loopfish

A few things...

2011-11-11T20:18:00.001+13:00

Hi Guys,

I've hidden the comments from public view on this blog, you can still comment and I will receive it if you wish to engage me directly with your thoughts (include return email address please) but the blog was never intended to be for the purposes of a public slagging, only to keep my family and friends up to date while I was on the water.

I'll try to respond to some of the accusations (or what ever they are) here.

First of all Constellation II is not Nicks boat, it belongs to me and I'm sorry some of you feel personally insulted by what has become of her, you will have to work through those issues on your own - Nick and I have talked this through and I appreciate his emotional connection to the boat / history. To even contemplate the idea that I do not care about Constellation II however is ridiculousness, it has been my home for the last year and carried every personal position I own, I had invested a lot of my own emotional energy, time and money in to her.

For the trip, I was very well prepared I had handheld GPS and paper charts that I would have used if I needed to but as it was I was able to get my computer navigation working and why not use it as it is the best method I had available, I'm not going to chuck it over board at the first glitch. Also I turned back to port some 15 minutes after departure to resolve the issue I had with it and ensure I had one of the handheld GPS connected via USB as a back up just in case.

I didn't write the post in the best states of mind so I'm sure it's easy to pick holes in, I'm an electronic engineer and would have fixed the lights if the problem was anything worse then an on/off switch .. I'm an honest person and said it exactly as I remember and really don't mind people knowing I made silly mistakes, we all do just some find it harder to admit to them.

222's general summation of the situation has some merit, in all likely hood the boat would have been perfectly fine.. I on the other hand had reached the limits of my ability to handle the situation as it presented it self.

I don't really believe in regret or what if's - What if I had had 2 additional years sailing experience under my belt? Things may or may not have turned out different... one things for sure though, there are two people in this world, those who try and fail and try again and the rest. I am happy that I gave it a shot even as things turned out the way they did.

I am moving her back to Melbourne next week, the repairs will be made, Constellation II will sail again.. and when I have learnt more I might have another crack at it.

Might even get a crew this time so start sending me your CV's now :) [edit : in other words turn talk in to action ]

This is how it all went down...

2011-11-09T19:51:00.002+13:00

So day 1, I left Queenscliff to go through the heads in the morning but soon found the USB navigation to be giving me funny readings so I had to head back to port to solve that issue. In the end it just started working by it self but it was going to come back to bite me later on. I tried again for slack water later that day and was heading through at about 2pm.

The sea was rough through the Rip and I got tossed around quite a bit but being so full of energy It didn't faze me, I had sails down and was motoring through. The wind was flogging the boom and this resulted in the first breakage with a block on the boom being ripped off thanks to a failed U Bolt, I repaired that on the go using 4mm nylon rope lashed around.. but from that point on I tied the end of the boom to a cleat meaning I had to swap this for every tack I performed.

The weather calmed down and I started making some progress, I was quite wired and worried about the first night so I got everything ready and tidy. I tested the mast head lights and realised they were not working so a bit of panic set in cause a dark boat at night can't be seen or avoided by other ships. I hoisted the radar reflector up and a couple of green glow sticks one on the starboard side and the other on .. well the other starboard side I guess.

I was feeling rotten in the stomach so didn't manage to eat anything, and stayed up all night watching the lights of merchant ships and oil rigs in the distance in my survival suit nodding off and waking up in confusion unsure of where I was.The fatigue at this stage was causing me to see all sorts of interesting things that did not exist.. but I pressed on, the waves and weather calmed and at dawn all seemed well again. Setting course I was able to lie down and get an hour sleep, up again check, down and another hour.. and so on.. all and all I think I got about 3 hours total in the first 48 hours at sea.

I knew already I would be in trouble if the sleeping and eating situation could not be resolved. Towards the end of day two I was over the sea sickness and started eating a little, and getting more sleep during the day in anticipation of having to keep careful watch the following night.

As it turned out the next night had nearly no wind and I had now solved the problem with my navigation lights - rather stupid - I had the master power switch in the off position, adding to the confusion was that some electronics bypass this switch so at the time I could not work out why my cabin lights were working but not the mast head lights and could only manage to change a few fuses before the sickness got the better of me and sent me to the cockpit.

The next morning I realized that I had not hoisted the radar reflector correctly, was now tangled and could not be pulled down so I left it up flogging against the mid stay. As sailing sounds go, the sound of anything flogging is enough to drive you insane.

Despite all this I was eating more and no longer felt sick at all. I was getting good hours of sleep. the sailing was getting nice all be it with periods of zero wind.

Start of day three I was close enough to the Prom to consider how I might weave my way through all the islands and rocks that stick out of the water while getting sleep and doing every thing else that needed to be done. A more experience sailor would have looked and the miles between them and thought nothing of it, I on the other hand decided to play it as safe as posable and take a southerly route under Curtis Island.

It was night on day 4 as I approached Curtis and here the GPS navigation failed me again, I had to reset the PC every 30 mins to ensure I would pass without hitting it or it's two rocks. It was a moon lit night so was not really going to hit them however the fear of not seeing my exact location on the little screen got the better of me and it had to be fixed.

As it was this turned out to be my best night of the whole trip steady wind (although not very strong) I slept for 4 hours in a row that night, kind of dangerous in it self but I was exhausted and needed the rest.

Last day and again I'm considering my route. The wind had changed to a brisk North East so thought I would make the most of a good thing and try for Refuge Cove on the East of the Prom. Here I would be able to set anchor in a safe sheltered bay, sleep for a day, eat and have really a good long hard think about what I was doing out here.

In my mind at this stage I had given up on NZ and thought Eden would be my final stop.

The wind took me about 17 NM north and then suddenly dropped to nothing and found my self 9NM South West of East Island. I bobbed around for half and hour and decided if I was ever going to get to Refuge before dark I would have to motor.

The math was kind of simple, the destination was 22NM away, the motor was getting me about 3 Knots so it was going to take me under 8 hours and it was 11am so I figured I would be able to do it.

Then for some reason I had a second wind - the brain and wind kind - a Westerly was picking up, but this was just the start of the storm I would find my self in trouble in 6 hours later.

I sail East trying to get north of East Island and then the squalls hit, and the strength of them took me by surprise, and the waves started to build behind me.

It didn't take long before the size of the following sea gripped me with fear, so I rounded up towards it and was blown down by all the sail I had up. I took two reefs and pulled the jib in but of course now had little speed to tacking through the wind and failed to do this several times. Compounding my problems was the realization that for all the fair winds I had earlier in the day I did not take advantage to get some sleep, being so fixated on Refuge Cove... so I was stuck with only 4 hours from the night before.

The wind and waves were getting bigger and bigger, I was motoring across them again now determined more than ever to get to Refuge Cove, hand steering in the conditions was getting difficult to control and It's about now around 4pm where I think I was really starting to get worried... and starting to loss hope and faith in my ability to handle the situation. I was soaked from the waves crashing over me, exhausted and contemplated just running the ship aground just for the chance to get off it. When I went in to the cabin it was like being in a little bottle that was being shaken violently, I would bounce off all sorts of surfaces.

Things in my mind at this stage were getting rather odd, and I knew one certain way to escape the situation was to activate my EPIRB and launch a rescue, in doing so I would loose the ship and everything I owned. While I contemplated this against the background of my life however the choice was simple and after 15 minutes, or an eternity, I pulled it out and activated the EPIRB tethering it on deck.

The continuous beeping and flashing of the strobe on the EPIRB was reassuring. My job had transformed from getting some place to just holding on and pointing the boat the best I could to reduce the effects of the biggest waves. Eventual I managed to get the monitor self steering going properly so I could at least do other things while the boat kept course.

Worried search and rescue were not getting my signal I called my sister on the satellite phone to ask her if she could call Australian search and rescue, of course it transpired that they were trying to call me while I was on the phone to her. They did call me not long after and I gave them an updated position, and asked me heaps of questions about my situation. I made it clear that I was injured, exhausted and WANTED THE **** OFF THIS BOAT.

I saw a merchant ship in the distance and set off a flare, they were the closest thing to me at that point, they didn't turn.

A spotter plane was sent from Melbourne ( about 20 minutes away - eternity two ), a bit of confusion here, they were going to drop a VHF radio as I had indicated on the sat phone I was not sure if mine was working and this was needed to coordinate things with other ships. They did a few circules and I was talking to them on my VHF ok but they dropped it anyway. It landed far from me, I did a 180 to get it... got beam on to the waves and was knocked down..I never found that radio.

Search and rescue had requested another merchant ship ( a Japanise grain ship called Imperial Fortune ) divert to my position, it's main roll to provide shelter for me from the weather until the police launch arrived some three hours away. I chatted with the captain of the ship via VHF who said he was going to drop a ladder mid-ship but the swell was going to make it difficult for me to get aboard, to witch I told him if I there is a ladder I'm going to get up it one way or another.

Things were still going crazzy but I was starting to think of salvation at this point now knowing that help was on it's way, and had the presence of mind to pack some valuables (camera, passport, credit cards, ...) in a sail bag tied it up and slung it around me.

The ship came to a stop about 200 meters away where I was instructed to make my approach. On the lee side of the ship the weather was calm but the swell was still two meters. One of the crew shone a torch to stern so of course I went to stern and my mast got tangled on the upper decks and did a bit of damage. I was not worried about that as, in my mind, the ship was lost already. Realizing the mistake I continued mid-ship and sure enough a ladder and a guy ready to throw a rope were waiting.

Tied on I said a goodbye to the boat that had been my home for the last year, hopped on the ladder and up I went. It was only about 10 meters and it was hard work, they pulled my in the final way.

On board I was walking snake-paths and almost falling over as my balance was affected from the time at sea. I was checked over by the ships doctor, able to call my sister to let her know I was OK, given a shower, hot food, new socks and a shirt.. all and all the most generous bunch of people I have ever met. The crew must have thought this all a bit novel as they would come in as groups and ask me lots of questions about me, where I was from where I was going...

The police launch arrived a few hours later and I did the transfer down the ladder again, it was too rough for them to tie on so I had to stand on the bottom rung near the water and wait for them to come to me.

If the transfer was not possible I was told I would have been getting a free 18 day trip to Japan.

Get back to port and I am checked over by a paramedic who says I'm fine, so I have to check my self in to hospital having no place else to go, I was in shock my thumb was messed up from falling in to the cabin of my boat and I had absolutely no idea where I was.

That's how it all went down.

A more experience sailor might have considered the conditions benign, or had known to get more sleep and food. For me I had reached my absolute limit and realized it, so I'm not sorry I called it quits.

The boat was actually salvaged by a local fisher man but that's another expensave story that is still unfolding.

Ok

2011-11-07T21:56:00.001+13:00

So I've had a good meal and have a motel room, will go see the boat
tomorrow.

I'll post a full acount here in the comming days, still very tired but
that will pass

Thanks for all the best wishes it's feeling good to be alive today.

...more sweetbix

2011-11-07T12:54:00.002+13:00

hey erryone... it's me again... filling in the blanks and pooling the resources....
thanks for people's updates, im just spreading the word.
(excuse my writing style -- for those who know me, you probelly aren't surprised. but i assure you i can spell.)

A few people have been in touch saying they've talked to Dave, so we have confirmation ;)

One who identifies himself only as a 'paul' has informed me he just spoke to the harbourMaster regarding the boat, says it's "ship shape". I can only assume it's a nautical term for "yhusssssssssss". I'm sure the Dave will be pleased.

This alleged 'paul' also goes on to say that a source (a nurse) claims a sleepyDave's gonna be discharged this afterneoon.

also:

Dear Dave,
you're still our hero!
love,
Life

Keeping our listeners up to date. + addendum

2011-11-07T08:44:00.001+13:00

Hey peoples... shh, dont tell, I'm an imposter. - j0nno, a friend of Dave's.
I Just wanna catch people up with the little I know.

At some point last night David has set off his EPIRB, with news that "his lines are fouled and he can't hoist his sails". At which point Search and Rescue were gonna drop him a radio, so they could communicate moreBetter with him.

He was then picked up by a container ship. Then the police boat picked him up, but could not tow his boat.

Now Dave is in Yarram Hospital -- dont think the worst... it's probably routine.

His boat is probably under tow from local fisherman. I'm trying not to sound sure, because i'm not.

No news from Dave himself yet.

Thanks for Nicky and Sarah (Dave's sisters, for keeping us informed!) -- And I'll pass on new information as it comes to ham.

AND...

...we all wish Dave the best of the best.

==============================================================
Addendum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
he has a thumb strain and is sleepy - hence the hospital.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Via Inmarsat:

2011-11-06T19:06:00.001+13:00

As i was saying, turns out this is too big for me after all. Will call you
all when at anchor in the morning. It's been fun.

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Via Inmarsat:

2011-11-06T19:03:00.001+13:00

GPS fix
t:it's over
Lat: S 39 9' 15''
Long: E 146 48' 49''
Time: 05:58:01 UTC
Date: 06-11-2011
Altitude: 0 m
Velocity: 0 km/h
m:all good&fine. Going to anchor at refuge cove in morn then i quit.
Horiz: +/- 32 m
Vert: +/- 64 m

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going fast,

2011-11-06T14:30:00.001+13:00

but wind just died,

bit blowy last night

2011-11-06T07:45:00.001+13:00

so reefed and got sleep. Going north today.

slow

2011-11-05T18:30:00.001+13:00

3.5kt average on close east this arvo wind pickin up. Sarah ill call

wind?

2011-11-05T11:30:00.001+13:00

no wind last night. Hope to close on prom today

slow

2011-11-04T17:00:00.001+13:00

sorry for not being chaty, getting sea legs, have eatn and got sleep

all good

2011-11-04T09:45:00.001+13:00

all good

good wind

2011-11-03T22:00:00.001+13:00

getthng ready for first night

through the heads

2011-11-03T16:30:00.001+13:00

all good

dapart

2011-11-03T15:00:00.001+13:00

this time

Problem solved.

2011-11-03T11:14:00.000+13:00

Now departing at 1:30pm today.

Via Inmarsat:

2011-11-03T10:33:00.001+13:00

Aborted due to technical issues. :! Back at dock

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depart

2011-11-03T09:15:00.001+13:00

will post when through the heads.

Waiting

2011-11-02T23:47:00.001+13:00

Hi, so tonight I'm cleaning up the boat.. Remembered I had not yet
filled my water tank :) so that's all good.

You all are going to have to put up with my bad spelling abilities
while on route. I can't help it, it's me.

So weather and the boat and me and everything else is looking good.

I'll try to post before I leave, and after through the heads, but
don't fret to much if I miss them as I'll be busy doing other
things... But. I'll try.

ETA at the heads is 8:50 summer time what ever that is UTC where the
flow of water is at it's lowest.

Dinner time:

Customered

2011-11-02T17:38:00.001+13:00

Off to the shops to get some last minute things, milling about getting
nervy.

Customs came down at 1:30, they were pretty relaxed about the whole
thing so that was nice. They stamped the passport gave me my clearence
certificate and that's that simple...

Then I set up and practiced with my Dave patented reefing system. Also
gave me a good chance to recheck all the fittings, and get the sail
shape looking nice.

So I'm good to go, departure is set for 7:30am tomorrow.

Next off to the shops again and lunch already.

Quick one...

2011-11-01T21:32:00.001+13:00

I noticed the map does not always load propa like on the blog so best
to book mark this link

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://evntrr.com/constellation/kml.php&t=k

I'll be the customer of the Australian Customs tomorrow at 1pm, hence
my actual departure date will be the morning of the 3rd.

This means another day of walking around on the beach at queenscliff
(packed with queens) and perhaps a visit to the unsuspecting local
library for some l33t downloads. I'm hooked on Survivor again :/

Filling in the time...

Brian turns a lot...

2011-11-01T13:48:00.001+13:00

So left williamstown at 8am for Queenscliff. I estimated 9 hours but turned out to be 12, was able to make it to port before dark saving me a tricky night entrace to a place I'd only walked around once before.

The wind was SW and that happened to be the exact direction I wanted to go, I started out sailing from williamstown for the first few hours but soon realised it would take forever, so on with the motor (Brian sir turns alot) and wave bashed it the rest of the way.

There are always upsides, I know now Brian is a champ and didn't miss a beat. waves were about half a meter buts far more exciting to exagerate and say they were 1m, either way the bow kept diving and cutting into them scooping up buckets of water that mostly found there way to my Face!

I went up the western channel to the heads, that would have been near on imposable to sail as it is quite narrow.

Passed heaps of container ships anchored in the bay, I think they pump out or take on balist water here?

Today I'll try and get customs to clear me for departure. The day I leave depends on how early in the morning they can come tomorrow so I can make slack water at the heads otherwise it will be Thursday.

So it's all good, boats all good it got quote a beating yeasterday and held up well so am well pleased with it.

Onwards...

stage one done

2011-10-31T22:15:00.001+13:00

all good will blog later

gone

2011-10-31T16:00:00.001+13:00

gone

not long

2011-10-30T23:30:00.001+13:00

guess what ... No internet at the marina on my lart night so testing sat

The Waitings...

2011-10-29T23:18:00.001+13:00

Just trying to waste time and keep my self preoccupied today.

I've suspected for a while that the rain has been finding it way in to the fuel tank, so i took the cap off today and ran silicon around the edge and let it dry in the sun to make a better seal. A used a silicon grease on top of that so it would not stick when i did it up. Lets hope that works.

I loaded the fuel cans on board and lashed them down, and forced silicon it to any other area that I thought might leak.

Don't get me wrong, when I say leak i do not mean sinking potential, just trying to keep everything in the cabin as dry as possible.

I rewired a charger that had some strange European plug on it and gave the batteries a top up to burn off any deposits mainly (they've not had a boost in a while) and it's good I'm reading 13 volts tonight.

So yeah boring stuff., just thought I would touch bass. still going to Queenscliff on the 31st then leave out of the heads as soon as I can get customs to clear me.

It's been raining in Melbourne but the weather is calm and is looking to stay that way for my first few days at sea so will be a good chance to get by bearings and accustom to it all.

I cleaned everything up again in side and put everything in it's correct place, it's an endless task as I have to pull everything out to get at the one thing I need.

Oh I brought a kitchen timer today so wake me at regular intervals, however it's function is not what I had wanted exactly. I want a timer that will count down and sound an alarm then reset it self once you hit the snooze button. This one i have to reprogramme after the timer goes off. If I'm not doing polyphasic sleep and just trying to wake my self for a minute to take watch apparently you can do this without pulling your self fully away any way.. something to figure out on the way.

Dave

Horses of Courses

2011-10-27T21:18:00.001+13:00

Guess what Tuesday the 1st is a public holiday due to the Melbourne Cup.. Customs will not check me out on Tuesday :)

I did the same thing trucking the boat from Sydney on a Saturday / grand final weekend.

So departure will now be the 2nd or 3rd.

Sails / Food

2011-10-24T12:51:00.000+13:00

Yesterday was sunny and hot so I pulled all the sails out from the hidey holes under the forward berths ( something I had not done once in the whole time I've owned Constellation (II) )

I laid them out and washed them down with soapy water then hung to dry it gave me a chance to inspect them all and see what I had.

So there is the old jib, two storm jibs (one shorter than the other), and a light weight genoa and old main sail that has a rip about half way up that goes from luff to leach. A bit hard for me to repair at this stage but could still be tied together through reef points or just used reefed three down, so I'll hang on to it because I'll be going no place fast under jib alone if I lost the working main.

Later that day I packed all the food and water on board. I received what turned out to be sound advice to purchase water in small bottles and I'm glad I did it was easy finding random places for the 48 1.5 Litre bottles, conversely I think I would not have fit a single 3 or 4 litre bottle any place on board the spaces are two small. I stuffed as much canned food in to the bilge forward of the engine, followed by the lighter stuff in the floor compartments forward of that. So I was expecting to have to trip over food the whole way but was please to manage to find a home for it all out of sight so it's looking tidy in here again.

I'm going to head off to the stationary shop today to print some charts and have some laminated to keep them dry, then it's off to burnings for the fiftieth time to get cans for the diesel and then find these slacker engine mechanics for my tune up.

sorry

2011-10-24T12:00:00.001+13:00

about all the test posts , i think it is all good now.

testing

2011-10-24T11:45:00.001+13:00

test

Via Inmarsat:

2011-10-22T15:05:00.001+13:00

Test blog post via sat phone... Flash guy!

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Getting Itchy...

2011-10-22T14:45:00.002+13:00

No blog yesterday as I was working on the map to the right. I can send my position via my phone and it will show up on the map, I'll do this daily during the trip and try to offer witty and insightful comments along the way.

Yesterday I went back to my old flat to pick up the mail, two things 1) the builders certificate from Jeremy Rogers that I ordered just in case AMSA required this for my ship registration and 2) my actual ship registration certificate !!! IT'S DONE.. The whole process took a month to complete.

I'm happy to report that the certificate is suitably impressive - to compensate me for the effort - and comes in a gold crested folder, including a shiny silver seal it looks authentic enough :) I'm pretty pleased that it went so smoothly and they were correct in the initial estimation that the delays are usually caused when they request more information from me. The only real slow down was that the previous owner had written 24/24 shares on the bill of sale whereas AMSA requires it to read 64/64, it was explained to me that shares are not the same as percentages when it comes to ownership. Chris was a champ and corrected this and returned it to them. Thanks Chris

Once I picked that up I decided to pay the Customs department a visit to have some questions answered regarding departure, I met with the very same official that had replied to my email earlier that morning (I'd not yet checked my email), they were helpful and said it would probably be possible for clearance to be done at Queenscliff ( the closest harbour to the port phillip heads ) rather then making me sail back to Geelong so that's really good.

To make the passage through the Heads I need to wait for slack water times this is the window where the current through them is at a minimum, and resulting waves. I also want a slack water time as early in the morning as possible to give me the maximum amount of daylight on the first day to get my bearings. One last requirement is that slackwater be after the flood tide so if it goes pair shaped time wise I'll be carried out again rather then finding my self fighting against the incoming tide. On the 1st of November slack water is at 0732 and the runout tide is 0957. Should take an hour to navigate my way from the harbour and out so .. yeah that's the plan.

Also I got some hose for the backup pump and gave it a test run, it's useless really but better than nothing I suppose. It cost $30 so I guess that says it all really.

Today I'm relaxing a bit, it's been all go every day for weeks now and I'm starting to find I have little left to do.. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.. but I'm really really ready and in the most itchy way now to get going. Sadly I have 10 days to go.. perhaps I'll add that Jacuzzi or helipad you all keep nagging me about.

Shopping, and then tomorrow more shopping..

2011-10-20T20:07:00.003+13:00

Today consisted of driving all over town picking up some of the final things prior to me realising I need yet more stuff and have to repeat it all over again.

I wrote the food list a few days ago and decided to start getting it. I expect the trip to take 14-17 days so am provisioning for 20 and then some. First stop was a discount supermarket where I brought all the bulk stuff that normally cost ten times as much elsewhere, I picked up all the water for the trip, and canned goods like tomato's, tuna, long life milk and heat and eat delights such as whole grain minestrone in anticipation of the times where cooking will be imposable or the motivation is lacking. I'll go to a regular supermarket for the rest tomorrow and in the mean time it will live in the car till I get closer to departure.

Then its up town to the chandler's to get some 4mm rope to hoist things up the spreaders such as flags and a bit of wire designed to make my SSB receiver work. Some maritime law / tradition requires me to fly the flag of the boats nationality, in this case Australian, despite the fact I'm a Kiwi. I also brought a Q flag, a $20 yellow cloth that must be raised within territorial waters of a foreign ports prior to customs clearance where upon you run the National flag and courtesy flag ( that of the host nation ).. rules rules rules, or are they just traditions? Then it's spare stuff that I don't really need now but might.. fuses, lengths of wire.

Down to the electronics retailer where I pick up a new alternator that I fitted this afternoon.

It was very hot and windy today so I really only got half the stuff done I should have, still managed to run the lines for the flag and grease all the winches and got a block out to soak after Nick notice it had seized up.

I had the boat completely clean on the inside yesterday one day later it's a complete mess again, it's a hard thing to keep tidy.

So that was a boring / tiring day of shopping.

Masted

2011-10-20T00:52:00.000+13:00

Up early again, this morning I did the computer / accounting stuff that I had been putting off the last week. From the day I brought Constellation I've been keeping a detailed account of all my boat related expenses, without giving it away completely I've spent more than I paid for the boat in the last year, however most of that is made up of berthing fees, trucking the boat from Sydney and the reconditioned engine, then it's been a further $5000 getting ready for the trip ( free slap to anyone who says it would have been cheaper to fly :) The most expensive single addition was the new life raft followed by navigation equipment, EPIRB and the hall out.

Nick came done this after noon to help me up the mast. We unfouled the backup jib halyard and replaced it with a thinner 8mm line so that it would run through the little eye. While I was up the mast I checked all the split pins and replaced any that looked really bad. It's weird place the motion of the boat is amplified by the moment of the mast and even with Nick just walking from starboard to port felt like the hole thing was going to topple over :)

The new satellite phone arrived so I spend some time tonight checking its features and doing from tests, first call was to my mum.

Sat phone / life raft mounting

2011-10-18T19:31:00.000+13:00

This morning I slept in till 7:30, slacker.Then set about to complete the application for my sat phone (iSatPhone Pro on the Inmarsat network). When I posted the forms off last week I clear forgot to copy them my drivers licence, some strange Australian law. So that's done and I should have it in my hands tomorrow.

The rest of the day was spent finishing the mounting bracket for the life raft (see flickr), this was done with 1.5 inch strips of marine plywood all glued together then varnished. Actually having completed it I would say I will not do it again in the same way, while I'm sure it will hold up for the trip I probably should have used solid timber or just paid the $80 for the plastic mounts from the raft supplier but whatever I was trying to replicate the old wooden one that was slightly to small. I added a few rails on top of it that run in the grooves of the raft case that will stop the side to side movement as long as the lashings hold it down tight.

All ropes holding the raft down run to a single snap shackle so in the event of a desired launch you pull the spring pin and the whole thing comes loose, then heave it overboard where upon a tether attached to the boat causes the raft to inflate and not float away. The raft has a knife so once your on board with whisky and other previsions you cut the line and perform an all vocal trumpet rendition of The Last Post as your yacht sinks to the depths.. or at least that's how I imagine it.

Jonno asked me if I was getting scared today and I'm really not, every day is a whirlwind of activity as I get every thing ready so have not had time to freak out and either way I believe in my self and the boat, having it out of the water for the week gave me the confidence in the boat and was able to get every thing done on it that I wanted ( fill the unused through hulls, replaced the prop seal, replace the zinc and zinc bolts, paint & anti foul).

Nick will come down in the next day or so to lift me up the mast so I can check split pins and unfoul a fouled line..

Whats left to do after that? food shopping, customs clearance, a zillion other things.

Drugs & other stuff.

2011-10-17T19:59:00.000+13:00

Today I had an appointment with a local GP to get some expert advice. I told him exactly what I was planning and we discussed some of the more common ailments that I might expect to suffer from. We ran through things such as infections, sea sickness & related dehydration, potential for urinary tract infections, cuts and burns.

So he gave me a booster Tetanus / Diphtheria vaccination on the spot (for free) and a script for...

- two courses of Amoxycillin a common antibiotic to take if I get an infected cut or urinary tract infection ect
- gastrolyte, orange flavour electrolyte re-hydration sachets that you mix with water something you would take if you've been suffering from prolonged diarrhea or vomiting.
- Comfarol, paracetamol / codeine pain killer.
- Mintec, peppermint oil tablets that will apparently settle an unsettled stomach.

The Gastrolyte and Mintec are not prescription medicines but he put it on the script and I was keen to take his advice.

While waiting at the chemist I wandered the aisles with a basket grabbing and assortment of other things off the top of my head... Betadine, tape and plasters, cold packs, burns ointment a thermometer suitable for sticking in a variety of places, water purification tablets, ear plugs?, strepsals and so on..

This will all be added to the existing first aid kit that contains bunches of sterile dressings and tape after I threw out all the old medications.

So that's that, pretty much sorted on what ails me.. not that anything really ever does, but hey it doesn't hurt to over prepare.

New blog - Sailing to Opua

2011-10-17T16:21:00.000+13:00

Well I was going to make my own web site but seeing as time is short now i've just created the little blogger page for now.

The plan is to sail from Melbourne to the Bay Of Islands, NZ on or around the 1st of November 2011 in my 1973 Jeremy Rogers Contessa 26 named Constellation II.

You can check pictures here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_zap/6229511503/

More to come...