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Casamara
John & Susan Simpson
Fri 14 Jun 2024 04:56
Saturday 18th May marked the start of the next leg of our circumnavigation as we headed back to Casamara to get her ready and spent our first night on board for 7 months. We flew in from London late on the Saturday, had Sunday to get Casamara fit for a short sail and on the Monday morning took her the 20 miles around the corner into Rivergate Marina, Brisbane for a haul out. Casamara had been sitting still in the water since we left her in mid-October so the shellfish of Moreton Bay had taken the opportunity to get themselves comfy in every nook and cranny of her hull. When we came to move her, even with the engine working hard, she felt sluggish and off-balance. As Casamara hung in the slings of the crane lifting her out we could see that what once had been smooth and streamlined was now crusty and barnacled, particularly the propellor!  Casamara’s crusty propellor For the first time in 35 years of boat ownership we’d booked to have the hull and topsides professionally cleaned and anti-fouled. We knew we only had 10 days to do the myriad of other jobs that needed to be done to get Casamara back into top condition after three years of globe-trotting. Whilst we were away we’d also had the engine and generator serviced, the rig checked and repaired, the sails washed and some work done on the canvas covers that shade us in the cockpit. Even with all the professional help we worked long days getting everything sorted. Not only had the boat to be got ready externally but we also needed to refurbish internally and restock the boat with supplies to last us for 4-5 months of travelling in remote places. I made daily visits to the local shopping mall!  Elsie I and Casamara side by side in the Rivergate Marina cranes Whilst in Rivergate Marina we came across Elsie I, friends from our Pacific crossing, so we enjoyed time with them catching up on what they’ve been doing and making plans for sailing north together. Sadly, on the day we were due to leave Rivergate, they discovered problems with their mast so we had to leave them behind for now. The day of Casamara’s relaunch was not without issues either. First, we discovered that the rope cutter we had organised to replace one that had broken on Casamara’s propellor shaft could not be fitted as it was still in the UK! This was disappointing news as we’d ordered it 10 days earlier. John and I immediately started phoning around all the suppliers we could find (what would we do without Google!) and managed to find a very similar part available that day just down the coast. We were able to borrow a car from the marina and dashed off to get the replacement part. Just before the relaunch deadline the fitters were still adding the finishing touches with minutes to spare. When boats are lowered into the water after being ashore there’s always a chance that the through-hull fittings may have sprung a leak so John always does a thorough check before we give the all clear to release us from the slings. In all our boating years we’ve never had a problem, but this time John shouted from below that we needed to be lifted up again. One of the sea cocks at the front of the boat was letting in water. We hung about in the slings for a while whilst John dismantled the sea cock, cleaned it and put it back together again. He thought it might just be the remains of a shellfish preventing the sea cock from sealing tight. Then down we went again into the water….but no, the leak was still there. Three times that day we went in and out of the water, with John taking apart and reseating the seacock, until the very patient crane driver said he had to finish for the day. What should have been our first night in our newly refurbished boat was in fact a night hanging in the slings of the crane in the boatyard! The issue turned out to be a flat spot on a small rubber O ring which had been invisible to the naked eye but was just detectable by touch. That flat spot had been sufficient to allow water to seep through the sea cock. So it was back to borrow the marina’s car again and a quick trip to Brisbane Bearings & Industrial Supplies for a few cents worth of rubber O rings. Once fitted, Casamara was lowered into the water without issue and we were back afloat. It was a great feeling and Casamara is looking as good as new after her spruce up. Thanks ‘Dave the polisher’ you did a fantastic job!  Casamara is so shiny after her makeover! So now we were ready to leave Rivergate Marina and Brisbane behind as we travel the 1,000 or so miles of the east coast of Australia to join the Sail 2 Indonesia rally at Thursday Island. |