Back from the weekend and rowing with the other slaves again. The teacher’s strike allowed us one extra day on Tuesday added to the already long weekend, so we used this day to drive back. We spent some time on the weekend going through some of the lockers on the boat and I was amazed at how much stuff can fit into these lockers. I also managed to secure Kyle’s bedroom door and the sliding door so that they don’t fly open and closed whilst we are sailing. The bathroom door still has to be done then all the doors are ready for the trip. One job done, 12 million to go.
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| And even more comes out! |
15 Aug. 10
For some or other reason the last trip on the boat was very eventful. Firstly I could not reverse out of our slip without nearly popping our fenders against the walk-on. On our last trip whilst I was trying to teach Lola to reverse out we got one of the fenders caught on the mooring cleat and it popped.
We haven’t replaced this fender yet, so I don’t know if this was in the back of my mind causing me to loose concentration. There was only a slight breeze blowing so I couldn’t blame the wind either. The next problem occurred once we left the marina.
After the no-wake zone I increased the motor RPM to two thousand revs and waited for both motors and the boat to stabilize at the new speed but something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, it was as if the steering didn’t respond correctly but when I turned the wheel the boat turned as it was supposed to but not exactly as was “normal”. So I spun the wheel again and still not the reaction that I was used to. Even though we have spent only a short while sailing Yrumoar, I already have a feeling for the way that the she reacts, and this time she was not reacting in the same way. So I slowed the motors down to idle speed and played with the wheel spinning it in both directions to check. The result was the same she turned fine in both directions but it just felt wrong. I then decided to check the instrument panel for the motors and noticed that the port motor’s temperature was extremely high and all the warning lights on the panel where lit. I had checked the motor upon start-up and a little while later and she was pumping water just fine so there must be another problem. I then decided to switch off the motor and restart, voila, magically everything returned to normal.
The next incident occurred in the harbour mouth as we returned from our outing. We were sailing along peacefully when suddenly, thump, we collided with a submerged object. It wasn’t a hard thump but we all looked at each other and said “what was that”. Lola looked backwards to see what we had hit but we couldn’t really determine what it was. I checked below deck for damage but couldn’t see any.
We knew that the chart showed a ship wreck at this spot, and the pilot guide says that you should not cut the corner coming into the harbour, but we had sailed over this same spot before and didn’t hit anything. I believe we were lucky this time and perhaps it was meant as a lesson to me. The lesson “always check the chart and believe the pilot guide”.
The last incident came whilst trying to park back at our spot, first I went into the anchor of the steel yacht parked opposite to us, then we kept nearly drifting into the yacht next to us. After three attempts we eventually managed to tie up.
I can’t explain my incompetence during this trip but I believe it won’t be the only time and possibly the first of many.
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