Author: Pam
We returned from Lightning Ridge invigorated and ready to reclaim Starship and tackle the remaining items on our never ending “To Do” list. We spent the entire day on Saturday corralling wayward hoses and engine bits that were crawling all over the cockpit, putting away the multitude of things that had escaped from their places of safe keeping and cleaning the grease and grime from the surfacest. While I was cleaning Scott installed yet another water pump for the fresh water system. Unfortunately the one he installed last week uses more than five amps and would be best kept as its intended purpose as a spare. Our day of reclaiming the boat and our life aboard ended with a big grocery run and a yummy dinner of Bob and David’s authentic beef stroganoff recipe. They shared the recipe in the car on the way to Lightning Ridge. For the life of me I can’t remember how it came up, but we are sure glad it did, it’s a keeper.
On Sunday we met David, Donna, Kate and Bernie for the Sunday brekki at the Cruising Yacht Club. It was nice to see our Sydney friends and we had an audience for the tales of our most recent adventure. Kate had just returned from Darwin (located at the top of Australia) and she shared a bit of info that may be helpful if we make a stop there before heading to Indonesia. After our tummies were full we came back to the boat and spent the rest of the day hunkered down in the back cabin catching up on the administrative side of our life. When we finally came up for air we were both too knackered to think about dinner, so it was an at sea meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup.
Our admin tasks carried over to Monday morning until the AuquaTech technicians arrived to install our new AIS (automatic identification system) receiver. The installation had a few bumps along the way, but ultimately the kinks got worked out and we were being notified of all the ships in the vicinity. We were not able to install the receiver so the information overlays on our radar, we unfortunately have one model too old. Instead, the receiver is connected directly to the computer at the nav station. We now need to get the Blue Tooth technology so we can access the information while we are at the helm. I think once we get all of the components working we will be very happy with the set-up and grateful for any information we can get about ships within approximately 25 miles of us. The sun was out again, so there is hope the weather is improving and Sydney will come into their “normal” fine winter days.
Tuesday was a BIG day! Starship has an engine that purrs again, as Scott would say WOO HOO! After a day of hoses and wires snaking their way in every direction the guys were finally ready to try to start the engine for the first time. I was on the stern, where I had spent the day cleaning the BBQ. That was not exactly my plan, but there really wasn’t anywhere else to be since I was useless anywhere near the engine surgery. Scott on the other hand hovered and asked questions all day, I think he has definitely moved passed diesel engines 101. Fortunately, Bob is very patient and seems to thrive on Scott’s interest in knowing as much as possible about the care and feeding of our new baby. No one gave me any warning, there was no ceremonial proclamation, the next thing I knew the engine was running and water was spitting out of the back of the boat, which is a very good thing. Their was a moment of drama the first time it started, Bob yelled “turn it off “, my initial excitement instantly swerved to holding my breath. The next thing I knew they started it again and the drama was over. There was a big discussion about an external versus internal regulator for the alternator and within minutes yet another dilemma was solved and all was good. We are in the home stretch, Bob and Rob left at the end of the day with a plan to return on Thursday to finish up the last few tweaks and to take the boat out to check the propeller. That will be exciting to actually be moving, even if it is only a quick jaunt out into the harbor. The day ended with a marathon visit to the Internet café to post journal entries. Leaving Sydney and getting underway is beginning to feel like a reality, we are aiming for July 14th to make our first move up the coast. Cross your fingers we can get all of kangaroos in a row.
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