6/27/2013 0 Comments Weather!‘An East coast low is forming’ – the weather man says, and when I
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6/25/2013 0 Comments Emptying the Too Hard Basket! There have been a few things accumulating in our ‘too hard basket’ since that wondrous day we stepped aboard Argos for the first time. The electricity and wiring has definitely been one of them.
I will never forget the first time I entered the engine room (aka The Man Cave) and looked at the mish-mash of wires going every which way, and marvelled at how anyone would ever be able to fix anything that broke, little knowing what a hassle all those intricate wires crossing over and winding their way around the boat would soon be and what headaches they would cause. We have known for quite some time that some sort of major overhaul was required, but finding someone able to do the work or doing it ourselves seemed out of our reach – not to mention the expense of such a significant amount of work. Happily our power issues of the last months and the moments last Thursday and Friday when all seemed so overwhelmingly hard have given way to the light at the end of the tunnel (sorry, no pun intended!). After looking extensively at the mass of corroded wiring and the attempts made over the years to by-pass and bodgy-up in a temporary-but-forever sort of way, we have decided that rather than doing more of the same, that the time has come to remove, rip out and replace. The wiring has vacated the basket! It’s so often the case that marine wiring is a problem waiting to happen- that with each new owner more wiring is added or repaired, but the old left in place – relegated, like we did, to the don’t know where to begin – but what you end up with is a lot of mess, wires all over the place, difficult to track and deal with when a fault arises. Half the wiring on many boats is old and not in use, but not removed. It makes it all so much harder when something actually does go wrong. Over the last couple of days we have made bold decisions – instead of leaving things hoping to get them going again someday, we have decided that if something hasn’t been working and we have managed without it until now, then it is going to go and if we really need it we will get a new one and have it wired properly. Now I might be a bit sketchy about the technical side of things, but what I can say is that we (and of course, as always we=Peter) have so far ripped out the entire 110 power system that ran the power points. The 110 power has not been working because of a fault in the transformer that was one of the things we were going to replace. We have decided though to simply upgrade and not try and fix this. That means that all the obsolete power points will have to be removed and new ones installed. These will all be replaced with 240 power points using the power inverter when disconnected from shore power. We have decided to ditch the wind generator that seemed to drain batteries rather than feed them, and all the wiring required to connect it. The batteries were the first things to be happily removed once the electrician pronounced them as long-dead and we are waiting now to collect brand spanking new glass mat batteries – new technology that means to replace the four we used to have, we need only buy two and these are more compact and efficient that the previous 4. Peter has been having a lovely time of it, pulling out things all over the place, revelling in finally being able to get all this sorted. The electrician we stumbled upon last week has turned out to be a gem, showing us what needs to be done and letting Peter do a lot of the work, helping with what we need his expertise for. The result of course is that rather than just getting things fixed, we will know what goes where and how to deal with problems we might encounter as we go. The new systems will of course last the distance better and things will, hopefully, be easier to manage and maintain. All in all, the problems we have been encountering have truly given way to solutions, long term ones and while it will all be a bit of an expense, it’s really investing in the longevity of our life on Argos and on her long term health! The too hard basket is looking significantly emptier now, to our great joy and satisfaction! We could not speak more highly of John from Berrima Electrical/Batemans Bay Electrical Contractors, who even popped over on Saturday afternoon (leaving his family to help us) to offer some assistance when Peter’s over-zealous ripping out left us without shore power for a little while, but did in the end unearth the major fault that shut off our power on Thursday. 6/21/2013 0 Comments Powerless no more!One day’s grim can sometimes be so easily overcome - it makes me wonder why I worry at all!
Yesterday I had one job (well, okay I had a few, but one that was really <em>significant</em>) – to find an electrician who had the time and a willingness to take a look at our power-less issues. I began making my calls early. It’s not so easy to elicit someone’s help when you are trying to describe a problem you don’t even understand and the first people I spoke to informed me that they don’t do that kind of work, that I needed a regular electrician, even though I was sure I didn’t. I got a bit of clarification before I tried again – made sure I was using the right words, talking the right talk! And then I found a man who said he could come – not next week, not even after the weekend, leaving us facing all sorts of break difficulties – but that afternoon! I was quite delirious and hopeful that not only would he come, but that he might be able to actually get something to work. I was even happier when, only a few hours later he called me back to say he had a cancellation and was already nearby! So the long and the short of it - get it? our power shorted???? - well anyway, the thing is he was able, by the end of the afternoon, we had power to most of our essential pumps. He had come and looked, and then decided to return when Peter was finished for the afternoon and could join him and show him things, and by 5pm he was able to get us some power! Yes, he was actually able to track down a problem and get enough things going to give us an immediate improvement! There is a bigger picture though – the wiring in the boat is always, has always been a mess – bits added in here and there, obsolete systems, corroded bits – boats are renowned for it – and ours every bit the typical hodge-podge of the working and the never-likely-to-work again! So in a couple of months, with some diligent removal of things by Peter and the occasional re-installing by our new best friend, we hope to have a vastly improved system. Already we are over 100kg lighter, after Peter removed 4 dead batteries. We still have one functional battery, and will need to buy a new style, gel battery, which apparently will be able to supply all the power the previous old-school batteries did - 1 replacing 4 sounds good and the space they used to take up is new storage space for me so very happy about that. Instead of repairing all the old systems we are going to have everything that we need to use re-wired. What we will end up with is a power system that is all new, all works and that Peter can maintain. In 24 hours we have gone from feeling a little overwhelmed, with a somewhat bleak outlook to feeling okay and hopeful that in the not-too-distant future all will be well. Really well. Hats off to John from Berrima Electrical! Oh and the picture at the top is the view from the top of our mast - thanks Erina! 6/20/2013 0 Comments Powerless!Well I guess it was always going to happen – that before we were able to get an electrician down to the boat - not an easy task in a small town where there are few trained to even do what needs to be done – that the power issues we have struggled with over the last months would collapse and die on us.
Yes. It has happened! It was all looking a little better a few weeks ago. We were able to get all our batteries charged up fully, and replaced one and for a moment there it actually looked things were improving – we were able to use all our 110 lights and pumps and they seemed to be working fine, then <em>whamo</em>, on Tuesday night the lights all looked a bit dim and the water pump sounded weary and we wondered. We went to bed expecting that like before, the following day’s sun would provide a boost, but the not this time. There seemed to be no boost to the power and by Wednesday night we knew that something new was happening – no charging was taking place at all. During the day on Wednesday I had visited the electrician once more – smiling and hoping – to see if he had any spare time, borrowing his battery charger again……and we booked in a visit to the boat on Monday. Yay – just a couple more days of iffy-ness then we would start to get things sorted properly! Or so I thought then. But sadly, during the course of the afternoon yesterday the power dwindled to levels that seem not to be recoverable from and to boot, when Peter used the battery charger to charge up the ignition battery (allowing us to turn on the engine and charge up everything else) it started smoking, arcing and sparking! ……so as I write we have experienced a complete shut-down of all our 110 power. We now have no water pump, toilet flushing capacity, can’t empty sinks, can’t cook (gas stove with electric shut-down switch that won’t turn on), have no lighting, no TV, no ignition for the engine and no bilge pump. It’s feeling just a touch grim. I have one job today – I must find another electrician in Batemans Bay who has time to come and help us. We have a bit of a clue what needs to be done, but it is going to take someone with some knowledge and experience to unravel the messy electrics that seem to go hand in hand with boats – we have different systems, all working in together (or not) so it’s not an easy task to sort things out. We know we need a new transformer, know that some of the 110 wiring is a bit dodgy but the real problem seems to be with the system that controls the charging of the batteries. In the meantime I suppose it is opportunity time! We have the opportunity to let this sink us or find a way to swim. And even though the bilge pump is not working I don’t mean literally! Thankfully we can find alternate ways of managing most things. There are some things we can’t replace or manage without and it is these that will present the biggest challenge. So fingers crossed, its nearly 8am and it won’t be long before I can make the necessary phone call…….here's hoping! Oh and the picture.....thats a beauty Erina took, and I post it to remind myself that despite the struggles, we live an idylic life! 6/12/2013 0 Comments BuildingIt’s 5.30 am. The alarm has just beeped me from my dreams. It’s still 6/5/2013 0 Comments Winter is for..... Winter for a yacht is all about work – preparing for the warmer weather, repairing things that are worn and broken –assessing and checking, testing and making sure everything is shmick and right.
Particularly for us, this winter, our focus is entirely on getting things fixed that have been needing attention for a while, attending to things we have had to postpone while resources were tight. While Peter is busy with building the Glen’s house, we won’t really have much of a chance to sail, even on weekends, so our attention is really on the time ahead when we will actually set off from here and head north, and right now, making sure everything is in order for that time. There has been quite a flurry of activity on board over the last month or so – especially since hearing that the larger yacht we were offered and had decided to buy was no longer on offer to us. All the things we had felt frustrated about on Argos, all the niggly little things that were tricky, and about which we said, well we won’t have to put up with that anymore, all those things needed to be addressed – as much as possible anyway. We can’t enlarge Argos, but we have been able to create a little more storage space, creatively resolved a few little issues, and are moving ahead with replacing a few bits and pieces. We have a list and are ticking as we go: Done: Making some decent hanging space for our clothes; Replace the old TV/DVD player that no longer works; Better organise storage in kitchen area; Increased storage in main cabin; Increased storage in Liam’s cabin Still to do: o Replace battery monitoring system; o Fix problem wiring; o Making a cupboard in Erina’s cabin where there are awkward drawers; o Replace broken oven (and not-quite-so-broken hotplates); o Repairs to awning; o Replace worn lounge seating – better quality foam and new covers; o Replace mattresses as needed; o Repaint deck; o Replace steps from main hatch; o Antifoul hull; o Adjust gland on prop shaft (stern gland) We have done lots and still have lots to do! Last weekend (while I was in Sydney at the Writers Festival) Peter spent a bit of time on deck (while it was warm and sunny) playing with the sails – making sure all the halyards were functional, not chaffed or worn, and at one point had most of the sails up! He drew quite an audience - luckily there were no accidents on the road next to the marina! There are always jobs to be done on board and the lovely thing about winter is it’s a great time to get these things done. Once the house is finished we will head up to Ulladulla and slip the boat and do the hull and stern gland but in the meantime we have all these other jobs to do to keep us busy and focussed on that wonderful thing we love…..preparing for sailing! |
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September 2017
Our life aboard Argos has been seriously challenged this year with the surprise departure of our skipper. As a writer, diesel mechanics and the complexities of many aspects of Argos’ on-going maintenance are way beyond me! We would like to see Argos continue to sail and eventually hope to use her to offer support, encouragement and a break to people who are struggling in their lives. Any on-going help towards maintaining Argos would be greatly appreciated and enable us to achieve this goal.
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