Awful Bugs

Let's talk bugs - but not this sort.

Handsome Bug

The Bloke spent the last 2 weeks of our Xmas visit in Perth in a funk and decidedly unwell. Visits to friends were postponed and eventually cancelled. Being ashore can make you sick. Really sick. Bouts of coughing, appalling coughing, almost choking coughing were accompanied by fatigue and lethargy. Bottles of Cough Mixtures were consumed. Hot honey and lemon drinks were helpful but sometimes the coughing was so intense that The Bloke had to be rapidly pushed into a hot and steamy shower when gasping and completely unable to breath. It was as if being strangled. The flu on steroids?

At the completion of nearly 2 courses of antibiotics there was little improvement. We'd returned to Mooloolaba and rather than heading off, we spent a couple of days on anchor before checking into the marina. If you're not well,  it reduces the overall stress having access to some amenities and not worrying about the power situation or impending weather.

We visited a local doctors surgery. Tests were ordered. The results are below. It's a communicable and notifiable disease. What is Pertussis? It's the Whooping Cough. The Chinese ominously call it the "100 Day Cough"! OMG. The Bloke has already survived this infection as an infant. How is it that this 'Common disease of childhood' has been caught a 2nd time? Doesn't he have lifelong immunity?

Awful Bug

So here is the thing folks...Whooping Cough/Pertussis is a highly contagious but preventable disease but it's on the way back. Herd immunity has fallen to a level where there are small epidemics across the country (Reason: Anti-vaxers or Pro-disease parents - yes parents, are rejecting one of the key benefits of our modern world; medical science). It must be how The Bloke picked it up AND having had it before does not provide whole of life immunity AND it's not just a disease of childhood!  As soon as the pathology came in, the GP was on the phone instructing The Bloke to send me in IMMEDIATELY and he'd see me straight away. Although symptom free, he wanted me on some pretty strong prophylactic Anti-Biotics in case I too might be contagious. The AB's would ensure I wouldn't be. The Bloke was already on a new powerful course to render him, not cured but noncontagious for the benefit of the rest of the community. There is actually no cure but the passage of time! The Chinese believe around 100 days. (ps I write at about the 90 day mark and confirm that this nasty, nasty bug has not yet let go. Nearly; but not yet).

If you need more information read this Government Brochure.

Immunisation boosters are needed through your lifetime as the vaccine is only effective for around 10 years. In fact Tetanus boosters are frequently combined with one for Pertussis and Diphtheria. What a bonus! That means that many adults will have had a booster and not even known it. Despite having had a Whooping Cough vaccination prior to Lily's birth 7 years ago, and the likely reason for remaining healthy, to be double sure, I've had a booster. It didn't cost much and is far preferable to catching and enduring that AWFUL BUG. Spread the word!

Jab selfie

Irish Mermaid Update

Our involvement in rescuing our 'Irish Mermaid' and partner after their jetski accident in November had a happy ending. Despite 3 broken ribs and a night in hospital, recovery was sufficient to allow them both to return to Ireland for Christmas. What troupers!

The Bloke getting the jetski as far away from our boat as possible. He'd already cleaned off all the scuffs from the Water Police and Coast Guard vessels that had been rafted up during the medivac. He didn't give the Coast Guard a second chance for any more of that gelcoat nudging malarkey .


We minded the jetski for 36 hours until Derek could arrange a lift back across Moreton Bay with the Redcliffe Coast Guard to collect it. It obviously wasn't the first time they'd had to transport a jetski. They winched it aboard with purpose built fittings!


We were also happy recipients of a lovely card and a couple of bottles of wine. The real reward though was knowing that their happy Christmas was at all possible!

Tightening Up Our Act

The level of praise The Bloke is getting of late is commensurate with his awesomeness. On returning to Zofia after 7 weeks ashore we had to recommission everything; reactivate breaker switches, open closed seacocks, check the bilges and so forth. It was during this process that The Bloke observed a tiny wee bit of water at the foot of the sea water through-hull fitting in one of the bilge compartments. Mmmm? This was something new and unprecedented. The water was salty too. Not a good sign. We weren't sinking but this change was duly noted for investigation. We were about to stay a week in a marina so this could be added to everlengthening 'list'.


Since the hose on this fitting had been removed during the impeller mayhem of last November, The Bloke decided the clamps might require tightening. Thought bubble - "Let's get a bigger spanner to fix it once and for all". In an instant, all apparent calm was lost as the tailpipe of the through-hull crumbled. Pulse rate? A big number, so don't ask!

Part of the broken tailpipe.
Dezincification? We'd already earmarked the through-hulls for attention at our May haul out after the broken ball-valve lever incident at Rosslyn Bay. This event seals the deal and they'll be top priority. Fortunately, the ball-valve was closed prior to theis clamp tightening attempt, else this would have turned into a water-spout of the boat-sinking kind.

Top and side view of the corroded and now severed tailpipe - OMG!

The broken parts and the replacement.
Predictably, this all unfolded at 4:30pm causing The Bloke to dash into the chandlery before the end of the business day. I knew what he was thinking. "Boat broken. Must fix right away". For once though, we stood back for a moment and thought it through. Was the boat in imminent danger of sinking? No. Would it be dark soon? Yes. Would it be wiser to leave the repair until the morning? Yes. Should we deny Mr Murphy the chance to apply his Law? Yes. So that's exactly what The Bloke did. From potential chaos he stayed cool and calm, demonstrating how we've tightened up our act.

New tailpipe fitted. Phew!

Let There Be Light

The Bloke's been on a roll. Fresh from his success with the sea water strainer basket, he was reminded that he intended to illuminate the engine bay. How sexy, just like the big yachts! We had some spare LED strip lights that would be perfect for the job .... and NO, I could forget about buying any more torches since this, he claimed, was the ultimate solution.

Engine Compartment AKA Black Hole of Calcutta

A busy Bloke is a happy Bloke

LED strip

The 'After' shot - Engine Compartment lit up like Christmas

Mr Murphy won't be able to torment us nearly as badly now. We can make engine repairs as required any time we need to. Even after dark, which is of course when Mr Murphy most likes to assign his challenges!

Seawater Strainer Follow-Up

Following on from our impeller incident last year, we vowed to replace our Vetus raw seawater strainer unit and even get an extra as a spare. Our spare parts inventory is growing. The Bloke has promised to follow conventional wisdom and only tighten the screw lid 'finger tight' next time. No more spanners and wrenches snapping the whole thing off its mounts in attempts to unscrew the excessively tightened lid! Our consignment arrived at Lucas' house and was waiting for us before Christmas. All we needed to do when we returned from our Perth visit home was to swap the old one out. Easy!

WRONG!

We hadn't paid too much attention to the delivered items. We'd measured the hose circumference and estimated the internal measurement, ordered them and were happy little Vegemite's now owning not one but two of these.

We had planned a week in a marina following our return to the boat to allow for acclimatization, provisioning and getting back into a boating headspace. Being 'alongside' makes achieving some chores easier too. In this instance it was indeed a good move. The Vetus Strainers were the wrong size; yes both of them. Nooooooo!

Luckily for us, the All Stars (Peter and Debbie from Novae) had kindly offered the use of their car while they popped down to Melbourne. All we needed to do was drop them at the airport and we'd have wheels. Too easy! Brisbane is only an hour south by car even if it's 6 hours by boat. Lucky. Lucky. We checked our order, we hadn't ordered the wrong item, we'd been supplied the wrong sized product. The exchange was immeasurably simplified by having access to a car. Phew.

Wow, we thought, that was easy!

Location:Mooloolah Drive,Minyama,Australia

A Little Veuve Therapy

Every trip home involves a frantic catch up with family and friends and not everyone is in the same state as when we left them. Come June of this year, Carole and I will have known one another for 49 years so it was just aweful to know that she was in a very bad way when I visited her last year and in the middle of some very hefty chemotherapy treatment for cancer. We opted for an extra treatment in the form of Veuve Therapy; downing the contents of a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in near record time to mark the special occasion.

 

June 2016

It's proved a winning move. Now in remission, my bridesmaid is back to her bubbly self and while we can marvel at medical science a little Veuve Therapy never went astray.

January 2017

Latitudinal Origins - Visiting the Flipside for Xmas

Christmas is always a poser: Go home to our Perth family -Yes/ No? We'd so far been absent for 4 consecutive Christmases. Since the previous Christmas saw us travel to Queensland from Sydney to celebrate with the Brisbane crew, it was decided that Christmas 2016 should be spent in Perth.

A suitable spot for a lay-over

Undressed? All the sheets are off.

Zofia needed to be below the cyclone belt anyway and would be 'parked' on the Sunshine Coast enabling there to be 3-generations-of-Oldfields aboard QF589 - Brisbane to Perth, and ensuring that the entire wing of the family could celebrate together. This made one 94 year old family matriarch VERY, VERY HAPPY indeed!

QF589 -Brisbane to Perth for Christmas 2016

Our latitudinal origins - 32 Degrees South

On arrival we wasted no time reconnecting with familiar landscapes, often with grandchildren and other family.

The boys checking who bought the beers

 

The lovely South Cottesloe, on the Indian Ocean.

The Bloke supervising our little mermaids

Poolside Xmas cheers from Roger and Jill

Table prepared for 'Wigilia' 

 

Brothers-in-law on Xmas morning

Xmas morning heroes.

Younger members of the Floreat Beach Surf Patrol roster.

Mid-air shot of Hugo in a Santa suit (taken by Emma), pretty much encapsulating everyone's exuberance.

The effort of getting home for Xmas?

100% worth it!