If it's not one thing, it's another - Missionary Bay, Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland, Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Thu 3 Jun 2010 02:25
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18:13.665S 146:12.611E
On Sunday (5/30/2010), our next, very calm
anchorage was found on the northern end of Hinchinbrook Island in Missionary
Bay, which is basically a mud flat that seven creeks dump into from the heights
of several soaring purple granite mountains on the island. Since we
vacated the rolling anchorage at Orpheus Island so early, our 40ish mile, 7 hour
sail to Hinchinbrook ended in time for Don to spend the entire afternoon dealing
with one boat maintenance issue after another. The fresh water pump
required attention (again), as did the engine tachometer,
which more often than not acts extremely irresponsibly, floating
between 900 rpm to 2700 as the mood strikes it, when it
should have more respect for itself and indicate a solid 2100 rpm when
we are underway at 6 knots like a good tachometer should.
Somewhere between the fresh water pump's ongoing complaints and the tachometer's
sporadic rants, the main battery charger decided it might be a good idea
to, on occasion, quit in the middle of what normally would be a happy
charging session. After nailing the charger problem down to a cold solder
joint on the main circuit board, which was affecting the operation of the
charger's cooling blower, Don dropped one of the clips from the end of his
voltmeter in the engine room. Dropping something in the engine
room is almost as bad as dropping something overboard - it's unlikely ever
to be seen again. The engine room, or engine hole, as I like to call
it, has about thirty pieces of equipment (not the least of which is the
engine) crammed into each and every square inch of space. It's like a
mechanical jigsaw puzzle. Finding a voltmeter clip in a mechanical
jigsaw puzzle, crammed into an engine hole is probably a lost cause.
However, finding more problems while searching for the lost voltmeter clip in
the mechanical jigsaw puzzle has some real potential (no pun
intended). Like finding a small leak in the generator's seawater cooling
system for instance. Saltwater anywhere in the engine room is probably not
a good idea since it takes great joy in corroding all things metal.
Unfortunately, Don didn't take great joy in finding the leak - especially after
he spoke to the Onan generator dealer in Cairns and learned the part needed to
fix the problem is $2,500. $2,500! For a stupid bit of metal pipe
with a few other bits of metal welded to it. A quick check on the internet
told us the same part is a mere $550 in the US. Hmmmm...we decided an
extra day in Cairns when we get there might be a good idea so we can find
someone to weld the offending generator part and skip the whole new part
purchase thing altogether.
If it's not one thing,
it's another. Several days before this parade of problems, Don
wrestled with the bilge pump and had to replace part of it using one of our
spares. More recently, the boat speed indicator decided to follow
the engine tachometer's lead and started spewing out higher speed
readings that at first we were excited about. "Hey, look at
that!", we marveled, "We're going 9 knots! There must be a lot of
current running against us though because the GPS says our speed over the ground
is only 5.5." Yeah right. It didn't take too much longer for
our bubble to burst when we realized the boat speed was really just
freaking out and we weren't really breaking any sailing speed
records. Damn!
We keep reminding ourselves the boat is fourteen
years old, so we have to expect things to fall apart, freak out and/or
simply fail, but it would be nice if it didn't happen all at once. At
least while we were experiencing freak-outs and failures anchored in
Hinchinbrook Island's Missionary Bay, we had a marvelous view of Mt.
Bowen. It's hard to get too pissed off when you look up and see
a giant purple mountain sitting under a massively blue sky and over
a matching blue bay.
Picture 1 - Hinchinbrook Island as we were sailing
toward it. We would say its beauty is 'awesome!'.
'Gobsmacking!', is what the Aussies would say.
Picture 2 - Giant purple Mt. Bowen sitting under a
massively blue sky and over a matching blue bay. A matching blue bay
potentially filled with crocodiles. We didn't see any, but crocs love mud
flats filled with mangroves, which is what Missionary Bay is. Nope, didn't go swimming here either. We're on a
non-swimming roll.
Oh, and don't worry about us and our various boat
maintenance issues. The fresh water pump seems to finally be happy and the
main battery charger has been doing its thing (even if it wasn't, we have two
other chargers). The same is true for the refurbished bilge pump - it's
fine. We're hoping to get the part fixed for the generator cooling system
later this week in Cairns and avoid purchasing a new one. The boat speed
and engine tachometer continue to live in a world all their own, but
somehow I think we'll survive. Besides, the marvelous maintenance man
loves a challenge - and don't let him tell you any different.
Anne
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