Breaking All the Rules ...

[homeless]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Overnight to SYD or BRI, possible delay in Customs, then up to Gold Coast, 2 or 3 more days to you, if lucky.

Frustrating.

Ann

Sensor has already left Sydney Airport Australia Post kicks USPS a**.

[homeless]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

Back in my groom team days when we traveled a lot, we had a corporate deal with UPS for 2 day service. We could ship anything up to the max weight for air travel (55 or 65 lbs?) via 2 day and it was cheaper than even their ground rates.

There were a couple of times when we needed parts overnight, and we used counter to counter service at the airport. One of our support staff would take it down to the airport freight counter and pay cash. It would get put in the hold with all of the luggage and we'd pick it up at the freight counter at the destination airport. Not as expensive as some of the courier services, and it gets there as fast as a passenger would, depending on the number of flights necessary to get there. It's advertised as same day service, but Miami to Australia would obviously be a very long day.

For something as small as a sonar transducer, it's probably fairly affordable, just for future reference.

I ordered online, and was given a choice of USPS (up to 4 weeks), or pay extra for USPS express (up to 3 weeks). Fedex, DHL etc would have been 2-4 days, but I was not offered that choice.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by homeless

I ordered online, and was given a choice of USPS (up to 4 weeks), or pay extra for USPS express (up to 3 weeks). Fedex, DHL etc would have been 2-4 days, but I was not offered that choice.

You probably opted for the one armed swimmer.

I hope it shows up soon.

[homeless]

Another day of small jobs. I cut and painted the plywood to convert the old microwave enclosure to a cupboard. Stripped the old varnish off the cockpit drink holder ready for varnishing. Crimped new ends on the mast wiring on the boat. Upgraded the screw size in the engine room doors to stiffen them. Sanded some of the hatch surrounds ready for varnishing. Went to the riggers and replaced the pennant halyards on the mast.

The canvas guy brought my new bimini. Looks nice, but I am worried that after the mast is mounted the boom will conflict ...

From previous experience welders prefer not to have the boat full of potentially explosive paint thinner fumes, so I won't start any more sanding/painting/varnishing projects until the welding is complete, and won't be able to test the new gas stove. Since the welding is on the freshwater tanks right in the middle of the boat it will also stop me moving around and doing work inside, so I may be limited to outside work for a few days.

The beautiful wooden boat beside me was launched today after a 23 year build, so I helped with that. After all that work and attention to detail you would think they would have planned the launch a bit better. I had to loan them fenders and dock lines, the engine would not go into gear so we had to find a tow to get out of the travel lift, the waterline was so high out of the water the boat looks like a toy, and the bow thruster is completely out of the water. It was a good lesson on why a new hull should be floated BEFORE mounting underwater hardware or painting the waterline / antifoul.

[homeless]

A welder was supposed to come today to fix the corrosion in the fresh water tanks, but did not show up, so I emailed, then called to find out why. Turns out work on another boat overran, and they knew yesterday they could not do my work, but did not bother to tell me. I have a flight home booked on Thursday which should have allowed me to supervise the welding and mast mounting, so looks like the welding will need to be done when I am away. Will chase the rigger again tomorrow as they originally promised to install the mast a month ago, so I don't have much confidence that they will hit their latest date


Started work on repairing the shower to resolve the holes cut for hull welding. Learned some new yoga moves to get into the back of some cupboards to apply sealant to the underside of the deck around the water and fuel hose fillers. Installed new engine room blower vents. Vacuumed out the bilges. Sanded the pilothouse floor and applied the first coat of varnish.

I have two EPIRBs on the boat, and since I no longer have a liferaft I decided I really should do a battery test. Both batteries tested OK, but one had an expiry date of 2005, and the other expired last month. Unfortunately you are not allowed to replace the battery yourself, and the cost of battery replacement is not much less than buying a new EPIRB and requires mailing it to Sydney and back, so ... I will soon have 3 EPIRBs on the boat and a smaller bank balance.

[monte]

Fortunately Epirbs in Australia are pretty cheap. You should be able to pick up a GPS model with 10yr battery life for under AU$300

[homeless]

Started the day by sanding the floor in the v-birth, then over the day applied two coats of varnish to the floor in the v-birth and pilothouse. Also varnished some smaller teak pieces like the bathroom floor grate, cockpit drink holder, galley pot holder.

Sanded the hatch surrounds ready to re-mount them. The salon hatch surround is stained from the rusty screws, so I will need to decide whether to get a new one made, or just paint it white.

Spoke to the rigger. As expected they will not be ready by tomorrow as promised, so the mast will probably go in next week while I am away, so there will be lots for me to fix when I get back as they will probably screw up the wiring, sheets etc.

[chall]

Understand your frustration.

If it makes you feel better our rigger disappeared to Europe just before he was going to do our standing rigging...banghead:

We will be up north in a month or so and I would like to add my name to the list of people who are going to shout you a beer!

[StuM]

I'm using the same rigger. Mast came down yesterday and I'm hoping to have it back up by next Wednesday and get back to Raby Bay on Thursday. I've got to be back in PNG by the weekend for work

[homeless]

Originally Posted by chall

Understand your frustration.

If it makes you feel better our rigger disappeared to Europe just before he was going to do our standing rigging...banghead:

Sorry, that does not make me feel better, as one of the reasons my standing rigging replacement has taken so long is because my rigger picked up an urgent job in the Netherlands and jumped on a plane the day my mast was supposed to be lifted, and didn't come back for 3 weeks I guess when the AU$ goes South the overseas jobs get priority.

[homeless]

Originally Posted by StuM

I'm using the same rigger. Mast came down yesterday and I'm hoping to have it back up by next Wednesday and get back to Raby Bay on Thursday. I've got to be back in PNG by the weekend for work

My delays now are due to fabrication of mast sleeve and mounting plug by a third party who does not seem to have done anything for a few weeks. If your work is pure rigging you are more likely to hit your dates.

[chall]

Originally Posted by homeless

Sorry, that does not make me feel better, as one of the reasons my standing rigging replacement has taken so long is because my rigger picked up an urgent job in the Netherlands and jumped on a plane the day my mast was supposed to be lifted, and didn't come back for 3 weeks I guess when the AU$ goes South the overseas jobs get priority.

Maybe?

Although it seems they charge enough in AU$ most of the time

Best of luck tomorrow and safe travels home.

[homeless]

The sonar sensor arrived just as I was heading to the airport, so I will install it tomorrow.

The welder eventually found time to come onto the boat when I was away, closed up the known holes in the freshwater tanks, filled them with water ... and found some new holes in the starboard water tank behind a bulkhead with no hatch. They cut through the floor (after asking my approval) then closed the new holes, but when I came onto the boat today the bilges were full of water and the starboard water tank was not full, so either there is still a leak, or they did not fill the tank a second time for testing. I filled the tank again, bailed out the bilges, and now have the fan heater blowing hot air to dry out the boat. Since I found issues with the port fuel tank, and both the fresh water tanks I now have a strong urge to inspect the starboard fuel tank to remove any doubts, but will need to pump out 500 litres of diesel, cut through the bottom of another cupboard, and spend a few hours hanging upside down removing the inspection hatch. Hope there are no more nightmares.

The riggers also managed to visit when I was away, and the mast is back in, though there is some work remaining to clean up the sheets, raise the sails, and re-connect the in-mast wiring.

With the mast up I had planned to apply the antifouling paint this week, but unfortunately while I was away someone stole one of the 10 litre paint tins, so I will need so spend another $350 to re-stock. I had left the boom and main-sail on top of the tins to keep them out of the dirt, and the rigger reported only one tin when the crane lifted the boom, so the paint disappeared from under the boom and mainsail, which would have required some heavy lifting and was definitely not accidental.

[Matt Johnson]

Homeless- You're getting closer to launch! How much have you spent with the welder so far? I've yet to have one come out and look at our boat, and I'm trying to get an idea of the pain I'm in for.

Matt

[homeless]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Homeless- You're getting closer to launch! How much have you spent with the welder so far? I've yet to have one come out and look at our boat, and I'm trying to get an idea of the pain I'm in for.

Matt

Rates for welders would depend very much on your location and their skill level. My first welder charged AU$70 cash per hour and I think I paid him about $800 total. The engineering company I am currently using charge $85 per hour plus GST and while I expect to pay for about 8 hours I haven't had the bill yet.

To keep costs down you should try to do any pre and post weld cleanup yourself, but this could take much longer than the actual welding.