3rd Thursday on the hard

The weather returned to the similar variability that we saw on Tuesday coupled with strong winds. This affected our project work somewhat but they’re beginning to wind down now. First, what we got up to :

• I spent a short period of time researching Fiji internet pricing.  Vodaphone seem to have some good deals and excellent coverage.  It looks like we’ll have a good combination of island paradise and connectivity.
• Helen went into town to do the laundry.  There is one here but the one in town is better.  She picked up another item for our ditch bag and some food.
• I picked up the props which had been inspected and rebalanced.  I learned that one of them had been sitting in contact with the shaft key which might have induced vibrations.  We have heard some from time to time and now we know the most likely cause and what to do about it.
• I talked to yard master Peter to discuss drilling holes for locking pins into the shafts and nuts and also to grind down the errant key.  We also discussed ETA for rest of work.  Splash now looks like next Friday or following Monday subject to weather and slipway availability.
• I communicated with the sailmaker to let them know when we expect to be back in the water.  Our new sails are now ready and will be fitted soon after splashing.
• I communicated with the town marina to line up a berth for a few days after splash for sail fitting and final provisioning.
• Helen applied one more coat of paint to the window surrounds and later painstakingly peeled all the masking tape off.  The latter didn’t go too well so some areas will need a touch up.
• I spent 2-3 hours disassembling one winch, cleaning all the old grease off, applying new grease then reassembling.  It definitely runs smoother that the others.  Three more to go.
• I tightened the nuts for the stainless steel rail above the nacelle and taped the new cotter rings (replaced prior day) to prevent them catching on bridle (which I believe caused prior damage)
• Helen applied first layer of varnish to wooden sill above door in our shower where combination of sunlight and water had peeled varnish.
• I attempted to reassemble gooseneck and ran into a couple of problems.  The only nylon spacers I could obtain were too fat so I sanded them thinner.  This required a lot of pressure against the sandpaper which was applied via my thumb.  I managed to sand a small circle off my thumb which stung like hell for the rest of the day.  The new pin between the gooseneck and the boom was slightly too fat so I had to send that back to be machined down a fraction.
• I picked up our new hull zinc
• The stainless steel assembly for our chain chute arrived.  It looks quite phallic.  I took pictures.

As our own projects begin to wind down I have collated the external projects so I can track them.  Here is where they stand with anticipated (though not necessarily expected) ETAs  :

Other news from the yard.  Tahina hauled yesterday, good to see them.  Looks like Endless will be coming back onto the hard today due to leaking sail drive.  Poor guys.

This afternoon we get a bit of a break as it’s the cruiser BBQ/cultural show/weather brief.  We’re looking forward to getting out of here for a bit.