Well karma finally came back around our way. After hours of online research, wiring
diagrams, calls to the manufacturer of the motor, swearing and the occasional
kicking of stuff, a friendly chat with a couple of lovely ladies in the laundry
at the Sandy Straits Marina revealed that one was married to a retired auto
electrician. He, Bob, came straight over
to have a look at why our motor was not starting.
At a glance, all the wiring seemed to be in the right
places, linked to the right connections but there was no denying the motor
wasn’t starting. A more in depth look
was required. Within no time Bob
discovered the wiring was faulty and needed replacing. Michael and Bob replaced the faulty wires,
turned the key and the most beautiful sound known to a stranded, frustrated and
almost broken yachty cut through the air.
Okay, okay… most of the time we prefer the noise of the flapping of
sails to that of a noisy motor, but when you haven’t been able to move for a month,
it was as joyous as hearing a baby laughing or children playing. I cried!
I cried tears of sheer relief.
I have so far failed to mention our new yachty friends. We’ve met a fantastic family who had just a
month earlier bought their first yacht, a trimaran called Tradewind. A family of 6… Mum and Dad, 4 kids aged
between 5 and 12, 1 dog and 2 cats (and I thought we were fucking crazy). For the first time on our journey, the kids
have someone to play with, both Michael and I have someone to play with and
even the dog has someone to play with. A
couple dinners, many wines, more laughs and we become quite close very
quickly.
Then it happened… as it happens to all boat owners, their
first problem reared its ugly head, and it’s a major one. Wood rot.
They were taking on water, a lot of water. They, like I’ve done on so many occasions,
cried. Scared they’d made the wrong
choice and that their family home was now sinking, they would be homeless with
4 children, 1 dog and 2 cats. As ready
as we were to move on, we were not going to leave these new sailors in the
lurch. We managed to do a very bodgy
patch job, good enough for them to make it from Hervey Bay to Maryborough about
40 nm away on the Mary River.
Much preparation was required prior to the trip. Michael and Alan had to come to the slipway
and build a customised trailer to get Tradewind out of the water. They were given the materials and use of all
the tools at the slipway. A couple of
days later, they had the trailer built so we could start our journey to
beautiful Scaryborough Maryborough.
The trip wasn’t completely uneventful and for the first time
in quite some time we hit a damn sandbar.
We got off our boat and onto Tradewind to wait for the tide to
rise.
My boat fell down!
Things were falling off the deck and as the tide was low Michael and
Alan were wading through the water retrieving our things. I was online looking for the tide times in
the area and found out that’s where a couple of crocs had been spotted and that
traps had been set up there. No need to
tell the boys… I need them to collect the stuff falling off my deck! I did keep a watchful eye out though but
didn’t spot them and when the boys got back to Tradewind all legs and arms were
accounted for.
We had to wait quite a few hours for our boat to right
itself and for Tradewind to pull us from our sandy prison but eventually we
were on our way again on a high tide so hopefully we’d be right for the rest of
the way. It was Alan’s first night
sailing experience and he did a fantastic job.
He led the way, as Tradewind has no draft, so he could warn us of any
shallows that could become our undoing.
We made it to about 1nm prior to the slipway at about 11pm, a mere 16
hours after setting sail, and anchored ready to pull Tradewind out first thing
in the morning.
We’ve now been here for a couple of weeks, Tradewind has
dried out, removed the boot, the prop, we’ve cut a hole in her bottom, each
move could be a chapter in a book, but it’s not my story to tell, it’s
theirs. The rebuilding has begun and further issues have been found, but again, that's their story.
We spent Christmas and new year in the dusty, dirty,
boatyard and really… we couldn’t be happier!
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