Hard Stand

Today was the sixth day on the hard stand. Conceptually the tasks were simple: fit the nose plate, anti foul, new anodes, the splash, back in the water in four days tops.

It never works out that way.

We did some excellent work in tracking down a major leak between the anchor well and the v-berth area via the access door that I fitted months ago. I spent a few hours removing the door the fitting it back with lots of Sikaflex sealer. Alas, that was not enough because the door seal itself is not water tight. I've got the dimensions of a wooden barrier that I will fabricate and fit to prevent any water movement from the upper anchor well to the acess door.

I also resealed the joints between the chain plates and the deck. The old Sikaflex had become chalky and ineffective. That should stop another leak into the cabin area. I'm not sure how many more sources of leak remain but I am determined to track them down one by one. (The Mossad of leaks!)

I did some useful work with the anchor rodes. All chains are now painted such that we should be able to tell very easily how much chain has been paid out to the nearest 5 meters. (5 consecutive black links represents 10 meters, so 5 black links, 2 unpainted links, followed by 5 more black links represents 20 meters. 3 consecutive black links represents and intermediate 5 meters.)
The 80 meters of white rope is similary marked. (One black ring represents 10 meters, 2 black rings represents 20 meters ... get it?)

This marking of anchor rode is serious business because it is important that the ratio of rode to depth is correct. When I guess I err on the side of caution an pay out much more rode than I need to.

The last job is to polish the boat hull. I started today with a really dangerous setup where I had to stand on a section of RSJ on top of scaffold and arch my back and try to apply pressure with the electric buffer. Gary Martin, the painter, rescued me. He's loaned me a higher tressle on wheels and showed me how to alter it to be able to reach the difficult spots.

If things go well the boat will be in the water tomorrow afternoon.

Pachuca will essentially be ready to sail. There are a few loose ends. I would like to service the diesel engine and I hope that the parachute sea anchor is waiting for me in Darlington.

By the way, I put on three coats of antifouling. (4 cans @ $185 per can).

Nose Job

Pachuca has been on the hard stand since Thursday. On Friday Scotty fitted the stainless steel bow plate that will hopefully protect the hull from swinging anchors. The metal is 6mm thick at the stem, and 1.6mm thick on the sides.

I've started work on the antifouling and anode change.

I used the necessary clearing out of the anchor well as an opportunity to investigate the source of leaks into the sail storage area then on to the bilge. I found a whopper of a problem associated with that access port between the forecastle and the anchor well that I installed a few months ago. I plan to attend to that in while on the hard stand (armed with a tube of Sikaflex) and will attend to the less serious leak via the chain plate when I am back in the water.

Bunbury Cruise

I got back to Darlington yesterday afternoon after two outstanding weeks of cruising around Geographe Bay with fellow members FSC and other yacht clubs. There must have been about 15 boats involved, but not all at the same time. The skies were consistently clear, days sunny, water blue, and winds generally a favourable NE, E, and SE.

The boat and its new equipment performed well. I was particularly pleased at how well the 45-lb Manson anchor set. There was not even a hint of dragging this year.

Attached are some photos.

Two of them are of the yachts at anchor off the beach at Meelup. In the more open photo of the two, with the lone tree at the side, you'll see Pachuca as the second boat from the right. (Pachuca is typically the boat anchored in deepest water.)

There is a photo of Pachuca at the Port Geographe marina.

The fourth photo is of a loaf of bread baked on board, hand kneaded the traditional way and baked in the gas oven. It may not look like anything special but two weeks out of New Zealand the entire crew will be staring at the oven salivating in anticipation.

Now it is back to the reality of boat maintenance: Pachuca comes out of the water on Thursday for routine antifouling and the fitting of a stainless steel bow protector.

Circumnavigation Plan V4.3

I will be away 14-29 January visiting our gravely ill Mother in Houston. Arnold has delayed his arrival in Perth until 25 Feb 2008. Because of this we have moved the start of our circumnavigation two weeks from 15 March to 29 March 2008. We've compensated by shortening our stay in Seattle by two weeks, still leaving us with over 4 months in Seattle.

These changes are reflected in V4.3.

Pachuca's Circumnavigation Plan			V4.3 - Jan 2008
From	To	Distance NM	Sailing Days	Stopover	Travel Days	Departure Date	Arrival date	Core Storm Season	Knots	"From" Coords
Fremantle	Albany	325	5	3	8	29-Mar-08	02-Apr-08		2.78	32S04, 115E44
Albany	Esperance	270	4	2	6	05-Apr-08	09-Apr-08		2.78	35S01, 117E54
Esperance	Port Lincoln	707	11	3	14	11-Apr-08	22-Apr-08		2.78	32S52, 121E54
Port Lincoln	Adelaide	129	2	3	5	25-Apr-08	27-Apr-08		2.78	34S43, 135E52
Adelaide	Eden NSW	660	10	1	11	30-Apr-08	10-May-08	Jan-Mar (Nov-May)	2.78	34S47, 138E49
Eden NSW	Sydney	210	3	5	8	11-May-08	14-May-08	Jan-Mar (Nov-May)	2.78	37S04, 149E56
Sydney	Whangarei	1250	15	14	29	19-May-08	03-Jun-08	Jan-Mar (Nov-May)	3.47	33S50, 151E18
Whangarei	Raivavae	2090	25	7	32	17-Jun-08	12-Jul-08		3.47	35S45, 174E20
Raivavae	Papeete Tahiti	393	5	21	26	19-Jul-08	24-Jul-08		3.47	23S54, 147W42
Papeete Tahiti	Palmyra	1587	19	7	26	14-Aug-08	02-Sep-08		3.47	17S34, 149W34
Palmyra	Honolulu	958	11	10	21	09-Sep-08	20-Sep-08	Jul-Sep (May-Nov)	3.47	05N53, 162W05
Honolulu	Juan De Fuca	2340	28	124	152	30-Sep-08	28-Oct-08	Jul-Sep (May-Nov)	3.47	21N19, 157W50
Juan de Fuca	San Diego	950	14	3	17	01-Mar-09	16-Mar-09	Jul-Sep (May-Nov)	2.78	47N34, 122W23
San Diego	Golfito Costa R	2400	36	100	136	19-Mar-09	24-Apr-09		2.78	32N43, 117W09
Golfito Costa R	Galapagos	757	9	3	12	02-Aug-09	11-Aug-09		3.47	08N38, 083W11
Galapagos	Callao,Peru	1058	13	30	43	14-Aug-09	26-Aug-09		3.47	00N00, 090W00
Callao	Valparaiso, Ch	1292	19	30	49	25-Sep-09	15-Oct-09		2.78	12S05, 077W08
Valparaiso	Cape Horn	1400	21	0	21	14-Nov-09	05-Dec-09		2.78	33S03, 071W38
Cape Horn	Falklands	435	5	3	8	05-Dec-09	10-Dec-09		3.47	55S58, 067W17
Falklands	Cape Town	3356	34	7	41	13-Dec-09	16-Jan-10		4.17	51S42, 057W49
Cape Town	St Paul Is	2840	28	3	31	23-Jan-10	20-Feb-10		4.17	33S55, 018E27
St Paul Is	Fremantle	1894	19	0	19	23-Feb-10	14-Mar-10		4.17	38S50, 077E35
Avg Speed Knots	3.4
Dist Sailed Nm		27301
Days Under Sail			336
Lay Days				379
Days Away					715
Miles Per Day	80	100	120