Day Sail

On Thursday 8 October I took Paul Jr and his uncles Stan and "Celi" for a day sail to Garden Island.  Stan and Celi were over from England to attend the funeral of Paul's father, the man who had renovated the interior of my house and had died suddenly from a massive heart attack.

My master stroke was to book one of the Club's moorings on garden island.  The club owns 8 moorings, freely available to its members, with 2 each at Garden Island, Woodman Point, Rockingham, and the Swan River (which is unavailable to me because of the bridges). 

Paul, Celi at the Helm, Stan on Right

Lunch Time

Paul and Stan

On the Mooring

We met at Fremantle for breakfast at 7 AM (on Paul) then motored out of the marina in light airs at about 9 AM.  Soon we had the headsail up, sailed to the shipping channel, then motored into the wind along the channel to clear the Parmelia and Challenger Banks.  Before clearing the channel we dropped all sail and motored to the mooring, locating it by the its GPS coordinates and photographs provided by the club. 

Once we were secure on the mooring we had a splendid lunch the while Celi and I stayed on the boat dozing off the other two swam to the island for a visit.  The photo will show how close mooring is to the island, perhaps 50 meters. 

To get back we rolled out a bit of headsail for a downwind run in front of a moderate sea breeze and were back in the marina at about 6 PM.

That was the first time that I had used a club mooring and I must say that it was enjoyable to get that close to the shore and feel secure.  The moorings can be booked for several nights and I plan to visit them all in the near future.  Naturally there is a high demand for these moorings during the summer months, particularly during weekends and when school is out, but I'm banking on being able to book the moorings at mid week, one of the perks of being retired.

Galvanizing

Two weeks ago I had Kim Jamieson splice the rope onto the recently regalvanized 30 meters of chain that I had purchased with the Delta anchor.  I then removed the plow anchor and 38 meters of chain from the boat and replaced it with the Delta anchor and chain.  On the way home I dropped the plow anchor and chain at Hartway Galvanizers.

Late last week I picked up the equipment from Hartway and got the following report:

Weight of Plow Anchor: 18 kg
Weight of Chain: 83 kg. 

The total cost @ $3.00/kg came out to $304.01 plus $30.40 GST

This came out cheaper that the $3.50 I had paid for the re galvanization of the Delta anchor's chain, which weighed 67 kg, yielding a total of $234.50 plus $23.45 GST.

The next step will be to try out the new Delta anchor on a sand or mud bottom.  I'll have one of the two Swarbrick anchors (Fisherman or Admiralty type) available with a long rode for weed and rock bottoms. 

I'll store the faithful plow anchor and its re galvanized chain in the garage.

Delta Anchor

For years I've been thinking about trying out a Delta anchor.  The literature claims that weight for weight they set faster and hold better than plow (e.g. CQR) anchors.

Two weeks ago I was at the club and had a glance at the postings on the bulletin board while I waited for my turn at the coffee machine.  The top item for sale was a 16 kg (35 lb) Delta anchor and 30 meters of 10mm (3/8") chain with another 20 meters of rope attached to it, for $250.

Anchor, Chain, and Rope

16 kg Delta Anchor

I telephoned from Brenda's house and the man told me that he had decided to put a heavier Delta anchor on his Hans 43 and I agreed that a 16 kg Delta seemed a bit light for a 43 ft boat.  He told me that the anchor and rode had hardly been used but the chain had gotten a bit rusty from storage in the anchor well.  He reckoned that the price of a new Delta 16 kg was $330 and the chain another $1000.  I did some Google work and confirmed the price of a new anchor, but the cost of 30 meters of chain varied from just over $200 to close to $1000. 

He lived only a few blocks away from Brenda so I drove to have a look after visiting the boat and taking careful measurement of one of the links on my chain (pitch, width, wire size) because I had to ensure that the new chain would match the gypsy on Pachuca's anchor windlass.

The Delta anchor indeed looked like it had been hardly used.  The chain had superficial rust but the inside of the links showed no wear.  I told him that I had deep concern about the chain because I could not risk the welfare of the boat with anchor chain out of China.  He showed me the "PWB L" stamped on one of the links.  This was good because "L" stood for "Low Carbon".  The rope also looked very good, and that had to be worth at least $100.  I made the purchase and during a short chat afterward it turned out that his Hans 43 is berthed on the other side of D jetty very close to Pachuca, so I expect to see him around.  We both agreed that plow type anchors, including Deltas, are pretty useless over weed or rock but to my surprise he only carries only the one anchor on board because he drops anchor only in sand.  Not me.  I carry at least one Fisherman anchor on board because sometimes you must quickly toss an anchor over the side without the luxury of being able to examine and choose the bottom.

Back at the house I Googled "PWB L" and confirmed that PWB chains are made in Australia to Australian standards.  Last week I dropped the chain off for re galvanizing for about $240.  I could have gotten by with the slight rust on the chain but I could not resist the convenience having the work done before setting the chain up on the boat.

The Delta anchor is 10 lb lighter than the 45 lb plow anchor that I've been using, which will make for much easier handling at the bow.  Between the lighter anchor and shorter (30 m vs 38 m) chain the load at the bow will be much lower, making for better sailing characteristics of the boat.  The 20 m of rope will be spliced at the end of the chain so that I can move the rode from the gypsy to the drum for paying out the rope.

In the coming season I'll evaluate the setting and holding properties of the anchor as well handling the rode.  I'll also have the 38 m of chain currently in the locker re galvanized.

Notice to Mariners

The following is a message that I recently sent to the FSC Cruising Section:

About three weeks ago Kim Klaka notified me of his success in his effort to have the DOT issue a Ntm regarding changing bathymetry of the Parmelia and Success banks during winter.

See notice 48 at http://161.152.28.103:10003/pls/lweb/notice_info?p_chart_id=WA%20001

Notice 48 is at the end of the above document, and states:
--------------------------------

48. Insert
Text CAUTION (See note 8) in positions
32° 04.28' S   115° 39.34' E
32° 07.71' S   115° 40.85' E
and text
8.  Parmelia and Success Banks are subject to seasonal shoaling, mariners are advised to navigate with caution. in position
31° 53.78' S   115° 46.60' E

-------------------------------

I hope that this notice will find its way to the next edition of the relevant DOT charts.

 The NtM appears vague because it is dealing with a vague problem.  However, to an experienced sailor in unfamiliar waters the phrase "seasonal shoaling" will jump out of the chart in large bold lettering.

Pachuca OK

I visited Pachuca this weekend, two weeks after the grounding.  As I approached her I kept a wary eye on her water line and she seemed to be riding as high in the water as ever.  Once inside the cabin I started the electric bilge pump which began sucking air almost immediately.

So as I had expected, the boat is not taking water, and I am confident that the only damage from the recent grounding is to the anti fouling at the bottom of the keel.

Our legendary sailor Jon Sanders ran into his own boat problems during the week.  The boat that he was delivering began taking more water than the pumps could deal with in very rough seas.  There was a hole in the deck, two skin fittings (which are below the water line) failed, and there must have been another leak elsewhere.

Jon cannot be faulted because he was only delivering the boat and would not be expected to make a full survey of the vessel.  Incidentally, I had every skin fitting (aka thru-hull fitting) replaced on Pachuca at great expense before setting off around the world. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-28/renowned-sailor-jon-sanders-blames-huge-swell-for-yacht-rescue/6579042

Grounding Aftermath

There has been some progress in chart issue raised by my recent grounding.  The following was the response to my request for the coordinates of the grounding.  Having that information enabled the sending of the subsequent message to DOT (WA Department of Transport). 

And the following message has been sent to the DOT by one of the members of the FSC Cruising Section.  (An NtM is a Notice to Mariners.)  (Also, note that "a depth of 1.9m some distance to the west of the grounding location" in the text would still have been OK for my boat, given that the water level was at 0.7m above, datum - yielding an actual depth at that time of 2.6m.)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I wish to draw to your attention a  region that has been reported as significantly shallower than charted. On Sunday 14^th June the yacht Pachuca went aground on Parmelia Bank between Carnac and the channel at 32 07.3S, 115 40.7E. The details of the incident are reported in the yacht blog at http://pachucaroundtheworld.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/grounding.html

The yacht draws between 2.3m and 2.4m so the depth at the grounding location, after account for tide height and storm surge, was less than about 1.7m. The chart sounding nearest  the location appears to be 4.6 m, with a depth of 1.9m some distance to the west of the grounding location.

Many locals know that both Parmelia and Success Banks often change bathymetry after storms, usually during winter. It is therefore perhaps unreasonable to expect these areas to be surveyed after every winter with the severe budget constraints currently being experienced by government agencies. However, in the interests of safety may I suggest two (inexpensive) actions:

1.       When the next edition of chart 001 is printed, include an additional caution to the effect that those two banks often end up shallower after storms, so extra caution should be exercised if travelling over them.
2.       Given that the next edition could be some time away, issue a NtM with the same cautionary note.

Cockburn Volunteer Sea Rescue have already issued a similar warning on their Facebook page: “NAVIGATION WARNING: Please note the charted depth in the area of 32 07.300S, 115 40.700E is inaccurate and can be less than one meter deep depending upon tide. Mariners are advised to navigate with caution in the area.”  source: https://www.facebook.com/CVSSR/photos/a.568131439874686.1073741825.524373530917144/981368245217668/?type=1

On a related matter, I note that none of the listed corrections to chart 001   http://161.152.28.103:10003/pls/lweb/notice_info?p_chart_id=WA%20001  includes reference to the shallow patch of 1.8m reported to DoT in 2012 and 2013, for which an AHS NtM (119 for chart 754) was issued in January 2014. It behoves DoT to issue a parallel chart correction notice, as that shallow spot causes winter swell to break on it, making it a very serious hazard when the swell is up and from the westerly quadrant.

NOTICES TO MARINERS for Aus754

-----------------------------------------------

119* WESTERN AUSTRALIA - Success Bank - Depth.

Fremantle Ports (DHDB 2566728) ( )

 Aus754 [1052/2013]

Insert    depth, 1.8m, enclosed by contour            32° 04.997 S  115° 42.917 E

Delete  depth, 4.1m       32° 04.900 S  115° 42.900 E

Grounding

Last weekend I ran aground hard on the Parmelia Bank, east of Carnac Island.

I had arrange to have a sail with Paul on Sunday because the forecast was for clear weather and a moderate SE wind.  I was up at 4 am, picked him up at his place in Chidlow at 6 AM, and we were in Fremantle at 7 AM.  The boat was ready to go because a few days earlier I had reassembled the LPG system and the day before topped up the tanks with 45 liters of diesel.  We set off for South Passage, between Garden Island to the south and Carnac island to the north in order to get out of Cockburn Sound and sail along the west side of Garden Island.

As we passed along the east of Carnac Island over the Parmelia Bank I kept an eye on our position and SE track mindful of the rocks to the south of the island.  We were making about 5 kts under full mainsail and half of the jib rolled out, with a 12 kt breeze off our port beam.

The shallow water alarm went off and before I could react we were bumping along the bottom under sail.  By the time we dropped the sails we were well into the shallows with the boat regularly rising up then bumping back on to the bottom in the gentle swell.  Fortunately the Parmelia Bank is of sand and weed, so I was not too concerned about structural damage to the hull, but nevertheless it was very unpleasant to experience that incessant thumping of my boat onto the bottom,

I had two problems with the situation.  First, I could not tell the best direction to take for the deeper water.  Even if I did know the best direction, the boat did not respond well to the propeller, whether forward or aft.  I churned up a lot of sand but got little movement and worse, had no control of the direction of movement.

Had we been isolated I would have checked the tide and confirmed my suspicion that it was falling and would not reach its next high for almost 24 hours, launched the inflatable, surveyed the area for the closest deep water, rowed out and dropped the anchor then kedged our way out by winching the boat along the anchor chain using the engine to help us along, with the boom out to the lee side to try to get the boat to heel over and reduce its draft.  But we were in Cockburn Sound.

 I got on the VHF radio and hailed VN6DI on channel 73.  In 20 minutes a boat from Cockbun Sea Reacue was at our side.  They surveyed the best way out (pretty much the way we had come in), tossed a heavy harness which we passed on each side of the head stay and made fast to my strongest cleat,  and dragged us for several minutes through the bank into deeper water.

While waiting for the rescue boat I had been wondering how I could have been so careless in my navigation.  After the crisis was over I would have to carefully analyze what had gone wrong.  Then one of the men in the rescue boat mentioned that the water in this area was shallower than indicated in the chart.  That was very interesting.

The incident knocked the stuffing out of me regarding sailing, and in any event I judged it too risky to venture out into the open sea west of Garden Island without being completely sure that the boat had not been damaged.  But as we approached Fremantle I started feeling better and we spent another 3 hours doing a very pleasant sail to the north along the coast then back south into the marina.

Back at the club ran into one of the two men that had been sent out by the club in a RIB to assist us and he told me that in winter the Parmelia Bank increases in height and it can get as shallow as 1 meter.  My reaction was along the lines of  'What???  Isn't the chart supposed to show the guaranteed minimum at the LAT (Lowest Astronomical Tide)?  Nobody has ever told me about this!"  The man told me that they used to actually surf over that bank in one of the club's wood hull boats.  His last words to me were that it can happen to anybody.  I replied that I might head back to Cape Horn, which seemed safer than Cockburn Sound.

Looking back, I can see the trap that I got into.  First of all, I relied on the chart.  But because I had not done any winter sailing in that area and had not hung around the club enough to get the vital information by word of mouth the stage had been set for the second (the first was with my 27-ft sloop Angie) and by far the worst grounding. 

Red Circle Marks Approximate Location of Grounding

South Passage between Carnac and Garden Islands

The first image shows a closeup of the area of the grounding.  In that tide I should have been able to clear anything above 2 meters on the chart.

The second image shows South Pass, with Carnac Island to the north and the larger Garden Island to the south.  To the right is the shipping channel.   The two circled leads mark the deepest route through the pass.  Sail boats can normally pass between the line of those leads and the rocks just south of Carnac Island.

Gas System Finallyt Working, and Short Sail

I reported last January that the boat's refurbished LPG gas system was up and running OK.  Unfortunately during the Bunbury Cruise I discovered that the gas cutoff solenoid was not working properly, ie it always allowed gas to pass through regardless of the state of the gas detector.  This meant that the boat had no emergency gas cutoff.  This surprised me because the solenoid had been working OK before the refurbishment and I could still hear it clacking on and off according to the dictates of the detector.   I can best describe the problem with reference to the following photograph of the final setup with the new solenoid.

Final Setup with New Solenoid

The gas flows from right to left.   The LPG cylinder to supply gas to the boat will be set by the green selector valve.  The gas will then pass through the black solenoid switch with the brass cutoff valve above, then through the two-stage pressure reducer and on to the galley.

In the old setup the solenoid cutoff was positioned to the left (ie downstream) of the pressure reducer.  When assembling the new system I realized that this made no sense because if the pressure reducer developed a leak from, say, a ruptured diaphragm, the gas detector would cut off would not stop the leak.  The sensible thing was to put the solenoid one step forward, between the pressure reducer and the selector switch.  I did this but the surprising result was that the solenoid was never able to cut off the gas and it took several visits to Gas Components in Canning Vale to solve the mystery.

The boat's original gas cutoff had not been designed to deal with the relatively high pressures at the cylinder.  In order to make it work the original installers had placed the cutoff downstream of the pressure reducer where the pressure was low.  Yes, this worked but was totally illegal and highly dangerous.  A gas leak from the reducer could very easily have led to a buildup of gas in the bilge, then up into the cabin.  A flick of the bilge pump switch or a spark from trying to start the stove could have blown the boat to smithereens.  The company sourced the appropriate cutoff from their Queensland branch at about 4 times the cost of the low pressure version. 

This is another lesson in not accepting everything on a professionally built boat at face value.  There was a similar trap in the irresponsible wiring to the windlass battery that caused that major electrical fire in the Sea of Cortez that could very easily led to the loss of the boat with Brenda and I in the water.

The last two photos show the final setup, with the selector switch easy to reach and the solenoid cutoff and its wiring safely tucked away.





Last week Paul and I went for a sail.  We got off to an early start and were looking forward to a full day of sailing.  We sailed into a stiff northerly breeze and a rising sea where Paul got good training on reefing and what can go wrong in heavy weather when the skipper makes mistakes.

The anchor jumped off the roller in the pounding sea and we were forced to ship it with great difficulty then lash it to a bollard near the mast.  We also had unnecessary leaks because I had forgotten to tighten down the forward hatch and blank off the vent above the head.  At noon we brought down the mainsail and gybed the boat to return to the marina under headsail only.  I got lazy and tried to make the gybe with the headsail still 25% rolled out and managed to get a nasty sail wrap so that we could roll the sail neither in or out.  We got out of that jam the hard way by untying the sheets and winding them back from around the sail., but as a result we ran out of furling line well before the sail was fully rolled up.  We made do by doing a rough job of holding the excess sail to the forestay and were able to sort out the problem at the marina.

This was all due to lack of practice on my part.  The only sails I've made on Pachuca since the end of the circumnavigation 2 years ago have been on the annual Bunbury Cruise, made at the optimal time of year. 

Anyway, it was good training for Paul and a good reminder to me about preparing the boat for rough weather.

Bunbury Cruise 2015 Report

The following is an article that I've written for publication in the Fremantle Sailing Club's magazine "Blue Water Bulletin".  For those interested, it gives a comprehensive account of this year's Bunbury Cruise.  I've added a few photos taken by myself and others.

My role as coordinator took probably 100 hours of my time, but the reward was in the achievement of my goal of putting something back into the club after all that it has done for me.  There was another more personal reward: it forced me out of my normal Forrest Gump posture of background anonymity into a more socially active role associated with being "cruise captain" and representative of the club.  Meeting new people and remembering their names has never been my forte, but in my early 70's I'm having to get better at it.

Do not be concerned about my running aground in approaching the MOFSC on 4 March.  The approaches have been silting up while there is a battle raging over who is responsible for keeping the channel clear.  For me it was a soft grounding and I managed to back the boat out and enter the marina on the "wrong" side of the marker.

-----------------------------------

Pachuca at Dawesville

Peacefully Anchored at Busselton

The Bunbury Cruisers at Augusta Marina

Panorama of Anchorage at Koombana Bay (Busselton)

Making a Point to Ron and Marlene

Tangled Fishing Line (won 1st prize for a pike)

Approaching Koombana Bay, Bunbury

Cooking BBQ Breakfast

With Brenda for Lunch at Parade Hotel

The Bunbury Cruise 2015
by Robert Morales

Yachts from four clubs participated in this year's Bunbury Cruise – five from Fremantle Sailing Club, three from Hillarys Yacht Club, two from South of Perth Yacht Club, and one from the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club.  Unfortunately two other entrants were forced to withdraw.

The cruise began with the pre-cruise dinner at the FSC restaurant on Friday 13 February.  This was followed by the Skippers' Briefing in which special attention was paid to the draft of the approaches to MOFSC, the re designed entrance to the Port Geographe Marina, and the state of the moorings at Quindalup.

The departure was delayed by one day due to strong winds, and the fleet of 9 boats set off from FSC on Sunday 15 February.  The boats were:
    Alyssa Lee (FSC)
    Diva (FSC)
    Georgia (HYC)
    Hannah Rose (FSC)
    Leola (SOPYC)
    Pachuca (FSC)
    Rumtum (SOPYC)
    SANA II (HYC)
    Stealaway (FSC)
Two boats were already in position at MOFSC:
    de la mer (HYC)
    WIM (MOFSC).

At the end of that day all boats were safely berthed at MOFSC except for Pachuca, whose skipper decided to make for the Dawesville Channel due to concerns about navigating his 2.4 meter draft boat through the approaches to MOFSC in a falling tide.

The following day the entire fleet made the passage to Koombana Bay at Bunbury for an enjoyable 4-day visit..  During that passage from MOFSC to KB Rumtum picked up a cray pot which it managed to cut free while on the move.

On Friday 20 February nine boats made the passage to the Geographe Bay Yacht Club near Busselton for a 2-night stay.  Hannah Rose had returned to Fremantle as planned and WIM had retired due to a battery charging problem.  It was a pleasant stay with walking visits into Busselton and a BBQ at a public facility overlooking Geographe Bay.  Alyssa Lee proceeded to Quindalup a day early.

On Sunday 22 February the fleet made a fast passage to Quindalup in a brisk SE wind for a 3-night visit.  The Dunsborough Bay Sailing Club was as welcoming and pleasant as always, and there were no problems with the security of the moorings.

On Wednesday 25 February eight boats set off for a 2 night stay at Port Geographe Marina.  SANA II retired as planned due to an HYC club commitment. 

Craig, the PGM manager, expressed delight at all of the boat registrations being submitted well before the fleet's arrival.  “This is the way it should be done.” he exclaimed.  And to PGM's credit, all of the BC boats were allocated spacious berths together at the end of H jetty near the club house.  There were also two PGM staff waiting at the jetty to take the lines of the first arriving boats.

That evening there was a very enjoyable gathering at Dennis and Kitty Gee's home on one of the canals.  Dennis and Kitty always lay on a splendid BBQ feast and the warmest of hospitality with amazing ease and grace.

The next day was dedicated to the bus trip along the scenic route to the Boranup Gallery, on to the new marina at Augusta, a short visit to the “water wheel” near the Cape Leeuwin light house, then a leisurely lunch at the Augusta Hotel followed by 30 minutes of private time for shopping.

On Friday 27 February six boats made the passage to Koombana Bay for a leisurely and relaxing 5 day visit.  Alyssa Lee returned to Fremantle and Georgia departed for Quindalup for its usual extended stay in Geographe Bay.  The highlight of the visit was the very good live entertainment provided on Saturday night by Stuart Thompson, Commodore of KBSC, singing at the head of his mellow rock band.  (When I had spoken with him the day before he was in Dubai and he had landed in Oz at 4 AM this very day.)

On Wednesday 4 March the six boats made the long passage to MOFSC for a 2 night visit.  Pachuca arrived shortly after noon at mid tide and ran aground in 2.1 meters of water on the starboard side of the yellow traffic separation buoy at the marina entrance.  On Thursday evening was the end-of-cruise dinner.  All were happy to see Jim & Margaret Putt (Morning Tide), David & Joanne George (Alyssa Lee), and Brian & Rita Buzzard (SANA II) arrive for the dinner by car.  Rick and Theresa Oswald from MOFSC completed our dinner group of 21 persons.

The dinner marked the official end of the cruise and on Friday 6 March five boats departed for their various destinations.  Stealaway remained at MOFSC pending repairs to a water pump.

The skies during the 22 day cruise were clear, except for the day of the bus trip which was cloudy with the occasional shower.  The winds were generally good to excellent, other than one breezy night at Koombana Bay.

Ready for Sea

After putting the steering wheel back on, which I had removed in order to do the gas supply work in the lazarette, I went through my pre-cruise check list.  Other than the short rides to and from the hardstand, the boat had not been out in the water since last year's Bunbury Cruise, so I could not take anything for granted.

I ticked off the following:

- Chart Plotter OK
- Radar OK
- AIS OK
- Trimble and Lowrance GPS's OK
- Autopilot OK
- Wind Speed Instrument OK
- Wind Direction Instrument OK
- Depth Sounder OK
- Engine levels OK (Topped up the coolant)
- Engine start and run (in gear, 1100 rpm to full temperature) OK
- VHF radio OK (Got radio check from station VN6DI)
- Navigation Laptop charge from boat's 12V OK
- USB Hub (which allows 2 GPS's to be connected to 1 laptop USB port) OK
- GPS antennas for laptop OK
- Marine Plotter and OpenCPN laptop navigation software OK
- Marine Stove OK
- Refrigerator OK
- Marine Head OK
- All winches clean, lubricated, and OK
- Diesel fuel tanks full and OK
- Water tanks full and OK

I'll check the HF radio during the cruise.  I will not be using the Pactor III modem.

I won't be certain about the headsail and mainsail until I deploy them, but they are both in excellent condition and I expect no problem from them or their lines.

Today I brought two items of equipment up to date.

My flares were years out of date so I purchased a standard pack of 2 orange smoke and 2 red parachute rocket flares at a cost of $110.

The 406 MHz EPIRB beacon that I had purchase in New Zealand seemingly a lifetime ago expires this very month, so for $309 I purchased an Australian made Safety Alert model SA1G EPIRB, which boasts a battery life of 10 years, GPS accuracy of 3 meters and a transmit time of at least 3 days. 

All major boat systems seem the be OK (I write while knocking hard on the wooden desktop!) and I declare the good ship Pachuca ready for sea.

Assembling the New Dinghy

On Tuesday I spent about 2 hours wrestling with the new inflatable dinghy trying to assemble it on the foredeck.  In the end I had to give up on my goal of a complete assembly due to the short space between the life raft and inner forestay, the heavily curved deck, and worst of all, those two bollards along the center of the deck.  I managed to fit floor sections 1 and 2 at the forward of the dinghy and  sections 3 and 4 at the aft end, but could not come even close to lining up sections 2 and 3 so that I could snap them into place. 

I do not want to sail long distances with the assembled dinghy either on deck or towed behind the boat, so my plan is to assemble the dinghy on deck with only sections 3 and 4 of the aluminum floor.  This will be enough to support me on a ride to shore, where I will the fit sections 1 and 2.  With the dinghy fully assembled I'll then return to the boat to pick up Brenda and whoever else may be sailing with me.

In the forthcoming cruise we won't need the dinghy until we reach Koombana Bay, Bunbury.  I'll then assemble the dinghy and we'll tow it around the short distances of Geographe Bay.  Then on our second visit to Koombana Bay I'll ship the dinghy, break it down, and stow it for the long sail to the marina at Mandurah.

If this plan works the reward will be a large dinghy with a super strong aluminum floor, capable of getting us to our destinations with dry bottoms, dry cargo, end even dry feet.  ... IF!

Galley and Plank Finished

A few days ago Paul delivered the lids of the refrigerator and icebox which he had covered with stainless steel.  He did a fine job and fit is very good.  Note that the s/s surfaces fit into a rim of wood, which I plan to sand and varnish before the end of summer.

Note the s/s barrier in front of stove

Square tube barrier between sink and fridge

I had earlier picked up the s/s barrier made by Bret Snedden of Custom Sheet Metal in Midvale, the same man who had produced the counter top sheeting.  Bret made the barrier from 20mm square tubing and the length was to within 0.5 mm length of my specification and the fit was perfect.  The barrier prevents water from running from the sink area across to the refrigerator compartment.  Two days ago I bedded the barrier onto silicone sealant and screwed it down with two s/s pan head screws.

Boarding Plank

I also tried out the new boarding plank and it has been a big success.  The beauty of the system is that it uses the aluminum boarding ladder that was made for Pachuca in Port Townsend, USA.  Whenever we are cruising and want to go over the side for either a swim or to board the inflatable tender, I'll simply undo the ropes holding the wood plank (of 18mm marine ply) to the ladder and stow it away.  I'll also remove the two bolts holding the piece of timber at the curved end of the ladder and stow that piece too. 

The photo of the plank was taken at moderately high tide, but the plank comes into its own when the 1-meter tide is low, lowering the boat to the point where even I have trouble getting on and off.  At such times the ladder will be at a steep angle of perhaps 30 degrees.

The plank will be fixed at the boat end and slide over the jetty as the boat moves around.

New Inflatable Dinghy

A troll through the internet confirmed what I had learned the hard way about inflatable dinghies: It is the glue and not the material that fails over time.  The material can be easily patched but once the glue degenerates the dinghy is a write off.  I've got a Bombard and a Zodiac stored below my verandah for disposal to prove it.  The Bombard was in great shape when I departed on the circumnavigation in 2008.  In the six years of storage in cool, dry, protected environment of the garage the glue degenerated spontaneously.

Dry Run

Last week I purchased an Aristocraft "Bayrunner" inflatable with seams that are hot welded rather than glued.  Like most things, the dinghy is made in China, but I am putting my hopes in the PVC material that is sourced from Germany. 

The vaunted Hypalon material for inflatable dinghies is not amenable to thermo welding because it is rubber based.  Dupont must have seen the writing on the wall because it ceased production of Hypalon in 2012.  The future seems to be thermo welded PVC.

Because the instructions were execrable even by Chinese standards it took Brenda, Stephen, and myself a full 3 hours to assemble the dinghy.  After 2.5 hours I gave up and declared that Youtube was our only hope.  Sure enough we found videos on the Web that showed us the way.

The dinghy is heavy at 52 kg (114 lb) but the weight is distributed over two bags, one for the dinghy itself and one for the aluminum floor.   Installing the aluminum floor is a bit of an effort, but the result is superb and I am looking forward to our first ride in it. 

I wanted the 2.7m version, but they were sold out in the Perth area with no hope of one until March, which is much too late for the upcoming Bunbury Cruise.  So I asked for the 2.4m version (the same length as the Zodiac) but it too was sold out.  I had to settle for the 2.9m (9' 6") version, and the salesman knocked off $100 to make me feel better,  making the total cost $1250.

Gas Work Completed, Boarding Plank

The boat's gas system is now working and the new marine stove is operational.

I tested all of the couplings with a soapy water applied with a paint brush and after eliminating one small leak everything was safe.

Note in the photo how accessible are the gas cylinders and the manual selector switch above it.  The old system was set up terribly, with the cylinders hidden around the corner and the selector switch very hard to find, let alone reach and manipulate.

Gas Detector in Position

Cylinders and Selector Above Very Accessible

I then turned my attention to finding a way to make boarding of the boat from the jetty walkway easier and safer.  The problem is that the Fremantle Sailing Club has anachronistic fixed jetties which means that the boats are constantly dancing around their pens and worse, going up and down with the 1 meter tide.  When the tide is very low even I have trouble getting to the boat, much less passing supplies and equipment to it.  To date I have neither fallen into the water nor dropped anything, which I credit to focusing very hard when I am getting on and off the boat.

I've been nudged into action by my invitation to Bill and Pat, friends that I've met through Brenda, for drinks aboard Pachuca after I return from the Bunbury Cruise.  It is unfair to ask them, other guests, and Brenda to take that big step across the gap onto the moving boat.

I settled on the idea of setting up the boarding ladder as a part-time boarding plank.  The advantage of this is that I will not be burdened with yet another piece of large equipment that I must either carry on the boat or somehow hang from the jetty. To this end I have cut a piece of 18mm marine ply to fit along the length of the ladder.  The ladder will be fixed at the boat end and move at the jetty end.  I'll also rig a rope rail from the jetty post to the boat and drop the top rail on that side of the boat so that guests can step directly onto the boat.  If it works I'll name it either Bill's Bridge or Pat's Plank in honour of the guests who inspired me into action.

Proposed Boarding Plank

Yes, setting up the system for guests will be awkward, but if it work as planned I may be able to find faster ways of setting it up.

Gas System

The attempt to fire up the new marine stove has led to an upgrade of the boat's gas delivery system.  The stove was not getting gas and I tracked the problem to the cylinder selection switch which worked in one position but not the other.  Replacing that switch would require the extraction of the entire gas delivery assembly so I decided to take the opportunity to replace as much of it as possible.

Starting at the gas cylinders the components are as follows:
1. Hoses from cylinders to manual selector switch
2. The manual selector switch
3. The gas cutoff solenoid switch
4. The pressure reduction valve
5. The hose connecting to the copper gas line that supplies the galley

The first item was not critical since I had replaced those hoses in Hawaii about 4 years earlier.  However, I had to assume that the other items dated from 1983 when the boat was built.  I was particularly concerned with the last item, a fairly shabby looking flexible hose.

It took a bit of searching but my friends at Gas Components Australia at 1/4 Panama St, Canning Vale were able to replace everything but the solenoid switch.  I can live (literally) with that solenoid switch because the only consequence of it failing would be the shutting off of the supply of gas into the lines.

New System in Foreground

New Case

Case Ready for Varnishing

The photo tells the story, with the old items at the back and the new ones at the front.  The black rectangular component in the back is the solenoid switch, that will fit between the selector switch and the new 2-stage regulator.

The old setup was terrible, with the selector switch hidden at the back at a bad angle and difficult to see.  I decided to build a new cylinder case and put the selector switch on top of the case, where it will be easy to see and reach.  Besides, the old case is literally coming apart at the joins because it was too small to hold the larger cylinders that were introduced after I purchased the boat.

I then purchased two new gas cylinders because there is no hope of the existing cylinders meeting Australian standards.   I purchased them from Bunnings (sort of an Aussie Home Depot) knowing that I can exchange empty cylinders at any of their branches and any day of the week.  They are 3.7 kg in size, which should be ample for coastal cruising. 

I then purchased a nice piece of 18mm marine ply just large enough to do the job for $42.  I took great care in designing which surface would nail into which in order to maximize the strength against the tendency of the cylinders to break out of the box.  I joined the edges with Sikaflex construction adhesive (waterproof, paintable) held down with 40mm long galvanize nails.  The photo shows the new case with the new cylinders and the regulator assembly in its future position.  The holes at the sides will be for hooking "ocky" straps shown at the right.  The case will be screwed into the lazarette floor.

The final photo shows the case ready for varnishing.  I decided to treat the wood with several coats of Danish oil because it will penetrate the wood.  Neither sunlight nor aesthetic beauty will be issues, given that the case will be hidden to one side of the lazarette.

The gas supply system represents probably the last dark and mysterious corner of Pachuca because over the years I have been forced to deal with just about every other aspect of the boat.  I departed on the circumnavigation in 2008 knowing that I had not checked out the gas system and hoping for the best, placing great reliance on the gas detection and cutoff safety system.  Fortunately I made it back to Fremantle safely with no line ruptures or regulator failure