Getting ready to sail again

Stepping out of Cairns air-conditioned airport is like stepping into a sauna. Hot and very humid. We arrived on 18 March and during our 6 week stay, the temperature was usually around 30 degrees and it often rained. The surrounding vegetation is lush, green and mostly rain-forest. One could put a dead stick in the ground and a tree would sprout. Probably a palm tree as it seems to be the favoured tree in most gardens.

During the first few days it rained a lot, sheets of water pouring down around us. Coming from drought stricken Cape Town this was a novelty for us. It was still hot, bizarre for us to experience warm rain. The heat and rain continued for several days and some roads around Cairns became flooded.

We had booked into an Airbnb for the first five days but wasted no time in going to the marina to see Pegasus again. The boat looked just as we left it.

All our fears of being faced with a forest of mould growing inside the boat was groundless. Our hard work of packing up the boat with moisture absorber pots and wrapping fabrics in cling wrap plastic had paid off. However the boat looked scruffy and our first task was to paint the deck. The heat baked down and we were very glad to finish the job and get the canvas covers up to provide some shade. There were a few apparent leaks from the deck into the cupboards so next job was to clean, dry and paint inside the cupboards and fix the leaks. One of the storage lockers on deck was full of rainwater as the outlet was blocked.

The new radar dome was already waiting for us in the marina office and shortly thereafter the watermaker arrived in two big wooden crates. 

 

 Robert faced a long list of installations. Apart from the watermaker, there was also the new radar system, the AIS, hot water cylinder, the underwater scanner, new hoses for the gas supply, engine temperature gauge, stern light, antenna, etc, etc. We also bought a new mattress, rubber mats for under the deck, paint for the interior, new EPIRB, a large selection of fittings, clamps, tools, countless bits and bobs and in no time the boat resembled a workshop. Crates of tools everywhere. Really awful for me as a workshop environment is my least favourite habitat.

The heat and rain continued and soon our marina received the debris washed down from the creek. Muddy water with branches and floating coconuts surrounded our boat.

Sadly the air-conditioner on the boat doesn't work and there were too many other tasks to spend time on something we wouldn't use away from shore power. There were days when it was stifling on the boat and we were always drenched in sweat. The fans worked overtime. No sooner does the sun set and it becomes a bit cooler, then the mosquitoes and sand flies come out. If we were not basting ourselves with sunblock, then it was a liberal coating of mozzie repellent. We almost became accustomed to feeling sticky and smelling of eau de Deet.

One of the nicer purchases was a kayak. Robert's rationale is that it's a quick and easily deployable life raft off the deck should one of us fall overboard. In its sealed compartment we would keep the oars, some flares, water and other emergency bits. Well that's his excuse anyway...

On a few occasions we went to the Cairns swimming pool on the Esplanade to cool off. No one in their right mind would swim in the murky water in the marina.

Swimming pool water:

Marina water:

Most of the time was spent working on the boat, Robert doing all of the grunt work, I helped with painting inside and repairing the canvas covers and not much else. The installation of the watermaker and hot water cylinder was a big exercise because Robert had to take out one of the water tanks, modify the space, change plumbing and wiring, etc. All this in tiny dark hot spaces, grovelling around coated in sweat.

He also installed the AIS system, underwater scanner, radar, hot water cylinder, new temperature gauge, replaced all the hoses on gas supply, engine repairs, dinghy repairs, put in a new stern light, etc, etc.

While this all sounds straightforward the truth is that all kinds of things went wrong almost every step of the way. It's one step forward, hit a problem, one step back. To name a few: the new radar dome was faulty and we had to send it back to manufacturer, we couldn't run the AIS software on Linux and had to buy another computer just for 10 minutes use of Windows, the engine water pump started leaking and despite much repairing it was not satisfactory so Robert ordered a new costly water pump, the dinghy outboard engine gave problems and the replacement part is so expensive, he ended up getting a new dinghy engine, the winch motor leaked out all its hydraulic fluid which necessitated taking the whole thing apart, the list goes on. 

Things started coming together in the last week and we started to feel that the slog was over. The boat looked clean and freshly painted inside and all the new gadgets were installed to make the next part of our adventure safer and more comfortable.

Our second last day was spent provisioning for 50 to 60 days without a supermarket. It's a bit tricky to work out meals in advance - we have no freezer and the fridge is quite small. Fresh produce spoils in less than a week owing to the heat. So it's mostly dry goods and tinned foods and an optimistic approach to Robert's fish catching skills. His collection of lures, etc is starting to look impressive.

On our last day we drove to Crystal Cascades, a beautiful setting of swimming holes and waterfalls in the rain-forest. We enjoyed our croc-free swim immensely.