Education is what survives
when what has been learnt has been forgotten.
-B.F. Skinner-


The four seasons of re-fitting a yacht.




One of the million jobs I decided to do. Tino is putting new s/s toerails on. Any job I give Tino is "easy", according to him.


I grew up in Finland, where I enjoyed 25 years of four season cycles. Today, on my third week of re-fitting Aliisa for her cruise, I feel the seasons again.

The yacht comes out of the water. It's "autumn". The leaves are turning yellow and rusty brown but it's still warm and the days are long. The first part of the re-fit is spent pulling things apart. Rust, engines and masts are falling onto the ground. Life is good and full of transformation. Like starting a thousand-piece puzzle, I'm enthusiastic and progress is visible. (Starting from the edges and the obvious lines and colours)


  
Phil pushes a string up the mast with the tape measure we called the String bearer (in the adventures of the Lord of the String). Ken, Paulas old man, uses his measuring tape to figure out the new set of drawers next to my chart table.


Winter comes. Slowly all is covered in ... well, not snow but dust and grime. All that was standing tall, everything that was working, is now broken, pulled apart, destroyed and dead. Desperation sets in. It is dark and I'm tired. The "winter" is long and cold. All this has to be brought back to life but in the middle of the winter there is no sign of new life. The puzzle is well on its way to be completed but there's still plenty to do and progress is slowing down.

5mm thick stainless plate firms up the deck for the new inner forestay. Anchor windlass moves into a new position.


Spring arrives. Winter's back is breaking and the sun is climbing high enough to warm your skin and melt some snow. Through the snow the first hardy flowers are pushing through. There is a promise of a new life and all that died is coming alive again with new colour and energy.

Summer at last!! The hardships of winter are over and the sun is warm enough to breathe life into everything. It is a lazy day on a deck chair looking at the horizon.



Chris Hedley is happy about the beautiful hatch he built for me. He is also happy about the $500 I paid for it. A job well done.

I'm stepping ahead here. It's not summer in my re-fit and the puzzle is not complete. I'm left with a hundred pieces of blue sky and puffy white clouds - all the pieces look the same and I wish the whole thing was over and done with. No enthusiasm. Frustration, tiredness and bad moods.

Two holes in the hull have been patched and the hull painted. Now there is a third hole. Old engine has two cracks in the cylinder head and corroded pistons. The mast went up and in the chaos of attaching the rigging, I managed to bend one spreader with the cap shroud. The budget is blown out the window and money is running seriously low. My digital camera is broken and internet account closed.

On the brighter note...

I've had plenty of help. Tino, again, is driving the welder. Craig "I've-got-a-million-jobs-to-do-and-I've-gotta-go" Haslet is helping me with the mast and rigging. Paula is working day and night and showing her skills in fibre glassing and painting as well as biting her tongue with the dishes and cleaning. (I'll do my share of that when all the other work is done, promise). Phil Nielsen, my ex-crew and brother in spirit, has moved up to Cairns and come to the work yard almost every day, working enthusiastically for two beers and salad sandwich. (As well as a crew position around the Cape of Good Hope later on). Steve Ansell with his son Andrew has been a real gem with my engine. I understand now why Steve is in such high demand. Ross McKenzie is looking after the propulsion. The propeller-man of Queensland belongs to the diminishing breed of tradesmen who don't count the money when it's given. He knows it's five hundred, if I say it's five hundred.

More about all the completed jobs on the next update.

After six weeks of non-stop worrying, working and being in a shitty mood, Paula and I are having a day off courtesy of Michael Reis and the Great Northern Hotel. A full day and two nights away from the yacht and the daily swearing. I can't totally relax. New engine is not yet aligned. New shaft and propeller not arrived. Last of the rope clutches not arrived. Diverter blocks on deck, blocks on the boom and the mast for the reefing lines yet to be purchased and installed. Need 150 meters of 10mm sheet rope for halyards and reefs. The boom gallows (50mm stainless pipe) is still not bent to shape and the rope lockers made by Paula's dad are not put in place. Wiring for the mast is still hanging out inside and the interior panels on the ceiling not in place. The log is broken and there's no more money for a new one. The duckboard which I've planned for for the last four years, is not coming in for the same reason. I may afford to make a simple ladder from the left over toerails. And so on.... The new departure date is now sometime early July!! I'm hoping to be in the water on 29th June and within a week we should be ready to go. Instead of going for a shake down-cruise, we'll nominate the first 500 miles of the voyage as the shake-down cruise.

Sorry about the long pause in up-dates. Sorry about possibly a longer one coming up.

Catch ya!

Old Nissan is coming out for a health check. When this picture was taken, I did not yet know that this motor is not coming back. Two cracks in the cylinder head and corroded pistons. Aliisa is waiting for a replacement. More about that in the future. (Engine looked after by Steve Ansell of Ansell Engineering)




Tino is the nicest German I've ever known. I even forgive him for supporting Schumaker on F1. Tino is giving up better paid work to help me out. Without him my re-fit would be more panicky, more expensive and the boat left without many important improvements.
Thank You Tino! Thank you.