Serious Work Has Begun

It is dusk here at The Fuel Jetty. The shop is closed and everything is very quiet. I've set my laptop here on a bench in front of the shop and I can't believe how good it all is. To the left across the water I see the park with amber lighting and trees silhouetted against one of those classical tropical twilights. Ahead and to the right across the and behind a fringe of trees are the buildings of Honolulu. Somehow the shapes, lighting, colors, foreground and background all work and the result is a very, very beautiful city. As I write this a catamaran is ghosting up to the jetty probably to tie up for the night. The weather is mild, though I am wearing my trademark tracksuit pants and top to keep abnormally warm because of my back.

Two days ago I noticed that my back was hurting. I wondered why since I was no longer working winches, lifting anchors, reefing in heavy seas, etc. It didn't make sense. The pain got worse and that night in bed I figured it out. In Honolulu I had been running around in shorts and T-shirt and got a bit chilly which is fatal for my back. I started wearing warmer clothes yesterday and my back did not get worse but did not get better. Then last night at about 9 PM Oahu lost four generators and most of the island was plunged into darkness. It was going to take 10 or 12 hours to recover the system. On that basis I decided to sleep in.

I woke up at 10.30 this morning feeling tired, listless, and wooley-headed and my back still hurt. It was time to snap out of it. I decided to tackle problem of the leaky anchor well. I first removed all of the chain and rope from the anchor well. The 38 meters of primary chain and the 45-lb plow anchor are now on the port side of the boat. The 15 meters of chain and 60 meters of secondary rode are on the starboard side. I then emptied the sail locker. Out on the deck came two spare jibs - a heavy and a light one - two spinnakers - an asymmetric and an MPS - a storm jib, and a staysail. The storm trysail was small enough to store in the cabin. I then sponged out the sail lockers. Once that was done I plugged up the lower drain holes of the anchor well with blue tack and filled it with water to just below the inspection hatch. I found a leak. There is a constant seepage of water from the starboard side of the bulkhead and the floor level of the anchor well. There is a double bulkhead there so it is possible that the leak is higher up and the water is working its way down between the bulkheads. The point is that there is a leak and it accounts for most if not all of the water being shipped when we sail to windward.

The game plan is simple and uncompromising: Remove the inspection hatch between the V-berth and the anchor well, fill it in with ply, then fiberglass the entire anchor well from the bottom up. To that end I have removed the sheet metal lining the anchor well and am poised to remove the hatch tomorrow. After that I will thoroughly clean out the area then leave it to dry for 5 days to a week.

In the meantime I'll turn my attention to servicing my six winches which have shown signs of stickiness after a few days of non-use. I got advice from Wally and others and it looks like most people use diesel fuel to clean the winches. I was going to use turpentine but diesel fuel it will be. Regarding the amount of winch grease the key work is minimal. Instead of caking on the grease as I did in 2005 I'll apply a light coating and only the slightest hint of grease on the palls.

Late in the afternoon I was able to tell John on his boat that after dragging up the chains, hoisting up the heavy sails to the deck, and twisting and turning my way around the bilge to clean and dry it my back had quit hurting. As I type here with a second beer down my hatch and piano music drifting across the water there is only a distant echo of minor soreness coming from my back. Go figure.