Barry and I made a deal that we will be heading to the boat every other weekend for the duration of spring, summer and autumn, which included this weekend just past. We made this arrangement to accommodate all our other life happenings, seeing other friends and family, any school things the boys want or need to do and we timed it so that we only have 2 kids on the weekends we go to the boat. Not that this rules out going on the other weekend for a day sail, which we always hope to fit in somewhere!
Friday afternoon finally rolled around and we were off. The weather started to look ominous as we neared the stop street just before the dam. It seemed to be raining over the dam but not on the road running along side. We still had 20km to go running alongside the dam to our marina, we watched the water from the right hand windows as the lighting flashed and the wind whistled through the trees, bending them to breaking point.
We reached the marina. The wind was blowing at gale force in a westerly direction (which meant it blew straight into the harbour mouth) causing large breaking waves to enter the marina and made the pontoon look like a roller coaster. We decided it was not a good idea for Kyle to carry anything, as his balance is not brilliant. I took his hand and headed to the boat to unlock. He sat downstairs helping unpack while Barry and Rauen did the 3 trips to the car to carry the weekend’s goods to the boat.
2 Cooler boxes (1 for drinks and 1 for food)
1 Kitbag (with all our clothes)
2 Packets (with some crisps, treats and 2 pots)
2 Pillows
4 Extra blankets in case it got cold (which it did)
1 Laptop – for the kids to play whilst it rained)
Not 2 minutes after the last of the stocks were on the boat it started to pour with rain. The wind howled and the boat rocked. Barry spotted the boat next to us, Lazy Days, on the opposite side of the pontoon finger, break loose from the pontoon and turn sharply towards his neighbour About time. We jumped from our boat and pulled it in using the spring line and made a makeshift bow line in the torrential rain to keep it in place and avoid an “in marina collision”. 25 minutes later it was over and the rain calmed, an hour later the wind calmed and out came the rainbows. Yes there were 2!
We wiped down the boat as the other boaters arrived for the weekend, we had a few drinks on the docks with them while the boys played games with a new friend they made across the way (the grandson of our opposite neighbours) and by 11pm we called it a night.
We woke at 7am, brushed teeth and headed out into the dam for a bit of light sailing before the following storm made its appearance. Using the GPS (we got new batteries) we noted our highest recorded speed at 4 knots and travelled a mere 2.1 nm before returning to the marina after 2 ½ hours of sailing. We got to work immediately on our return to erect our marina fender to stop the boat hitting the dock in the storm we expected in a few hours time (we had cringed the night before while we listened to the banging sound as the boat struck the wooden pontoon).
We opened the engine and had a look around, we will be servicing it shortly, that should be an interesting event. We found the deck pump and traced the connecting pipes to a deck shower. Replaced the latches on the engine covers and got the bilge pump working again. Not to mention the cleaning, cleaning and cleaning again.
Boat work out the way we took a walk up to the little store in Misty bay about 1km away with the boys. We played a rhyming game on the way because Rauen had told us in the week he can’t rhyme, we had a great time and giggled and laughed the whole way there and back. On the way back (eating ice-creams) we saw the dark clouds building. So fast we thought we wouldn’t make it in time. We walked more and more briskly hoping to make it back to our open boat before the rain, which threatened to wet all our bedding, the computer and our cellphones if we were too late.
We entered the marina grounds and I told Rauen and Kyle to make a run for the boat and close the hatches so I could make a stop at the toilet on my way down. They got to the boat and closed the hatches as the first drops fell, Kyle getting hit by a few up front closing the hatch over our bed. Barry and I walked out of the toilets to the start of the rain, we ran along the pontoon getting soaked (me of course in white) and climbed aboard – too late for wet weather clothing. It rained on and off the whole night with the wind staying above 15 knots and causing the clinging sound of the halyards hitting the mast to continue all night and into the morning.
We woke to overcast and dismal looking weather. We made an egg roll breakfast and cleaned the dishes and boat before packing up and leaving at around 10am, heading for home and a DVD on the couch.
We spoke about starting a book for the boat, to note the sailing hours, engine hours, speed, distance sailed, wind speed, weather conditions etc as well as any items we need for maintenance and repair. I started the book today – gonna have loads of info and stats to look at over a period of time.
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