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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Hardstand 2020 Day 1

We returned to Zofia after a 3 month absence in Perth with the prospect of 3 weeks of maintenance projects on the hardstand and a very uncertain future. The Covid-19 pandemic was evolving. Luckily we did the bulk of our provisioning in Brisbane before all the panic had begun and we were delivered to our boat together with what we thought would be the start of our victualling  (including toilet paper) for a trip to New Caledonia in May. 


Zofia, as we left her


The shopping and luggage

We’d arranged for Zofia to be relocated from the storage yards to the works area on the same day we returned to The Boatworks. In retrospect, we should have delayed it by two days to enable us to settle in. A couple of days living aboard in their storage area is permitted. This would have made Day1 a little less manic. Instead it was a scramble to get everything loaded before the ride across the facility to the works area. Everything needed to be stowed away ASAP and supplies readied for the work about to be commenced.


Zofia in the travel lift slings

In the end, we took leave of our senses and failed to adapt fully to our new circumstances. We were now in a work zone. Hazards abound. Attempting to lower the dinghy to improve access to the cockpit and decks, the Bloke had kicked off his shoes at the bottom of the access stairs and called me to help with the ropes suspending the dinghy. I complied but wasn’t wearing any gloves to handle the ropes. The ropes slipped. I let go to avoid rope burn. A different rope flew past The Bloke’s bare feet and snagged the nail on a big toe and nearly ripped the nail off. Marilyn, our dinghy, made an undignified umph as she hit the ground.

Well if this was EVER a lesson in ‘less haste, more speed’, this was it. By the end of the afternoon we faced the prospect of attending a medical clinic or hospital emergency department. In the light of there being a local Covid-19 hotspot nearby there was much ‘Will we? Won’t we?’ In the end, we took a courtesy car to a clinic with substantial treatment rooms. ...and so began our Hardstand Experience 2020.


While the injury itself didn’t cause much pain, the anaesthetic injection was another thing altogether!

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