Start Loc: Hamilton Island (20o 20.72'S, 148o 57.01'E)
Narrative: I was reminded that we are dealing with North Queensland tradesmen. They are a breed unto themselves. Promises mean nothing and they either don't own a watch or can't tell the time.
On Thursday when we got in to Hamilton, we rang the shipwright to let him know we were in. That was when he told me his plan was to do the work on Friday, let the glue set overnight and then come back and re-seat the cleats etc on Saturday; hence we booked in for the extra nights. He came on Friday morning, pulled the cleats out, and glued and clamped the toe rails. When I spoke to him about finishing the job on Saturday, he said he wasn't coming to the island on Saturday and was in fact spending the day with his son. The outcome was that we didn't need to book in the extra nights, and now had to change our plans and go to Shute Harbour on Sunday afternoon so he can finish it all on Monday. I am unimpressed.
Maintenance wise, I achieved a lot. On Thursday we got the new dinghy wheels fitted, which means no more carrying the dinghy up and down the beach.
On Friday, as well as the shipwright doing his stuff, while the family did their final preparations to go to Sydney I sewed some velcro back in place on the bimini and waterproofed the two outboard motor covers. After dropping the family at the airport, I rearranged the kids' cabins so that I could open all the engine access panels, removed the frame for the emergency bilge pump, put a steel wire brush over the rusted surfaces on the engine mounts and the motor itself, and finally sprayed it all with rust convertor.
After breakfast on Saturday, I cleaned off all the places I needed to paint, and then sprayed them all with primer. I did some small jobs that needed doing while the primer dried, then after lunch sprayed the engine mounts with their first top coat and touched up the engine bits (with the tin of expensive Volvo Penta touch-up paint). While all that dried, I scrubbed clean the bimini, dodger and link sheet.
This morning I gave the engine mounts their second top coat. While that dried I waterproofed the bimini, dodger and link sheet. I then reassembled the emergency bilge pump frame and drive belt, and put the kids' cabins back in order. I had time to give the boat another scrub down on the topside to clean off the bird poo before going to the airport to meet the family.
Hamilton were good enough to give us a "late check out" of 2:00pm as the flight was due in at 1:35pm. Due to the flight being delayed, we ended up leaving Hamilton a little later than we had arranged, at 3:20pm. The winds were NW at 8kts. Our WNW course to Shute Harbour meant that we motored all the way, and we took up a mooring in the small craft mooring area at 5:17pm.
As we came in to Shute Harbour, we saw Whitsunday Magic, a three-masted tall ship that sank near Airlie Beach. I saw the Notice to Mariners about a month ago and then we saw two of her three masts sticking out of the water as we sailed past the first two times we went into Abel Point; the third time she had been recovered. She looked a bit worse for wear and it will be some time before she gets back to carrying tourists around. As we came into pick up the mooring buoy, we noticed about 30m away a small 'special' buoy attached to the top of a mast that was sticking about 1m out of the water - not a good way to park your boat!
Overall, I achieved a lot while the family was away. We have confirmed that we will do as much of the maintenance/repairs as we can, rather than rely upon other people. The family enjoyed their time in Sydney, and are looking forward to a good night's sleep.
End Loc: Shute Harbour (20o 17.76'S, 148o 47.27'E)
Distance run: 11nm (cumulative: 1160nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 57 min (cumulative: 147 hr 49 min)