Blog Entry February 29
Happy birthday to Lyle Simpson, long time
between birthdays.
So many of the shortcomings of this
boat are just a part of its age and the
lack of maintenance over the last two years.
Jim & Alice have been living on board for these two years but now
Alice has gone and two new crew have arrived, first Lynda, a 45 year young
adventurer with a goal to travel the world and no place to call home. She moves about frugally and gave up a
housesitting job to go sailing. I’m
afraid she now regrets it. As we have
said to each other, this ‘mechanic’s special’ is not ready to go cruising and
not what either of us ‘signed on for’. I
know I could stay the month and help Jim fix the boat if he is serious about
spending some decent money to do that. If
not, I would just have to go to the expense of changing my flight and come home
early. If Lynda decides to abandon ship,
I think I would have to as well as I do not want to be a two person team, the
way this boat is set up, navigating through reefs. When he built this Crealock 37 in the 80’s in
San Francisco, it would have been quite the boat and Jim is a capable ship’s
master. It may be hard for him to
realize that his boat is in such need.
All running rigging needs to be
replaced. Jim plans to do that next
year.
The fresh water pressure system has a
difficult to fix leak and therefore it is shut down, no water to the head sink,
all washing up, teeth brushing done in galley sink where there is a foot pump.
Galley stove has only one burner that
works, doesn’t bother Jim, infuriates Lynda.
BBQ does not work.
Jib sail has significant UV damage and is
in danger of ripping.
Wind direction, speed and boat speed gauges
do not work.
Auto pilot does not work, hand steering
only and no bimini to protect helmsman from sun or rain.
Washdown pump quit on first day meaning
this crew member had to lift many heavy buckets of water to the deck to rinse
off 110 feet of muddy anchor chain. Head
now in pieces to get at and repair this pump.
Back in port after 3 days out because
batteries are old and will not hold a charge.
Need to use solar panels in the morning to charge battery enough to
start the engine.
Controller for solar panels does not work
so bypassed.
Two dead outboards hang on the aft rail and
one borrowed outboard in the dinghy has been spluttering on a long trip up a
muddy river in the rain. That was when
Lynda decided to stay with the friends we met and not return for a couple of
days as we were to go back to Savusavu for repairs.
Bilge pump disconnected because it kept
going off and waking Lynda. Good job it
was disconnected because the engine is leaking a lot of oil and water leaks in
from somewhere as well, the bilge pump sends water and oil out to sea. The local cronies on the dock say the best
way to clean an oily bilge is to do it at night!! (Nobody recycles anything here!)
Bunks are not suitable for guests. Cushions are too thin. Bunk space was sacrificed during building for
more storage space. Lots of that, all
full of many things. Lynda, the
smallest, has the largest bunk and Don the largest, has a narrow port side
seat. First come, first served. Neither bunk has what you could call a
mattress.
No bug screens, they use mosquito coils
which work well but Lynda reorganized storage and Jim can’t find them.
The engine compartment used to be walled
off from the main cabin but repeated access has meant that much of the
panelling is missing. Jim says it allows
the engine to cool better. I pointed out
that it warms the cabin with a sickening diesel smell. Tough for whoever has to work below. Relaxing below while under power is not
possible.
Rat lines, which are steps up the rigging
to reach the first spreader are required to spot reefs when in close proximity. But the treads are brittle and cracked wood
that must be replaced. They would not
take my weight and when Jim climbs them they slip and slide on the
rigging. It doesn’t concern him.
Low batteries have meant that we cannot run
lights or cabin fans when away from the dock.
The last two nights were stifling in the hot cabin, unable to run the
two fans. Jim in the V berth and Lynda
across from me both snore. I can’t lie
on my back, bench too narrow so I can’t respond by snoring back.
I was asked to fix the stove which firstly
needed serious cleaning. While I could
get a wee glimmer out of it, I could not fix the sealed burner unit. I did manage to fix one fan and one led light
set. Today we worked on the wash-down
pump but the pressure switch is not repairable.
Good stuff though – We anchored Monday
night off a small island which contains a native Fijian village. The guidebook says going ashore is not
allowed. The chief’s son rowed out and
after a chat where he scoped out what we had on the boat that they might ask
for, we were invited to the village.
Lynda was keen to go and quickly packed cookies as a gift. Not sure she wanted me to cramp her style but
I was welcome to join her and accepted.
Lots of “Bula” greetings and we were led through a primitive village to
the house of the “headman”. We were not
required to drink kava probably because we did not have enough money to
contribute to buying it. Between us we
had only $5 for which a small amount of kava was brought in and we were all blessed. We had dressed conservatively, no hats
allowed, it is disrespectful, shoes off at the open doorways. I was given permission to take photos and we
were taken to visit the first day of Kindergarten class. All other schooling is off the island. About a dozen cute kids lined up in front of
their young teacher.
Perhaps it was the blessing that allowed
our engine to be running when we returned to the boat. Although he bounced over a reef leaving the
anchorage, Jim was not concerned. The
next day we visited friends of Jim’s who have a beautiful place up the shallow
and muddy Wainunu River. It is written
up in Lonely Planet which I had with me.
Joe, a native Figian and his Australian wife Robin were most gracious
hosts. We three arrived soaking wet as
it had poured as we took the dinghy from where we anchored far out in the river
mouth about three miles to their place in the rain forest right on the
river. Other friends had managed to get
their sailboat right to their place at high tide. The plan was to have Lynda stay the night and
we would bring Intention through the river on the morning tide. Perhaps they could provide a guide as we
ground out several times in the dinghy.
No guide but fortunately our engine would not start until the sun
recharged the batteries and Lynda decided to stay another day and make her way
back to Savusavu with Joe.
So today, Jim and I sailed most of the way
back to Savusavu. The first day we did
not have to rely soley on the leaky motor.
We have had lots of thunder and lightning
around us but all we were hit with was rain.
It was a colder rain that I expected and I wished I had brought my Helly
Hansen gear after all.
Tonight I expect to feel the effects of the
day’s sun despite lots of SPF 60 applied today.
Tomorrow perhaps some decisions will be
made about the future of this expedition.
I do not think Jim shares most of my concerns about the boat. He has been quite clear that he does not want
to spend much money. The same buddies on
the dock advised to find the weakest batteries in the 4 battery bank, toss them
out and keep going with the rest. Jim
liked that idea. I don’t. He is not worried about the oil leak, just
runs the engine slower.
Lynda is English and her tongue works
well. She asked me to make a list of all
that is broken so that when she parts with Jim, she won’t forget anything. I would almost bet she has worked out
something already with the very well connected and helpful folks, Joe &
Robin.
But I am not the ‘nomad’ that Lynda
is. I will need to organize a ferry, bus,
taxi, accommodation and change my flights if I am to leave Jim to himself on
his boat. No travel facility in this
little town, they don’t get out much. Of
course Jim wants me to stay, he needs my money and perhaps my help.
Wish me luck.
