Mike sets the alarm for 6 am as we have to get Jeannius on the beach to coincide with the high tide at 6.30 am. Again, we glide in and settle on the bottom in our usual position. This time it is a bit more comfortable as we settle just right to keep us completely horizontal. A couple of times we have been at an angle and you practically run down the companionway to the stairs as we tilt backwards. Once Jeannius is in position, Mike takes the car back into town and comes back on the bus.
Photo: Just not what you expect the scenery to be in front of your boat!
Unfortunately, mindful of what has happened to the fuel pump on the port engine, Mike rings Nafea to come and look at the other one and he confirms that although the leak is not as serious – yet - it will get worse and needs fixing before we leave. He takes it away with him. We now have no fuel pumps but he assures us that the first one will be back this afternoon!
Mike decides to tidy one of his cockpit compartments. As with every tidying job, it get worse before it gets better, as evidenced below.
Photo: Tidy? Not yet!
A little later, Darren arrives with our new propeller. Looking at this shiny new thing, I realise my work is not finished on the first one and get attacking it again to remove every last trace of barnacles. A woman’s work is just never done!!
Photo: Blistering barnacles (for Tintin fans!)
In the late afternoon, Nafea returns with the first fuel pump and installs it. He has to wait for the tide to start coming in until he confirms that it will work because the sea water inlet needs to be, obviously, under water when he turns the engine over. While he is doing this, Mike swaps our old propeller from the starboard side to the port side. This is now our only working engine but at least this one provides hot water. He also fixes a fan behind the freezer compressor to help keep it cool and stop the bloody thing from conking out again especially now that it is filled to the brim with food (and every crevice that doesn’t have food is stuffed with a towel!)
Having successfully scraped all the barnacles off, I then use pretty pink nail polish to cover up all the areas where the paintwork has lifted. At some point we will get some special anti fouling paint for metalwork, but in the meantime it just looks like it has a bad case of teenage acne. Good job the varnish wasn’t yellow!
Getting Jeannius off the seabed is not quite as easy today, and after quite some time of warbling around, Mike gets in the dinghy and gives her a nudge. After that, it’s easy.
Neither of us is very hungry in the evening, and we just snack on some very smelly Tasmanian brie and crackers. One more beaching tomorrow and hopefully we will be done and free to go.
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