Hardstand 2020 - Week 2 Upgrading On Multiple Fronts

Tearing the boat to bits and half starting what seemed like every job on our long list, happened very quickly. Putting it back together again took forever.

Preparing the Signex

The Bloke had ordered a new sheet of Signex to replace the existing mount for the solar panels. The first sheet delivered was the wrong size, so back it went. The replacement arrived ahead of the weekend which was handy because it was possible to raid a nearby shed and borrow a large unused workbench on which to cut it.  When the Jigsaw cutter wasn’t up to the task, a nearby yatchie left us his circular saw to use in exchange for some beer. The beer economy thrives on the hardstand. 

Our luggage from Perth included all sorts of internet purchases intended for our visit to the hardstand and included a router. The Bloke claims that his long-dead manual arts teacher could posthumously now give him a distinction instead of the original sorry assessment of a fail! The router has earned it’s place in Bloke heaven. 

The solar panels not yet in position but their mounting platform looking neat.

While The Bloke had been flat out with his projects I pursued a Queensland Gas Certificate (to satisfy both insurance and registration requirements); a replacement anchor and chain, plus commenced polishing the topsides. 

65m of tired Chinese 6 1/2 year old, twice re-galvanised, 10mm chain was replaced with 80m of 10mm PWB Australian Certified chain.  Supply issues caused at least a 2 1/2 week wait and the on-site chandlery - Marine Trade Supplies, gave us their best price without haggling; we're already one of their best customers!  Happily, they even took the old stuff away - the value might have been $40  as scrap but would require us to transport it. Some outsourcing just makes sense. 

 

The new chain was laid out in 5m lengths, sprayed and tagged at intervals with cable ties. This helps with knowing how much chain we deploy when anchoring. We elected to have an extra 15m to accommodate some of the deeper anchorages in New Caledonia. We had managed with 65m before but 80m would be better.

Our 16kg Delta anchor has done a decent job on the whole. It’s only been iffy in ribbon weed (along the SW coast of Western Australia and in South Australia) and it does take a while to re-set in a radical 180 degree wind shift. There is plenty of the latter during storm season in Queensland. I was determined to upgrade our ground tackle and after much research over the last couple of years, I liked the Sarca Excel. As a bonus it’s Australian made. The only question was size. The #5 is 22kg while the #6 is 30kg. Is there such a thing as a ‘too heavy’ anchor? We compromised. The #5 would be 6kg heavier than our existing anchor (around 30% heavier) and with the 15m of additional chain and a proposed new bowsprit it was as much extra weight as was reasonable to add to the trim of the boat!

 

Going into Week 3, progress had been made but life living in what feels like a battle zone isn’t at all easy. At least we were not alone and despite the need to observe social distancing the camaraderie of similarly effected boaties was appreciated.