Yesterday was my first full day on Pachuca in her pen here D59 at Port Geographe Marina, Busselton. Other than checking out the boat I had two primary goals:
(1) Use an overhaul kit that I had purchased at Yacht Grot to get the manual marine head working again,
(2) Replace the manual salt water galley pump which was probably more than 10 years old and had stopped working.
I arrived at the boat during
strong southerly winds that had followed a spell of rainy weather and
noticed almost immediately that the mooring line setup of the boat was
totally inadequate.
The
problem is because the side jetty is by design 10m long, just
inside of the maximum allowed 20% shorter than the published pen length of 12m.
The result is that about 2 meters of the stern of the boat juts out
beyond the end of the side jetty, with the consequence that both stern
mooring cleats are too far aft to be of use. Thus I was now looking
at my boat whose only measure to prevent it from ploughing into the main
jetty at the bow during a strong wind from the stern was one jib sheet
running from a cleat at the end of the side jetty to a cleat
amidships. The jib sheet could be replaced with a stronger line but the
real problem was that the amidship cleat was designed for light duty
such as tying up a visiting dinghy, and definitely not to hold the boat
back in gale force winds.
After
discussions with Kerry and Rick at the PGM office that were too
extensive to cover here, I consulted with Bruce Diggins, the friend who had refitted the boat a about 10 years ago, and
he agreed with me that upgrading to a 15 m was the best option.
I
have secured pen F130, the only available 15m pen in the marina. I had
a look at it after our meeting and confirmed that Pachuca will fit comfortably in the
pen. Tomorrow I will do some measurements to assure myself that the
stern mooring cleat can be used to take the wind load from the stern.
Better yet, the boat will be tied up 180 degrees from the direction she
is pointing to now, so instead of the bow facing NE she will face SW, which
Bruce states is a better orientation for dealing with the strong winds
that clock around NW to W to SW the S. Apparently it is the southerly winds that present the biggest problem. Another benefit is that reaching the pen will be much easier, with is wider fairway and and more direct route than D59.
Here is layout of the marina, with top facing roughly W/SW:
Moving from D59 to F130, almost directly across from D jetty.
On
the money side, I will pay another $1700 for finishing the rest of my
prepaid 12-month lease in a larger 15m pen, but that doesn't matter because the safety of the boat is paramount.
Pen
F130 will be available this coming Friday, but Kerry told me that bad
weather is expected that day, and she does not seem concerned about how
long I take to move the boat
On my first night I took advantage of the calm wind and darkness to check out my
mast lights, following a report that the red light on my masthead tricolour was failing. Back in my pen at FSC I could only look up at
the mast from the jetty just in front of the bow, much too close to see the masthead tricolour, but here at PGM all I had to do
was to walk over to C jetty and look at Pachuca directly from the front
at an angle where I could see the entire masthead light.. All lights
were working: red and green and anchor lights at the
masthead, the steaming light and the deck light.
I spent yesterday afternoon refurbishing the manual marine toilet but was not able to remove the pump handle which meant that I was not able to replace several "O" rings. The toilet worked fine but sure enough there is a small leak of salt water from the pumping action. The schematic indicates that the handle should screw off but I decided to consult with Yacht Grot before clamping the pump shaft to a vice and putting serious force on the handle.
Today, my second and last full day on the boat I scoped out the task of replacing the salt water pump and I saw that the best path is to remove the sink, which means first disconnecting its drain hose, then lift the near edge of the sink and slide it out enough to clear the overhanging fresh water pump. Once the sink is out replacing the salt water pump should be straightforward and relatively fast.
But after scoping out the task I decided that now is not the time to swap the pump because I don't want to risk leaving a half-finished job for my next visit when I'll be moving the boat to her new pen. And let's face it, I have no need for a salt water galley pump with the coastal sailing that I'll be doing in this phase of my life. I installed the salt water pump so that I could wash dishes using sea water when I was far out to sea and fresh water was too precious for washing dishes. Having said that, the salt water pump is part of this boat and I like to see everything on the boat working well.
Bruce made an unexpected visit to me and the boat, I as glad to see him because it had been a while. I met him at the gate and almost immediately someone hailed Bruce and they started talking with him. Bruce then introduced me to Paul, the man who will clean the hulls of our boats, this Saturday. It is a relief because it has been over two years since the boat was out of the water for anti-fouling and I need to keep the grown under control until the boat is hauled out on either late August or early September.
After a long lunch at The Deck restaurant we visited pen F130 then proceeded to Pachuca where Bruce helped me secure Pachuca with a very long, thick, and never used rope that I think I had purchased years ago to replace my main halyard.
Bruce fixed the line to the cleat on the side jetty with a double pass bowline knot, then we passed it forward where I cleated it off to the rear of two heavy duty anchor/mooring cleats. Then Bruce the fastened with a bowline the bitter end of the line to a cleat on the main jetty on the port side of the bow and I pulled the line tight, moving the bow from the side jetty, and cleated it to the front mooring cleat. The result was splendid: the boat was now secure with the bow well off the side jetty.
Line from side jetty cleat to forward mooring cleat
Line to forward mooring cleat
For good measure we removed the spray dodger, leaving only the folded down frame. This was to reduce the windage from a strong southerly wind. The removal revealed a torn zipper on the starboard side of the canvas and a crack in the plastic trap that holds the bolt rope along the forward side of the spray dodger. I brought the canvas home and will take it to Fremantle for repair and a new bolt rope track.
Spray dodger frame down and bolt rope track to be replaced
The following (4th) day I drove back to Darlington, satisfied with the results and thinking about the return trip to move Pachuca to her new pen.
