More beer please!

Now that I have your attention with the dramatic headline, the grounding was on the slipway at the yacht club! But first, did I tell you I am suffering through a month without beer? I don’t know how I will survive this, but it’s been 11 days now, and only 19 to go!

It came about after several “gout” attacks that we could not get on top of. So I visited a new doctor: the fifth one to look at this problem (they are worse than engineers!) He came up with the conclusion it was all caused by my blood pressure medication and I should ditch the old fashioned approach for his fresh, young, new technology.

“How long have you been on this medication” …about 10 years “And how long have you had these gout symptoms? …about 10 years. I told him I like a beer so much I even make my own, and he told me “Drink as much beer as you can”.

But when I explained this at home, I got a suspicious look and had to re-think. Maybe what he said was “Drink as much as you like”. No, that wasn’t it either. OK, I remember now, “Drink as you do now, just bear in mind moderation”. Yes, that was it! And a complete overhaul of my blood pressure control and it should all be OK. But fresh outbreaks meant I now have a 1 month ban on all alcohol placed on me by the managing director. Lucky for me, it was June as there is only 30 days in this month! 19 days to go… L It’s not fair, watching Tom drinking my beer at the end of the day after working on the boat, Stuart’s birthday coming up, and all that grain beer I made sitting waiting for me, I just have to get right before the car race at Bathurst and the steam rally season.

Adaqua: a sad story

I left work early on Monday night to get Adaqua over to the yacht club to go up the slipway. As part of their club’s license with “Parks Victoria” they are obliged to offer their slipway to the public and not just yacht club members. So they are happy to let me use their slip even though I am not a member.

With no wind and completely glassed out, we pushed the cradle to the top of the slipway ready for the downward trip into the water to pull Adaqua out. Fortunately, Paul noticed one of the wheels on the heavy steel cradle was looking dodgy. We back the tractor up and lifted the cradle up to discover the axle which screws into the wheel had almost come off and needed urgent repairs. Paul told me about a boat they were pulling up and it stuck halfway up the slip through a similar problem and they had to hire a crane to lift the cradle and boat all together. It was a tense moment with everyone afraid the boat was going to fall off during the lift.

Paul suggested we try another cradle. This one had been booked months ago and I waited all this time for it to be available as it was the only cradle that would take my boat. But Paul assured me there was another cradle. All we had to do was put the boat using it, back in the water and I could go up next. It was a good back up plan. So down into the water, float off this lovely little fibreglass cruiser, then back up, do some adjustments, back down and we tried. It didn’t fit. So back up, re-adjust, back down, still didn’t fit. Back up and down ready! Whew. Time was ticking away and it was almost dark. We got Adaqua on the cradle and winched up. But as I suspected, this cradle wasn’t going to work as the side arms caught under the chine. We had to stop and give up. I tied back up at the pier giving Paul the next day to fix the wheel so we could try again.

So Tuesday night, we had all the measurements correct, the correct cradle and experience from the night before and it was all over in 20 minutes! Up and out. Tom was there to help me (thanks Tom!) and he could not help taking the gerni and writing “Adaqua” into the crap coating the hull. Very funny Tom! We stayed there until after dark hydroblasting and scrapping barnacles off the keel. The anitfoul actually looks quite good considering it had been done 3 years ago. I think there was some kind of slime that grew over the hull, protecting the antifoul and keeping the other stuff off. I wish I could patent a system like that! Oranic, natural antifoul!

Did I ever tell you the story about buying anitfoul the first time? I went to see Roger at 4 winds marine and he told me, “This one is good, it does this, and that and only $350 per can. Or this one can do this and only costs $400 per can” I said I’m sure I didn’t pay anything like that last time. He asked me what did I use. “International Bottomkote” Oh, that stuff… it’s only $90 per can. We dont make much money out of that, but I will order you some in. Now I hear they are going to discontinue this fantastic paint! It’s the best thing ever for Adaqua and has lasted well for 3 years when they say you should paint it every year. I hope it’s not true… 🙁

While I blasted, Tom pulled the propeller off, dismantled the toilet seacock, and unpacked the stern gland. All these jobs would have taken me all day, but Tom had them done in minutes!

Toilet valve

The toilet valve was a defect from the last time we slipped. It was on a check list from the insurance company. The shipwright and myself had to dismantle the panel next to the head (the name for a marine toilet) to find an old brass valve that had not seen the light of day since the boat was built 70 years ago. Of course it was seized in the open position and the shipwright said, As the outlet is only 3 inches below the waterline and comes up much higher than that inside, there is no need to have it working. So we left it and just made a note on the survey report. But try to explain this to the woman at the insurance company who wanted to suspend my insurance until it worked! Aaaarrrggghhhh! So if Adaqua had sunk in the last 3 years and they could prove it was because of this seacock, they would not pay. No big deal. But now its time to fix it. We damaged the old brass fittings getting the valve out. So a trip to Bunnings ended in tears when I was told they don’t make ‘em like that anymore and it would have to be gal or plastic. Both would not work. I eventually found a stainless fitting at a commercial airconditioning place. And what I expected to cost $15 turned out to be $75! Then a 2 inch ball valve was going to cost $160! Nasty! So I brought a fitting to reduce it down to 1 inch and the valve only cost $35. So please keep your butt muscle tight when you have a crap on Adaqua, the outlet hole will only take a 1 inch turd now!

Stern gland

We discovered the shaft was a little damaged when we pulled out what looked like steam packing. So Tom has come up with a great idea to replace the packed gland with a mechanical seal. He is looking into how we can do this before we go back in the water. If we fail, we will just re-pack with Teflon water pump packing. No big deal.

Propeller

Normally boat propellers are made of Bronze or brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. But for the past few years I have been experimenting with a new idea, a copper propeller! That’s because the sea has leached every bit of the zinc out of the alloy. It’s become a rather expensive anode over the years!

One of the things in the survey report when I brought Adaqua all those years ago, was the prop was in poor condition. So 5 years ago, I took it off and went through the motions with Geoff from Webster Engineering. We measured 18” x 15” pitch. Not exactly the right size but it seemed to work ok. A shipwright told me once that with my engine we should be able to get 9 knots with a better propeller. After looking at lots of options, I never made a firm decision as a new propeller was so expensive!

Geoff then found a propeller that had been ordered by a customer years ago who never picked it up. It was 21” and I could have it for $500. But was it really what I wanted? So through nothing more than procrastination, and running out of time out of the water, the old one went back on and Adaqua back in the briny.

5 years later, and with bad vibration that has loosened the bolts that hold the shaft together I have taken the propeller off again. It looks very sad. I took it down to Geoff and asked him what we could do with it. He suggested we hit it with a hammer and watch it shatter like glass, as it has converted itself from a bronze propeller to a copper one.

We are left with no option, as the garden ornament I now have will never see the sea again. So after lots more number crunching, we have come up with the perfect propeller for Adaqua. A 3 blade 21” x 14” pitch. Exactly the same as the $500 one he offered me 5 years ago. So we placed the order with Austral propellers who will make me one over the next week. Total cost? A mere $2500!!! Doh!