Cruising Forums

haiqu · 04-14-2014, 05:47 AM

Got to Brisbane about 10 days ago, spent a week with my brother and his wife. I've been very tired which turned out to be the 'flu. I'm impoving daily.

The issue here turned out to be yet another dead bilge pump. I needed a 1" to 3/4" reducer and instead of a trip to Whitworths on the last visit, I simply taped the 3/4" hose and clamped it. That trick never works. The glue on the tape let go, the hose came off and the pump ran continuously until it burned out.

I've also discovered that the relatively new AGM batteries aren't performing, which caused me to look at electrolyte levels. I assumed they were selaed but not so. Used 4L of water before I was happy with them. They're now charging up again slowly.

Fitted the new pump this morning and - happily for me - there doesn't seem to be any more leakage from the hull than when I left. Ingress of water must therefore be coming from rain, which has been heavy here lately. I'll be sealing up any gaps and heading back to Sydney asap.

This unexpected trip throws a spanner in the works financially. The plan was to spend winter here every year, but I can't afford two trips and can't stay because I still have the engine to fit in Sydney when I get back. Thinking hard about renting a garage there, taking the second engine with me, storing both of them then running down to Melbourne and emptying my storeroom out.

If I throw away old valueless computers and monitors and sell off some of the larger stuff in Melbourne - a set of BMW wheels comes to mind - I should be able to fit everything else in the van plus trailer and bring it back up with me. Storage costs will be the same more or less, but I'll have everything close by so I can sell it off bit by bit instead of having a fire sale. Besides, I don't ever plan to live in Melbourne again.

haiqu · 04-16-2014, 04:50 AM

Back at my brother's place for Easter.

As it transpires the hull is leaking about 15L an hour, but not from where I made the previous repairs under the v-berth. Since I won't be back for at least a year, and since I can't yet see where the water is getting in, I'm fitting a second auto bilge pump for redundancy which should eliminate the need for any further emergency pumping or repairs. I suspect that while the yacht was on mud this leak was masked by a blockage and has only become evident since being hauled into deeper water.

The mandatory all-round white night light had also deteriorated so I've bought a replacement for that. I'll be back onto the yacht for a few more days next week, but only to fit these items. All the cleanups have been done and she's looking almost tidy and liveable again.

haiqu · 04-19-2014, 02:22 AM

At about 2:30am today "The Dove" came on TV just as I was about to get some sleep. It's the story of Robin Lee Graham's solo round-the-world journey started when he was 16yo and finishing five years later. Produced by Gregory Peck, the story is one I wish I'd seen in the 70's rather than today, as I'm sure my life would have turned out quite differently.

haiqu · 04-24-2014, 02:09 AM

Second engine is on the trailer and I'm ready to head south again. However I'll probably wait until after the weekend due to school holiday traffic on the freeways in NSW.

Del is moving again, although he still has 1500km to go to the next stop, Raivavae. Current position is LON: -324.328716, LAT: -147.853733 and there's an ice breaker heading north from Antarctica about 125km to his SW. He recently told me he expected to be in French Polynesia four days ago and that the condensation on the walls was starting to look mighty inviting. They just went through a 45kt storm so hopefully he collected some water.

Auzzee · 04-24-2014, 04:54 AM

Been following him on Pangolin. Overlaying the world wind map (in real time) shows the reasons for some prudent direction changes and shows he has been 'in the wars' a little bit.

haiqu · 04-26-2014, 03:00 AM

Yeah. The latest message indicates they're in a storm so heavy that even motoring is pointless, so they'll be drifting for the next two days. The water maker worked briefly, allowing them to make 60L of water but I'm sure they can collect some. It now needs further repairs for which they don't have parts available.

500 miles to go. BTW the 1500km reported above was incorrect, I took that from an outdated position report on Marine Traffic.

haiqu · 04-26-2014, 05:11 AM

Sadly it looks as if I'm going to have to sell the two engines I bought on eBay last year. I have nowhere to store them in Sydney and every "garage for rent" ad I answer has either been taken, or their owner only wants cars parked in them. I've even tried finding storage in country NSW to no avail.

The supreme joke of all this is that I have a huge storage area available at the house in New Zealand, large enough to park four cars under cover.

haiqu · 04-29-2014, 04:24 AM

Back in Sydney and carefully considering my options. Regardless of what happens with the marine engines I need to travel to Melbourne in the next month to sort out my storeroom there. If only I could just take it all to the rubbish tip life would be so much easier but there's a lifetime of collected books, electronic parts and so on with real monetary value. I hope to at least reduce it all to a more manageable level. The household goods, clothing, car parts and old computers can go.

Before leaving Brisbane I booked a return flight to NZ for late September to do some more renovations on the house. I'll be staying three months this time. Hopefully there won't be any more urgent matters with the yachts while I'm gone.

Auzzee · 04-29-2014, 04:43 AM

I had a massive chuck-out a couple of years ago. I decided to sell all my old bits through ebay. Best way to liquidate.

redbopeep · 04-29-2014, 05:22 PM

So sorry to hear that no storage is popping up for your spares. We sort of know about that because here we are on the West Coast US but yet we have a huge storage unit in the Washington DC area. Here we ended up buying a trailer (big thing) and storing stuff in it in an industrial yard where they store such trailers. Benefit is the trailer is roadworthy and licensed so we'll sell it in the next year or so. Don't know if a similar set up would help you. Hubby has a spare (car) engine that someone gave us in there, too. I suspect we won't manage to get the spare engine back to the East Coast but rather it will have to be sold or passed along to another owner of a similar car.

Good luck on sorting it all out.

haiqu · 04-30-2014, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Auzzee

I had a massive chuck-out a couple of years ago. I decided to sell all my old bits through ebay. Best way to liquidate.

Yep. Some of the stuff in Melbourne could be sold on eBay and I'm planning to do just that, using the internet connection at the library. Computers will go to the tip, they're beyond having any value now. Clothing will go to St Vincent de Paul or something similar, if they'll have it.

It's time to commit myself to the lifestyle I've chosen for the future and let go of the past.

There are a few "problematic" items though, things that have immense value and cost lots of money, but which aren't readily sold. An example would be 20 sets of parts for an HDCD DAC that I designed in 1996. But without a place to build them, the parts are worth very little.

haiqu · 04-30-2014, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redbopeep

So sorry to hear that no storage is popping up for your spares. We sort of know about that because here we are on the West Coast US but yet we have a huge storage unit in the Washington DC area. Here we ended up buying a trailer (big thing) and storing stuff in it in an industrial yard where they store such trailers. Benefit is the trailer is roadworthy and licensed so we'll sell it in the next year or so. Don't know if a similar set up would help you. Hubby has a spare (car) engine that someone gave us in there, too. I suspect we won't manage to get the spare engine back to the East Coast but rather it will have to be sold or passed along to another owner of a similar car.

Good luck on sorting it all out.

Thanks for the kind words. A week ago I enquired about a lockable garage in Lismore, which is 200km south of Brisbane. It was rented within a week and I missed out. I've also considered buying a 20' shipping container and parking it on a property outside the city but the container itself would cost me $2500 plus shipping to the site. There just isn't an easy solution I'm afraid.

Most of the garages for rent in Sydney are in unit blocks and their Body Corporate rules make it difficult to rent for anything but car storage. Besides, I worry about the owner having a change of heart and wanting the stuff gone while I'm somewhere else. At least the storage room in Melbourne has been professional and secure, if not cheap.

At the moment the engine that was going into Keppelena is in a friend's garage, and has been there since November. The other incomplete engine is now sitting on a 6' x 4' trailer parked about 1km away in a public car parking area. They were a bargain when I bought them but the problems of getting the engine swapped over has led me to believe that I'll have to let them go.

In the long run, that makes Keppelena a dead duck. To go anywhere from here I should have a working diesel engine. But what else can I do?

haiqu · 04-30-2014, 05:38 AM

New ad today on Gumtree classifieds. 6m x 3m x 2.2m lockable brick garage for $25pw in Merrylands. The owner had one enquiry before me, a woman who only wanted short term storage. All fingers and toes crossed on this one. I should be inspecting tomorrow night if all goes well.

haiqu · 05-02-2014, 01:11 AM

Nope, the lady got the storage. I replied within six hours of the ad being posted. This is what it's like to find a garage in Sydney. *gloom*

haiqu · 05-02-2014, 08:23 AM

Del reports on Facebook that he can see Raivave. I bet they're all looking forward to a hot shower by now.

haiqu · 05-04-2014, 04:58 AM

Yesterday I posted the second diesel engine on eBay. I still don't have any storage and it can't sit on a trailer in public forever. Shame, but in reality it's unlikely I would ever use it. The complete one should outlast me even if it only does 1000 hrs.

Starting price was set at $250 which is less than the cost of a heat exchanger. By today I had 85 views and 10 watchers so it's fairly certain to be sold. I also advertised an Icom MXG-5000 GPS receiver unit that Del gave me. I already have two, one for each yacht, so it was surplus to requirements.

This thread probably should have been terminated by now, but since I'll be moving about this year - I plan to go to Melbourne next, to sort out the storage unit and renew my driver's licence - there didn't seem to be much point in starting another.

haiqu · 05-04-2014, 08:06 AM

My prayers have been answered. I'm off to Newcastle tomorrow to see half a double garage for rent at $10pw. I can't believe I found one so cheap!!

For an extra $5pw I can also get a bedroom in the house for storage as well.

haiqu · 05-06-2014, 12:49 AM

Did the trip to Newcastle, 140km each way. Young knucklehead wanted $20pw when I got there, said he assumed only a car would be parked there for the price in the ad. Didn't have keys available for me. Garage was strewn with junk. Grrrr. Oh, and he's renting the place!

Eventually I negotiated a 6 metre x 3 metre area at the rear of the garage for the original price. He's on a new 12 month lease so it's safe until next May, and it will still save me money in the short term and allow me to collect all my stuff in one place for sorting. Keys will be cut this week and left in a potplant for me.

The things you have to put up with. No wonder I live alone on a yacht, people are mainly f*ckwits. The clincher was that there are steel beams under the ceiling, which means I can winch the engine without having to buy an engine crane. I was ready to walk away before noticing that.