New year, new direction

[haiqu]

Well, another year gone - 63 today. I'm going to see the latest Star Wars movie.

[steve_h]

Happy birthday for yesterday and hope you enjoyed the film. I did!
How's the new business? - waiting to see what it is

[Stormy]

Hi Haiqu, very interesting post. Having recently retired,am long term single and working through things to have a liveaboard lifestyle, I found your posts very informative. Thanks for posting

[haiqu]

Well, I'll be hauling Shenoa out in the next fortnight. I wasn't going to do that until I got my credit card under control but circumstances (and Marine Safety Queensland) have forced my hand.

She broke the anchor chain early this morning and ended up wedged under a jetty, so they've issued an order that she's not safe to be in Queensland waters until repaired. The "damage" they have observed is nothing but the general decay that already existed as far as I can tell, but there's no arguing with bureaucrats. I'll need to find out the inspection requirements to resplash, but in any case it needed doing so no biggy.

Timing was, as usual, utterly impeccable. :-(

[haiqu]

Checked the bureaucrat handbook and evidently they have exceeded their authority by a fairly large margin. But hey, this is Queensland. Chances of changing their minds: zero.

[haiqu]

Originally Posted by Stormy

Hi Haiqu, very interesting post. Having recently retired,am long term single and working through things to have a liveaboard lifestyle, I found your posts very informative. Thanks for posting

Wanna buy a Hartley Queenslander moored at Woolwich? :-)

[Oldsquizzy]

Dont give up...

[Stormy]

Originally Posted by haiqu

Wanna buy a Hartley Queenslander moored at Woolwich? :-)

I am currently undertaking renovations on the house. I have just had a bit of a surprise at the price of asbestos removal It depends upon how much change is left to which way I go. I ideally would love a catamaran as a live aboard but it may be a case of champagne taste on a beer budget. I cant seriously look around until I know how much I have to work with. The Hartleys do look nice though

[haiqu]

Originally Posted by Oldsquizzy

Dont give up...

Too late for that, my opinion of this society has taken yet another downturn. I appealed, they immediately refused it. My only options now are administrative review and politics, and I don't relish becoming entombed in either of those quagmires.

Keep an eye on the next Coastal Passage though, it might just contain a scathing article from yours truly.

Frankly the only option I have to avoid this is the "reasonable excuse" provision of TOMSA94 section 172AA(6) by pleading too poor to have the work done right now. If they don't go for that I stand to be fined $22,400 at the end of the month.

One doesn't relish airing dirty laundry to public bloody servants, but our commercial property tenants are three months in arrears and my income has suffered yet again. Thank goodness we're selling the damned place, that's all I can say.

Anonymous donations can be sent to my Bitcoin address. Brown paper bags full of used notes also gratefully accepted.

[haiqu]

It has been an exhausting few days. Apart from the aforementioned shenanigans with MSQ, I've had to deal with the realities of the aftermath of the yacht's escape.

New anchor, 50 metres of chain, 3 shackles and a swivel: $733.70
New Raymarine wind instrument: $800.00

The internal lighting system failed two days ago and I haven't yet had a chance to look into it. I awoke at 3am and stepped out of the v-berth to get a cup of tea, to find my foot under water. Three hours of hard work this morning revealed a broken hose clamp on one of the drain hoses.

At about 10:30am my sister suddenly remembered some papers that needed signing for the forthcoming property auction, and they just HAD to be delivered today. I finally saw the email at 12:30pm so I popped all the files on a USB stick and went ashore to print, sign and scan them. While there I also bought a chicken, 4 litres of fruit juice, a loaf of bread, an apple turnover and some bananas. Yes, I know bananas are bad luck, but after the week I've had nothing else could go wrong. And I got a hot shower.

Hoping to deploy the new anchor at high tide this evening, so that MSQ can retrieve their loaned mooring tackle.

[haiqu]

My life just keeps getting better.

NZ neighbour tells me tonight that house was broken into again a few months ago, and that she had messaged me. I didn't see any message. Goats that had been in the yard were let inside, causing havoc and shitting everywhere. House is no longer locked or secure.

There's no way I'm ever going to live in that town, too much random crime.

[haiqu]

The new anchor is holding well, but then so did the last one. It seems to me we occasionally get a particular set of weather conditions that make it break loose, but since I've never been aboard when it happened I can't say what they are.

I had MSQ do a second inspection, and the guy who turned up was an actual boatbuilder and had experience working on ferros, which was good. We got on pretty well and he agreed the order was too severe, but wanted me to go into some sort of timeline agreement for the repairs which is impossible until I know where the money is coming from.

I'm still waiting to hear from them again, and the haulout deadline is tomorrow. This could be the most stress I've been under in years, especially since I had to spend all day Monday talking to another yachtie who had tried - and failed - to save the life of a woman when a tinny she was hooning around in got swamped and submerged. The driver, a guy who she barely knew, was also fairly inebriated and I'm sure this hasn't been his best week either. These are the people that MSQ should be focusing on, not guys like me. How anyone could sink a perfectly good runabout on a sunny Sunday beggers the imagination.

[Auzzee]

It's not looking good at the moment but, as they say in the classics, the sun will still rise in the morning. I hope it turns out well for you. Best wishes.

[haiqu]

Small concession, they canceled the extant order and replaced it with a new order to have haul out and the hull inspected by a qualified boat builder by 30 June. Penalty for non-compliance is $50,000

Even if the property sells in May I won't see the cash for months.

[Auzzee]

It is almost impossible to imagine that the Queensland Government has ever imposed such a penalty for such an infringement...unless the offending vessel was of 50,000 tons and posed some sort of grievous environmental threat. It's almost like one's Mother telling an errant child of impending blindness after being sprung for 'beastly' behavior.

[haiqu]

Can't do that here either, bloody spy cameras everywhere.

[delatbabel]

If QLD state revenue is anything like NSW state revenue (specifically the state debt recovery office) they can fine you whatever they like, they just can't enforce it. If they fine you $50k then offer them $10 per month and say that with your current income it's the maximum you can afford. They have to accept it otherwise put you in front of a judge if they want a higher amount, and then the onus is on them to prove to the beak that you can afford it. So it's mostly an empty threat.

[haiqu]

I have no intention of having the situation get that far, but a handy tip in any case.

[haiqu]

Set off this morning to buy a new pair of 105AH batteries for Shenoa. The AGMs I borrowed from Keppelena are now four years old and not holding a charge very well.

Drove the 10km to Wynnum and collected said batteries but on the way back my VW T4 "failed to proceed" as they say in Rolls Royce circles. Broken gearbox linkage meant that I needed a tow, and thankfully I joined RACQ just before Christmas so help arrived in less than an hour.

I booked her in for repair, and also to change the plugs and oil and look into a noisy exhaust that has only started recently. And for good measure also asked them to check the engine mountings, on the basis that it could have caused the other two faults. Had a friendly yachtie pick me up from the mechanic, so it wasn't looking too bad a day still.

Due to choppy conditions he decided to tow me back to my yacht, since both out dinghies were full of groceries, batteries, water bottles, Port-a-potties and sundry yacht stuff. Halfway back his engine sputtered and died. Leaking fuel hose. "Oh, I meant to fix that" he said as fuel pissed everywhere. So he's furiously chopping neoprene and unscrewing clamps with his trusty pocketknife as we slowly drift down the river toward Brisbane.

Knew I should have stayed in bed today.

[haiqu]

So, it's low tide and blowing 50 kt right on dusk and I'm out on in the cockpit ready to fend off any of three yachts that look like crashing into me ... then I see this guy.

The picture's a bit fuzzy, but he's sitting on a blow-up chair fishing, and he has huge flippers on for propulsion. Yeah, I had to laugh.