportunities and I can’t say how incredible that is to me. This week we had a problem with our outboard motor – the pull cord just pulled right through without any resistance and of course the motor wouldn’t start. If this had happened in February we would have slumped. Felt lost. And been stranded. But not now. Everything has changed and what happened next really highlights for me the ways we have changed in this past 6 months. First of all there was complete calmness. No drama, no stress. We were home which of course was fantastic, but regardless, there was just a complete lack of anxiety about the situation. Then we began talking about what to do. We already had ideas. Liam began taking the motor apart! He was looking at why it was a problem. I posted on the women who sail forum for some thoughts. We googled and got a YouTube video. We could see straight away that it was the recoil spring – not that we knew its name at that stage! Liam had a good look and thought perhaps he could see what needed doing. Then we concluded that it would likely need to go somewhere to be repaired – and so we thought about options about making that happen. We rang a good friend who had previously mentioned having a spare outboard motor and he immediately agreed to lend it to us while we got ours sorted. We ran another friend for suggestions of where we could take the motor and he offered to come and get it for us. He then suggested that we might try and start the motor manually using the emergency starter which we didn’t even know we had or how to use – Liam then worked that out and got the motor going. It’s not all sorted yet but it’s a hiccup not a drama and that’s the thing that strikes me – how much we can take in our stride these days. Compared to when we were first on our own when everything felt like a struggle and a challenge, now these sorts of issues are just jobs to do – and our capacity to face them, deal with them and work through them is so much greater. And in addition, over the course of the last few months we have made SO many friends – we have been so blessed with kind people around us who think we are doing a great thing and have so many people to ask for advice and suggestions – people who believe in us – and people who want to see us do well. The thing is, I am a people person and before, I really struggled with isolation – I had a lot of connections with people on line but in terms of actual face-to-face friendship, I felt quite alone a lot of the time – but since February this has changed so much – I have been so happy to have made some wonderful friends in the past few months - from Robin and Sue who are just the BEST, to John, Murray and Peter Leonard and his lovely family, from Blake, Daniel Rouget, Tino and Reece and so many lovely people from the women who sail forum, not to mention the friends we made at the Boatworks – Charmaine, Alanna and Amy, Marie, Niki, Brad and Tanya, Shane, Micah and Scott, Iain, Rosie, Greg and Brad, John and Reggie from the shop and Jeff from Choice Stainless – I can’t believe we have had so many lovely people cross our path and desire to remain a part of our lives. Our life since February has become not poorer but so much richer! Erina and Liam have flourished – there has been so much positive encouragement to them about sailing and their special skill areas – Erina’s cooking and Liam’s amazing rope work – I am just so grateful for the events that led to us exploring life more on our own terms. And I have completed the manuscript for the book I was offered a publishing contract for back in February too! We have come a long way in the past 6 months – we have needed time to heal and time to process and time to take ownership of not just the boat but our life on it and I think we have done that – not that there isn’t always more growing to do but I think I would say we are much readier now than we were when we first set off from Macleay Island to do this sailing thing again.
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8/10/2015 2 Comments Silver Linings! Six weeks ago today we were hauled out at Australia’s greatest boatyard Boat Works on the Gold Coast - once again – to repair Argos after the damage sustained by what had seemed like a small incident with a trawler while we were traveling to Canberra to celebrate my son Andrew’s 21 st birthday in June.
Six weeks might seem like a long time and some of our friends regularly came to check if we had been bolted to the ground here but the good news is that we are finally back afloat! So much has happened over the last six weeks – and one of the highlights is definitely the friends we have made. The staff that work at the Boat works have become our friends – from the fellas that do the hauling out and return-to-water stuff, to the team that come twice a day to keep the bathrooms clean, to the lovely people who make our daily coffees and the girls in the office who hand us over the keys for the much-appreciated courtesy cars. Coomera has become familiar territory to us and we have even gone to other stores – not just Woolies and Bunnings! Though some of the staff at Bunnings have become so familiar with us that they actually greet us with questions about what we are doing on the boat today when we come in! I have mentioned before that while we were waiting for the parts that were needed for the repairs we decided to use our time wisely. I repaired and resurfaced the shower area and then painted the walls and ceiling in the bathroom while no one would be needing to use it. I am so happy with that work. Erina got right into the woodwork on deck and has done the most awesome job with window frames, plaques, blocks, belay pins, belay pin racks – you name it – Argos got the kind of treatment she thrives on. And Liam of course got right into working on rope shackles – and earned himself a few dollars in the process! Over the first couple of weeks I watched a couple of guys painting their boats – with fascination I must say, as what they did was so unlike the way Argos has always been painted since we got her! No slapping on a coat of paint over what was already there – no cheap house paint either! These guys spent days preparing, they painted using good paint and had amazing skills like rolling and tipping! They used thinners and got a good consistency to their paint and used good quality brushes, and rollers. One of the fellas had just finished painting when a sudden and un-forecast shower dropped enough rain to ruin the work he had done – and he patiently sanded it back and started again – determined to get a great result. All things that were just unheard of on Argos! And so I was inspired! We had been on the hard stand for over two weeks when I decided to take the plunge and have another go at painting the top sides of the hull. There were a lot of chips and dents and scratches in the paint job I had done when we were here before, because of the wretched tinny that we so happily got rid of and replaced with a gentler and kinder RIB – and so I planned to begin bright and early the next day. And then it rained for an entire week. It was incredibly frustrating. Eventually it stopped and we could resume outdoor work and I got started – on our fourth week on the hard stand. I put in long days of sanding and cleaning and preparing. I couldn’t believe that I could get the hull so smooth. I even was complemented one day when someone was chatting to me and asked what the hull was made of. When I said it was ferro-cement he was surprised and said ferros were not usually that smooth! Yes! I was happy! After sanding, I spot primed the worst areas, then sanded again and primed the whole hull above the water line. I sanded again and then filled some nicks and chips that remained, and then – you guessed it – I spot primed and sanded again. Seven days in all and not a spot of top-coat had gone on! Then it was the day I put on the first coat. It was awesome to see Argos shine – and then with the second coat it got even better. And it is such a hard finish – it will be much more resilient than the finish I got last time – I am so happy. So for those that are interested – I used Pilot 2. With an all-surface alkalid primer. And the result is there – she looks awesome. Many thanks to John whose painting of Vixen inspired me to have another go, and to Murray whose painting of Electric Blue gave me more understanding of the specifics of how I might go about increasing my painting skills – new friends I am so thankful for. And hanks too to John at the on-site trade shop who is my go-to man for just about everything materials wise and who never tired of answering my questions, calling companies and asking about suitable products and who never once laughed at my lack of knowledge even when it was the most basic thing I didn’t know! We returned to the water on Friday. Youi, our insurance company, were superb at making the whole process of the repairs easy for us – they were quick, professional and courteous at every point – it was overall an excellent experience – and really gave us the capacity to focus our attention on all those other little things we did while out of the water. After the electrician, Daniel from TechMarine, had done the electrical work, he installed our fantastic new 300W solar panel and Jeff from Choice Stainless made us a frame to support it – so now we have sufficient solar power to run the boat without having to use the generator much – what a bonus! Right now we are still at the Boatworks marina, while our newest friend Peter Leonard of BBA Marine repairs damage to our running boards which happened when we came out of the water. We expect to be here just a few more days until this is completed and then the next chapter of our sailing life will begin – we will be in preparation mode to begin our little journey north back up towards the Whitsundays. We have come to not only love the Gold Coast area but to feel that this has become our home base. We have made so many friends over the winter so far – and know that when we return here later in the year it will really be like coming home. I would not have wished in any way for the drama that unfolded after the trawler came too close, but there is always a silver lining if you look for it and for us there is so much silver in the cloud! The work was done with so little stress, we had the opportunity to paint and do some quality maintenance, and of course, we made so many new friends while doing it all. It was an unexpected diversion from what we thought we would be doing, but most definitely blessings in disguise! |
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September 2017
Our life aboard Argos has been seriously challenged this year with the surprise departure of our skipper. As a writer, diesel mechanics and the complexities of many aspects of Argos’ on-going maintenance are way beyond me! We would like to see Argos continue to sail and eventually hope to use her to offer support, encouragement and a break to people who are struggling in their lives. Any on-going help towards maintaining Argos would be greatly appreciated and enable us to achieve this goal.
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