Coming home to JollyDogs after 7 weeks away, lugging bags of new clothes and boat parts, we found ourselves in the typical situation of finding homes for all the new stuff. As usual, when something new arrives on the boat, something old has to go. There are exceptions, but we immediately began making our pile of clothes to give away, and we've even got an old iPad to find a new home for. As well, a lovely flight attendant on British Airways gave us a pile of children's coloring books. Our recent visit to Fatu Hiva was a real experience in either trading almost anything of value for fruit and veg of which they have an abundance, or simply finding people who can use and appreciate what we're ready to surplus.
As we continue to inventory lockers the pile will grow, and soon a trip down to Fatu Hiva will become an imperative. No worries as it's a beautiful destination with absolutely lovely people.
After scraping the barnacles from the props and polishing them up with a wire brush the drive system was ready to propulse. A couple of hard hours scraping and wiping the hull of almost 2 months of growth produced the target speed over ground (SOG) for the engine rpm, so we knew the hull was in good shape.
The anchor chain was a different matter entirely. We had left JollyDogs anchored in about 40 of water with as much scope as we could muster, about 6:1, as we've only about 265' of chain altogether. All that anchor chain that wasn't rubbing against the bottom occasionally became a forest of growth which then became a microenvironment for tiny sea life. The bridle was the same, so when we raised anchor the first time to motor over to Controller's Bay an enormous amount of plant life and creatures made it through the gypsy and into the anchor locker. Then it all died and began to stink.
Today as Isabel was tidying the heads and galley and pondering tonight's menu I decided it was time to deal with the anchor chain and locker. First up - partly dismantle the windlass, removing the gypsy, cleaning off all old grease, apply new and reassemble. Next, deploy all the chain possible to reveal an empty anchor locker. Well, not really empty as the pile of dead and rotting debris was impressive. Fortunately we made heaps of water yesterday so the anchor locker got a good scrub and fresh water flush. Lest you think that's wasteful, think of the cost and consequences of a failed electric windlass. There are just some places on the boat where saltwater rinsing is not the best answer.
Running the chain up and down a couple of times while attacking the links with a scrub brush and the high-pressure fresh water got pretty much all the old growth off. The barnacles will fall off eventually. A final rinse of everything including the foredeck and voila, project complete!
Inviting guests for dinner always prompts a general cleanup, so next up is a good scrub of the cockpit, so our lovely CruiseRO watermaker will see more action today. It outputs 120 liters per hour and the solar output will run it on a sunny day without even touching the batteries. 1440 watts of solar input, a sunny day, and about 88 amps DC draw at 13 volts and Bob's your uncle!
By tonight we'll be all tidied up and ready to enjoy the company of friends over a good curry. Having had cooking lessons in India, Thailand and Vietnam, Isabel is bound to create something magnificent!
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