kingfisher
Well-known member
I needed all hands on saterday to get some last minute jobs done. I could have done these much earlier, but I've been a lazy git this winter, so I kept on postponing them to the last minute.
But the new electrical wire is in the mast. And it is marine-grade, tinned wire this time, connections are crimped (not soldered), as this apparently de rigeur in the offshore industry, covered in more silicone than Pamela Andersons's midriff. And yet I know they will corrode.
The winches and blocks have been degreased, cleaned and regreased, thanks to the *+$£ù% who decided to sandblast his steel boat upwind from my baby.
The new clamps weren't in, so I have to make do with the half-clamps that are still there.
The cabin roof is still has a biodiversity in fungus that would be the envy of every biologist
Sunday
I sort of made an appointment with the crane operater at the bar yesterday evening. Making arangements at the club bar is not such a good idea. That is why, when we arrived at the boat at 10:30, for the 11 o' clock appointment, there was a note taped to the window "was here till 10:20, have other things to do". Hmmm. Called the crane operator, and appologised on the answering machine. Called another crane operator, and luckily he was available.
By 11:30 the mast was on the boat. Good, because I requested Meulestede bridge to open at noon. If I missed that appointment, it would have been a short trip. 11:55, and we're in front of the bridge. By the time we get there, the lights are already red and green, and traffic is already piling up. Do you count the number of cars you hold up? Buses are bonus points.
So it is noon, and we are well on our way to Terneuzen, the summer port of the Obi-Wan. Alas, the only way to get from the lovely city of Ghent to the delightfull town of Terneuzen, is via the Kanaal van Terneuzen. If you're a fan of industrial sites, than this is the place for you: Sidmar steel works, Volvo, Bruggeman yeast (the smell is horrid, I can assure you), Ghent Coal terminal. Makes the lower Medway seem idyllic.
Did I mention it was cold? I didn't because I was inside for most of the time, getting the VHF connected to the antenna up the mast. Which required drilling through the deck. But the battery of the drill packed up halfway. And that is why I specificaly bought a 12V drill. Remove battery, disconnect light lead, connect drill to light lead and continue. Unfortunately, a drill apparently requires more power than three halogene light bulbs. So I blew five fuses by the time the hole was drilled.
Outside, nephew #4 was hudled in balaclave and gloves to ward of the cold. Thank god, passing barges and cargo ships provide some distraction from the riveting scenery. Amazingly, this was one of the few trips where everything went according, or better than planned. All the bridges opened without delay. So much so that we could afford a short stopover in Sas van Gent, to go for take away chinese. this did involve the scaling of barbed wire fences. The reconverted barge we moored next to, apparently had received unwanted visitors, and had built a fence and gate, barring its access pontoon. It also wards off boats coming along side. But that's just a coincidence, isn't it.
So we again set sail, or better, plod along, as a V*lv* 2001,9HP doesn't push a 31ft through F4 headwinds at breakneck speed. But we made the Terneuzen lock complex by 1600hrs, as planned. We're allowed in the east lock, together with two full sized barges. Always makes rope handling interesting, if you got two of those behemoths with engines runnning in front and aside from you.
As the doors open, tears well up my eyes. From the wind, but also from the view: the Westerscheld in full glory. Wide expanses of water. Freedom to range. Let the beast go! But as the main sail is still in the shed, and the boom hasn't been attached, and the mast hasn't been trimmed, it is a short veer to starboard, and 15min later we berth at C16, Terneuzen marina. Home for the summer.
I was suffering from a severe case of winter blues. But just feeling the spray again, made it all a distant memory.
<hr width=100% size=1>Group of people on the pontoon: skipper is the one with the toolbox.
http://sirocco31.tripod.com
But the new electrical wire is in the mast. And it is marine-grade, tinned wire this time, connections are crimped (not soldered), as this apparently de rigeur in the offshore industry, covered in more silicone than Pamela Andersons's midriff. And yet I know they will corrode.
The winches and blocks have been degreased, cleaned and regreased, thanks to the *+$£ù% who decided to sandblast his steel boat upwind from my baby.
The new clamps weren't in, so I have to make do with the half-clamps that are still there.
The cabin roof is still has a biodiversity in fungus that would be the envy of every biologist
Sunday
I sort of made an appointment with the crane operater at the bar yesterday evening. Making arangements at the club bar is not such a good idea. That is why, when we arrived at the boat at 10:30, for the 11 o' clock appointment, there was a note taped to the window "was here till 10:20, have other things to do". Hmmm. Called the crane operator, and appologised on the answering machine. Called another crane operator, and luckily he was available.
By 11:30 the mast was on the boat. Good, because I requested Meulestede bridge to open at noon. If I missed that appointment, it would have been a short trip. 11:55, and we're in front of the bridge. By the time we get there, the lights are already red and green, and traffic is already piling up. Do you count the number of cars you hold up? Buses are bonus points.
So it is noon, and we are well on our way to Terneuzen, the summer port of the Obi-Wan. Alas, the only way to get from the lovely city of Ghent to the delightfull town of Terneuzen, is via the Kanaal van Terneuzen. If you're a fan of industrial sites, than this is the place for you: Sidmar steel works, Volvo, Bruggeman yeast (the smell is horrid, I can assure you), Ghent Coal terminal. Makes the lower Medway seem idyllic.
Did I mention it was cold? I didn't because I was inside for most of the time, getting the VHF connected to the antenna up the mast. Which required drilling through the deck. But the battery of the drill packed up halfway. And that is why I specificaly bought a 12V drill. Remove battery, disconnect light lead, connect drill to light lead and continue. Unfortunately, a drill apparently requires more power than three halogene light bulbs. So I blew five fuses by the time the hole was drilled.
Outside, nephew #4 was hudled in balaclave and gloves to ward of the cold. Thank god, passing barges and cargo ships provide some distraction from the riveting scenery. Amazingly, this was one of the few trips where everything went according, or better than planned. All the bridges opened without delay. So much so that we could afford a short stopover in Sas van Gent, to go for take away chinese. this did involve the scaling of barbed wire fences. The reconverted barge we moored next to, apparently had received unwanted visitors, and had built a fence and gate, barring its access pontoon. It also wards off boats coming along side. But that's just a coincidence, isn't it.
So we again set sail, or better, plod along, as a V*lv* 2001,9HP doesn't push a 31ft through F4 headwinds at breakneck speed. But we made the Terneuzen lock complex by 1600hrs, as planned. We're allowed in the east lock, together with two full sized barges. Always makes rope handling interesting, if you got two of those behemoths with engines runnning in front and aside from you.
As the doors open, tears well up my eyes. From the wind, but also from the view: the Westerscheld in full glory. Wide expanses of water. Freedom to range. Let the beast go! But as the main sail is still in the shed, and the boom hasn't been attached, and the mast hasn't been trimmed, it is a short veer to starboard, and 15min later we berth at C16, Terneuzen marina. Home for the summer.
I was suffering from a severe case of winter blues. But just feeling the spray again, made it all a distant memory.
<hr width=100% size=1>Group of people on the pontoon: skipper is the one with the toolbox.
http://sirocco31.tripod.com
